LingoflyW w — uve bikoitza
«uve bikoitza» is a consonant of the Basque script, read as “w or u, loanwords only”. Native words never use w. For example, in the word “wifi” — wifi. The Basque alphabet has 27 letters in total, and this character can be played right here. Wifi, western — all foreign. It appears, for example, in the word “wifia” — wifi.
In short
| Character | W w |
| Name | uve bikoitza |
| Sound | w or u, loanwords only |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 25th of 32: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are v and x, appears in 4 words of this site.
How it sounds
Native words never use w
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- wifiwifi
The character in the “for foreign words” group
Five letters native words never use. They live in foreign names and a few words like wifi and yoga. Most borrowings are spelled with Basque letters: kamera, kafe, bideo.
Words with this character
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «uve bikoitza» it is “w or u, loanwords only”, as in the word “wifi”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 27 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Basque character w read?
As “w or u, loanwords only” — it is a consonant of the Basque script. Native words never use w. For example, in the word “wifi” — wifi.
What is the letter w called?
Uve bikoitza. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Basque script: it is called “uve bikoitza” and reads as “w or u, loanwords only”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.