Why is there a w in two?! 

🔨 If your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
🔩I heard the brilliant linguist & literacy expert Lyn Stone reference Maslow’s hammer in relation to some patterns in the literacy world. Not all letters represent sound, and we sure we pound a lot of screws with hammers when we try to make them do that job.🪛
💡So, why is there a w in two? It's certainly not spelling /w/! The w in two comes from its Old English origin roots: twa and twegen. While we don't pronounce a /w/ in two in present day English, we do in many of the relatives, like twice, twins and between. They’re a blast to learn about!
📝The w in two is an etymological marker now. It shows us (marks) the history of the word and is no longer spelling sound.
Etymological markers are incredibly cool to learn about! People eat them up, thrilled to make sense of spellings that feel odd or confusing otherwise.
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