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2.06.2009

Introducing the Letter J


J
is the tenth letter in the modern Latin alphabet; it was the last of the 26 letters to be added. Its name in English is "jay" (pronounced /dʒeɪ/). It was formerly jy (from French ji), and in some dialects, mainly of Scottish English, it still is (pronounced jay. Occasionally, J represents other sounds, as in Hallelujah, which is pronounced the same as Halleluyah and Halleluia. The dot above the lowercase "i" and "j" is known as a tittle.

J was originally an alternative version of I. Its minuscule, j, was used in the Middle Ages as a swash character to end some Roman numerals in place of i. There was an emerging distinctive use in Middle High German. Gian Giorgio Trissino (1478-1550) was the first to explicitly distinguish I and J as representing separate sounds.

When I see the letter J, I think of my son, Joel. My other favorite Js include John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, JSTOR, J. Paul Getty Museum, Joaquín Rodrigo, jasmine, .jpg, Jib-Jab, Jabberwocky, Jacki, jackalope, jade, Jaguar, Jailhouse Rock, jammies, Janis Joplin, juice, Jefferson Airplane, and Johnny B. Goode.

Thanks to Willow for giving the letter J to me today. If you would like me to give you a letter, leave a comment and let me know. This was fun.

9 comments :

  1. Did you know that there is no J Street in Washington DC? There is an I Street and a K Street, but no J Street. It's because when the city was planned out in the late 18th century, the letter I and the letter J were still kinda interchangeable. And often indistinguishable from each other. So one of them had to be left off so that citizens didn't get confused with the addresses.

    Neat, huh?

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  2. wow who knew all that info on the letter J...cool

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  3. This was fun! I like Jabberwocky. The guys all watched it over the holidays. "Turned his teeth snow white overnight, they say!" :^)

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  4. Now that you mention it, I love tittles! Fun Post!

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  5. HorusJ: If you want a letter, I give you B.

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  6. I'll take John Lenon and Jstor--excellent post Steph--I love the information. My cafe talking points are becoming more refined through these readings...Bravo!

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  7. And J doesn't exist in the Italian alphabet, where it is replaced by a I.

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  8. I'll take a letter. That looks like a fun thing to do.

    I like your entry on J. J is a good letter, even though it's one of the newer additions.

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