From: Peter Kirk (peterkirk@qaya.org)
Date: Wed Mar 17 2004 - 08:16:03 EST
On 17/03/2004 04:20, CagXonganer@aol.com wrote:
>Dear all,
>The discussions, esp. the one on "dotless i" brought a question up my mind:
>
>Why doesn't capital J have a dot above?
>
>Actually, my feeling is that as a kid, I used to put a dot on top of J during elementary school in Turkey. But as I stated in the subject I am investigating. I need to ask some experts on this field. My only evidence is a present from the 1920s:
>http://www.geocities.com/onganer/images/altin_alfabe.jpg
>(The problem with this alphabet is that i and dotless i should exchange places for collation purposes)
>
>Coming back to my question and actually extending it: Why doesn't capital I and J have a dot above?
>
>My mathematical logic thinks that it should have a dot since it is the same but just bigger. Of course, there must be some ethical, socialogical explanations.
>
>I would be happy to know about some references for the evolution of the Latin Alphabet. Also, do countries have laws that state what kind of alphabet they should use? Or do they rely on trust and best practice?
>
>Regards,
>Cag Onganer
>
>P.S.: I do remember putting dot on the capital I in an English course and failing the test because of that.
>
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Good question! There is an interesting example of how J (then
representing what is now the Y sound in English and Turkish) was written
in the old Azeri Latin alphabet, in 1929. See the bottom left image
(with the train)
http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/81_folder/81_articles/81_mollanasraddin.html.
You can barely tell from the web version of this satirical image, but it
is clear from the printed copy I have, that there is a dotless capital J
in the printed text on the very top line (Janvar = January), but a
dotted capital J in the slogan at the bottom which reads "ƏRƏB ƏLIFBASƄ
JORYL[...] KALDƄ" ("The Arabic alphabet has grown tired"). The slogans
on the train are "JENİ ƏLIFBA KABAKLADƄ" ("The new alphabet has gone
ahead") and "Mədəni İNKLAB" ("Cultural revolution" - this was the Soviet
era.) But I can't see if there are dots on the J on the train.
-- Peter Kirk peter@qaya.org (personal) peterkirk@qaya.org (work) http://www.qaya.org/
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