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V is the twenty-second letter in the modern Latin alphabet.
Like F, Greek Ypsilon has Semitic Waw as its letter of origin. The Etruscans somehow simplified the letter to V. Its Etruscan sound value was /u/; but since Latin lacked a letter for /w/, Romans used V for both /w/ and /u/, as in QVVS.
In some Roman hands, it was written as a modern uppercase V, while in others like uncial it resembled modern lowercase u.
With the Mediaeval introduction of the distinction between both cases, the pair was written as V/u, as in Vniuersitas.
In Romance languages, V came to represent /v/ which developed from /w/;
Around the Renaissance, U and V were felt as sounds different enough to warrant their own letters, and a lowercase v and an uppercase U were developed.
A similar evolution happened with I/J.
German W (or double u, from VV) originally was pronounced as the English letter – but was pronounced /v/ since Middle High German times. At the same time, V was in German pronounced as in English, but the German Vau soon stood for /f/ again (the same is probably now happening in Dutch).
See SAMPA Chart for pronunciation key.
Victor represents the letter V in the NATO phonetic alphabet.
Meanings for V
- In biochemistry, V is the symbol for valine.
- In chemistry, V is the symbol for vanadium.
- In communication, V is the name of a hand gesture; see V sign
- In computer science,
- In electrical engineering, V is the symbol for voltage (also known as electric potential, see below).
- In financial securities, V is the stock symbol for Vivendi Universal.
- In grammar, v is an abbreviation for verb.
- In international licence plate codes, V stands for Vatican City.
- In the Metric system, V is the symbol for volt, the SI derived unit for electric potential.
- In physics, v is often a variable for speed or velocity.
- As the first letter of a postal code,
- In Roman numerals, V denotes the number five.
- In literature, Thomas Pynchon's first novel is called V. (including the period).
- In television, V is the name of a science fiction TV series
- In music,
- V is the name of a drink produced by Frucor in New Zealand.
- A V engine is an internal combustion engine configuration.
See also
Two-letter combinations starting with V:
Letter-digit combinations starting with V:
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