Prima latina says the Latin alphabet only has 25 letters...

[Guest Allthingsnew]

that it is only missing the 'w'. My 12 who is a 2nd year Latin student (in a classical school last year) says that is wrong. That Latin also doesn't have a j, k or y. What is the right answer?

[Aurelia]

When I studied Latin in high school, we were told there was no j, k or y.

[elegantlion]

Latin for Children say there are 24 letters in the Latin alphabet. no j or w. k,y, and z were used very rarely.

[abbeyej]

Well, it depends on *when* you're talking about. Letters came into and out of use over the many, many years that Latin was widely used (and even for many years after, as it continued to be used in ecclesiastical settings).

 

Here's one very brief article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Latin_alphabet