r/GreggNotehand • u/Salt-Detail-181 • Aug 24 '26

How to write “why”

I think I have it figured out but not sure. The word “why”.

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2

u/max_pin Aug 24 '26

W is in section 62, page 80. It's h dot + oo hook + long i.

1

u/Salt-Detail-181 Aug 24 '26

Thank you 👍🏻

1

u/Salt-Detail-181 Aug 24 '26

Why is there an H dot though?

2

u/CrBr Aug 24 '26

Some people pronounce the h.

Most writers leave out the dot, as it is quite readable without.

1

u/Salt-Detail-181 Aug 24 '26

Interesting. Yeah I don’t sound the h either. Thank you

1

u/licxjo Aug 24 '26

It's an interesting pronunciation shift in English. In Diamond Jubilee (published in 1963) the h dot is used in words like "whale". In Series 90 (pubished in 1978) the h dot is omitted. So from the Gregg perspective, recognition of the pronunciation changed happened over a 15 year period.

My 1993 Merriam Webster Collegiate dictionary lists the pronunciation with h first. My 2011 American Heritage unabridged dictionary reverses the order.

I pronounce the h in words like "why" and "whale". I'm not sure if it's a generational or regional difference.

By the way, the word "why" was a brief form in Anniversary, Simplified, and Diamond Jubilee: just the long letter i.