Why is W in front of some words but not others?
Question
The letter 'W' - why is it in front of some words but not others. For example, it's in writes, but not rites (as in 'of passage')?
Elaine, Forest Hill
Answer
** Definitive **
Name: Robert, Somerset
Qualification:
Answer: It's of old German extraction. It's not a universal rule, but looking through some 17th century German correspondence, I came across "wryta" meaning right. Yet the German word for right is "richt". The letter W seems to be dropped a lot in Norse from original German. So it's the Norses fault!
(James O'Brien: I don't think that's an answer, you've just moved the question back 300 years!)