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The original Roman alphabet is largely derived from the Etruscan alphabet which used the letter Ʌ. The Romans inverted it but pronounced it as we would pronounce U. The shape itself is also easier to scribe into wood, hence the majority of letters in the modern Latin alphabet are made with straight lines (A, E, F, H, I, K, L, M, N, T, V, W, X, Y, Z). Letters like J and U existed as well, but they were really just decorative forms of I and V respectively. It wasn't until after the Renaissance that J and V went on to become consonants.

During the Middle Ages, W, a ligature of two Vs, was added to cater for Germanic sounds. However that was before U and V were separated, hence it is still called "double-U" rather than "double-V" to this day (with the exception of Germanic speakers, of course).

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Q: Why did ancient Romans write the letter u like a v?
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