W

W, 23d letter of the alphabet, in form a doubled u or v. It is the usual symbol of a voiced bilabial semivowel, as in the English wing. The same semivowel occurs as second member of the dipthongs au (as in house), ō, and OO. In twice the w represents a voiceless semivowel, which is heard also in some dialects that distinguish between where and wear. In chemistry W is the symbol for the element tungsten.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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