Welcome to the History of English Podcast, a podcast about the history of the English

language.

This is Episode 161.

Why you and I have a problem.

In this episode, we're going to continue our look at the sound and spelling of Elizabeth

in English, and specifically we're going to focus on a group of sounds that are historically

related.

These are sounds traditionally represented by the letters I, U and Y.

And of course, the letter U is the ultimate source of the letters V and W, and I is actually

the source of our modern letter J. So we have a lot on our plate in this episode.

But as we explore the connection between those letters and sounds, we can start to understand

why English spelling is so weird, like how a Y sometimes has the sound of I, and why

a U is sometimes used for the W sound, and why some people call W and Y consonants while

other people call them semi-vows.

As we explore the history of these sounds and letters, all of that will start to make sense.

But it's not an easy journey.

There's a lot of history to explore.

So buckle up and get ready for a trip that will take us from the ancient Greeks who invented

our modern vowel letters to Roman scribes who applied those letters to Latin, to medieval

scribes who became frustrated with a writing script that caused those letters to disappear,

and finally to Ana Elizabethan writer who proposed the final two letters to be added to

our alphabet.

...