Wynn

This article is on the letter. For other uses, see Wynn (disambiguation).

Wynn (Ƿ ƿ) (also spelled Wen) is a letter of the old English alphabet. It was used to represent the sound /w/.

While the earliest Old English texts represent this phoneme with the digraph , scribes soon borrowed the rune wynn (ᚹ) for this purpose. It remained a standard letter throughout the Anglo-Saxon era, eventually falling out of use (perhaps under the influence of French orthography) during the Middle English period, circa 1300 (Freeborn 1992:25). It was replaced with once again, from which the modern developed.

The name of the rune, meaning "joy, bliss", is known from the Anglo-Saxon rune poem:

ᚹ Ƿenne bruceþ, ðe can ƿeana lyt

sares and sorge and him sylfa hæfþ

blæd and blysse and eac byrga geniht.

Bliss he enjoys who knows not suffering,

sorrow nor anxiety, and has

prosperity and happiness and a good enough house.

the Elder Futhark wunjô

It is not continued in the Young Futhark, but in the Gothic alphabet, the letter 𐍅 w is called winja, allowing a Proto-Germanic reconstruction of the rune's name as wunjô "joy".

It is the only rune other than þ to have been borrowed into the English alphabet (or any extension of the Latin alphabet).

As with þ, wynn was revived in modern times for the printing of Old English texts, but since the early 20th century the usual practice has been to substitute the modern instead due to its visual resemblance to P.

Wynn in Unicode

Latin Capital Letter Wynn	Ƿ	[U+01F7]
Latin Small Letter Wynn	ƿ	[U+01BF]
Runic Letter Wynn	ᚹ	[U+16B9]

References

Freeborn, Dennis (1992). From Old English to Standard English. London: MacMillan.

Latin alphabet	Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
Modified characters	Àà Ȁȁ Áá Ââ Ầầ Ấấ Ẫẫ Ẩẩ Ậậ Ãã Ää Ǟǟ Āā Ăă Ằằ Ắắ Ẵẵ Ặặ Ẳẳ Ȧȧ Ǡǡ Ạạ Åå Ḁḁ Ǻǻ Ȃȃ Ąą Ǎǎ Ảả Aʾẚ Ⱥ Ḃḃ Ḅḅ Ḇḇ ƀ Ɓɓ Ƃƃ Ćć Ĉĉ Ċċ Çç Ḉḉ Čč Ƈƈ Ȼȼ Ďď Ḋḋ Ḍḍ Ḏḏ Ḑḑ Ḓḓ Đđ Ɖɖ Ɗɗ Ƌƌ Èè Ȅȅ Éé Êê Ềề Ếế Ễễ Ệệ Ểể Ḛḛ Ëë Ēē Ḕḕ Ḗḗ Ĕĕ Ėė Ẹẹ E̩e̩ Ȇȇ Ȩȩ Ḝḝ Ęę Ěě Ẽẽ Ḙḙ Ẻẻ Ḟḟ Ƒƒ Ǵǵ Ĝĝ Ḡḡ Ğğ Ġġ Ģģ Ǧǧ Ǥǥ Ɠɠ Ĥĥ Ḣḣ Ḥḥ Ḧḧ Ȟȟ Ḩḩ Ḫḫ H̱ẖ Ħħ Ƕƕ Iı Ìì Ȉȉ Íí Îî Ĩĩ Ḭḭ Ïï Ḯḯ Īī Ĭĭ Ȋȋ Įį Ǐǐ İi Ịị Ỉỉ Ɨɨ ɟ Ĵĵ J̌ǰ Ḱḱ Ǩǩ Ķķ Ḳḳ Ḵḵ Ƙƙ Ĺĺ Ļļ Ľľ Ḷḷ Ḹḹ Ḻḻ Ḽḽ Ƚƚ Łł ɫ Ḿḿ M̃m̃ Ṁṁ Ṃṃ Ǹǹ Ńń N̈n̈ Ññ Ņņ Ňň Ṅṅ Ṇṇ Ṉṉ Ṋṋ Ŋŋ Ɲɲ Ƞƞ Òò Ȍȍ Óó Őő Ôô Ồồ Ốố Ỗỗ Ộộ Ổổ Õõ Ṍṍ Ṏṏ Ȭȭ Öö Ȫȫ Ōō Ṑṑ Ṓṓ Ŏŏ Ȏȏ Ǒǒ Ȯȯ Ȱȱ Ọọ O̩o̩ Ǫǫ Ǭǭ Ơơ Ờờ Ớớ Ỡỡ Ợợ Ởở Ỏỏ Ɵɵ Øø Ǿǿ Ṕṕ Ṗṗ P̃p̃ Ƥƥ ᵽ Ȑȑ Ŕŕ Ŗŗ Řř Ȓȓ Ṙṙ Ṛṛ Ṝṝ Ṟṟ ɽ Śś Ṥṥ Ŝŝ Şş Șș Šš Ṧṧ Ṡṡ Ṣṣ Ṩṩ S̩s̩ ȿ T̈ẗ Ţţ Țț Ťť Ṫṫ Ṭṭ Ṯṯ Ṱṱ Ŧŧ Ⱦ Ƭƭ Ʈʈ Ùù Ȕȕ Úú Űű Ûû Ũũ Ṹṹ Ṵṵ Üü Ṳṳ Ǜǜ Ǘǘ Ǖǖ Ǚǚ Ūū Ṻṻ Ŭŭ Ụụ Ůů Ȗȗ Ųų Ǔǔ Ṷṷ Ủủ Ưư Ừừ Ứứ Ữữ Ựự Ửử ʉ Ṽṽ Ṿṿ Ẁẁ Ẃẃ Ŵŵ Ẅẅ Ẇẇ Ẉẉ W̊ẘ Ẋẋ Ẍẍ Ỳỳ Ýý Ŷŷ Ÿÿ Ỹỹ Ȳȳ Ẏẏ Y̊ẙ Ỵỵ Ỷỷ Ƴƴ Źź Ẑẑ Żż Ẓẓ Žž Ẕẕ Ƶƶ Ȥȥ ɀ
	ɑ Ææ Ǽǽ Ǣǣ Ðð Ǝǝ Əə Ɛɛ Ƒƒ Ɩɩ Ȝȝ Ɣɣ Ƣƣ Kʻĸ ƛ Ɔɔ Œœ Ȣȣ Ʀʀ Ↄ Ʃʃ Þþ Ʊʊ ʌ Ʋʋ Ⅎ Ɯɯ ƿǷ ɥ Çç ɀ Ʒʒ Ǯǯ Ƹƹ Ƨƨ Зз Чч Ƽƽ Ƅƅ ʔ/Ɂ ǀ ǁ ǂ ǃ ʇ ʖ ʗ ʘ
Digraphs	Bh bh Ch ch C̱h c̱h CÖ cö Cs cs Cu cu Dd dd Dh dh Dj dj Dx dx Dz dz Dž dž Ff ff Gb gb Gh gh Gi gi Gn gn Gy gy Hs hs Hu hu IJ ij Jö jö Kh kh Kp kp Ku ku Lj lj Lh lh Ll ll Ly ly Mb mb Mp mp Nd nd Ng ng Nh nh Nj nj Nk nk Ns ns Nt nt Ny ny Nz nz Ph ph Qu qu Rd rd Rh rh Rl rl Rn rn Rr rr Rt rt Sh sh Sv sv Sy sy Sz sz Th th Tj tj Tr tr Ts ts Tx tx Tz tz Wh wh Xh xh Xö xö Yh yh Yk yk Zh zh Zs zs Zv zv
Trigraphs	Dzs dzs Ngb ngb Ngh ngh Ngk ngk Nkp nkp Nth nth Nyk nyk Rnd rnd Sch sch
Quadrigraphs	Nyng nyng
Stylistic variants	Carolingian G insular G ({{unicode r rotunda long s ({{unicode

Runes
Elder Fuþark: ᚠ f | ᚢ u | ᚦ þ | ᚨ a | ᚱ r | ᚲ k | ᚷ g | ᚹ w | ᚺ h | ᚾ n | ᛁ i | ᛃ j |ᛇ ï | ᛈ p | ᛉ z | ᛊ s |ᛏ t | ᛒ b | ᛖ e | ᛗ m | ᛚ l | ᛜ ŋ | ᛞ d | ᛟ o
Futhorc | Younger Futhark | Rune poems | Runestones | Runology

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