Buzz
Contractions in English are typically simple: they are becomes they’re; he would shortens to he’d; is not turns into isn’t; and we will becomes we’ll. The words come together with a few sounds dropped. Easy, right? But not so with will not, which shortens to won’t, not willn’t.
So, why does will change to wo? It didn’t really change — it’s something we inherited from our ancestors. But there was a reason for that wo in the beginning.
In Old English, the verb willan (“to wish” or “to will”) had two forms — wil- for the present and wold- for the past. Over centuries, this word went through many variations, including wulle, wole, wool, welle, wel, wile, wyll, and even ull and ool.
By the 16th century, the preferred contracted form was wonnot, derived from woll not, with some variations appearing later, such as winnot, wunnot, or the expected willn’t. In the ever-evolving English language, will triumphed over the variations like woles, wulles, and ools, while for the negative contraction, wonnot simply prevailed and eventually became the won’t we use today.
Considering how difficult it is to pronounce willn’t, it's hardly surprising that it evolved into the simpler won’t.
