Modding the Latin Alphabet: the odd history of G, J, U, W, Y

Not every letter in your alphabet comes straight from ancient Rome. Some letters were crafted by clever old-school modders. This is their history.

Learn how G comes from tailed C, J is an I with a tail, and the stories of U, V, W and Y intertwine. Meet soldiers, plebes, scribes and kings as the alphabet finds its way from the Romans to you.

Most credits for sound effects and images found in Thoth's Pill:

CC-BY and public domain images not found in Thoth's Pill:
Ostia Antica inscription, Marie-Lan Nguyen
Epistola del Trissino de le lettere nuovamente aggiunte nella lingua italiana
Shakespeare's First Folio, Jessie Chapman
Benjamin Franklin's Mémoires
Henry VIII's copy of Cicero's De Officiis, Folger Shakespeare Library

Music:

[gwanael]

5:00

Funniest thing about the VV and UU thing. It's called a "Double-U" in english. In french we call it "Double-V".

[denni]

3:20 This really helps explain the origin of the word “joven” meaning “young” in Spanish. So interesting!

[Lefeurouge]

To this day, in Spanish, the letter y is called "i griega, " (Greek i).

[kucammischablue]

In English (and I suppose Germanic languages) W is a double U, but in Latin languages W is a double V. Polish decided to the compromise of calling W a VU.

[EREJones]

a minute. So that's why we call it 'i-grec' in French??

[deryckchan]

"And it didn't answer back since it was an inanimate metaphor" LOL

[rw]

How exactly did j with the pronunciation /j/ come to stand for such a very different sound as /dʒ/ in English?

[LostNTranslations]

Can you please make a video about the Cryllic alphabet and how it evolved separately from the Latin one? I'm learning Russian and I think it's fascinating.

[GonzaloMoreiraLinguist]

This is interesting. I've always thought < G > was in the original set of the Latin alphabet :)

[yvanspijk]

Great video! :) Time and time again, you manage to make already interesting subjects even more interesting, for a wide audience, and in a very natural way.

[snaplanguage]

I suppose in a way the Roman alphabet continues to evolve to suit languages using it, which also evolve. ß and ç come to mind... | Nice videos btw

[colitipal]

The soft “J” sounds more like “Ja”, meaning “Yes”.

[gabriels]

"If C can have a companion why can't u?"


:''''v

[kucammischablue]

we still call Y - greek I - in Romanian.

[rexmundi]

3:49 Old Cicero was pronounced Kikero. The Romans had no soft C

[dellboid]

Ive always loved languages but I've only recently gotten into studying written language a bit more. Its so fascinating to see how phonemes and other sound developed over time in the written form. Thanks for the great upload.

[ricardollorente]

The letter "V" was already pronounced with its modern sound in Spain two thousand years ago, hence the Latin sentence: "Beati hispani, quibus vivere bibere est."

[beastkotathix]

How is this channel not more popular? It's easily one of, maybe THE channels I love most. There's somehow something inspiring in it; to me, at least. Keep it up, please!

[Name-bnru]

It's so funny hearing you pronounce "U" and "Y" :) The way you say it is like we do in Norway and Sweden and people often struggle with the pronunciation. Good job!

[drone_better]

1:41'What a stroke of geniu, *SAH*.' Every time he emphasises a letter at the end of a sentence, viewers get a surge of dopamine.