2006-12-19 21:12:05 · 6 answers · asked by sincere12_26 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
That's a good question, and I imagine the answer is probably tied to roots and origins of letters and spelling, words etc. I know several languages use tittles over letters, and languages such as german use "umlauts," (double tittles over letters). These are used to aid in pronunciation, so I would guess the dot on the "j" and "i" had to do with pronunciation. Also, the rules used with any language are not flexible and only over time, with constant use do changes occur (usually popular slang). I doubt we'll see a change to the letter format for either letter though. It's just one of the rules to be followed.
2006-12-19 21:53:45 · answer #1 · answered by stretch 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
dot your i's & stroke your t's is a very good advice and practice. It makes reading easier and of course some people's hand writing is illegible, so it helps a lot.
But as far as dotting j is concerned, the advice is debatable as j canot be confused with any other alphabet. Only g, j and y have droopy style. If you do not dot your j and the hand writing is really bad then the reader might have a problem with making out what the alphabet is or mistaking it for a g or a y. However, the spelling of the word and the context of the word in the sentence should indicate whether it is a j or g or y --- unless there is a spelling error with g and j being interchangably used.
2006-12-20 05:38:12 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
An "i" might be confused with it or an "l", or even a "1".
Not many people write with neat handwriting, and while you may be able to tell which letter it is from its context, there are enough similar -looking letters that the more distinguishing characteristics it has, the better.
And I'm not a linguist, but I suspect that the dot over it shows its similarity to the letter "i" linguistically, since in many languages the 2 letters have similar sounds.
2006-12-20 05:23:29 · answer #3 · answered by webwonder81 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Only if you want to spell it correctly. I dot comes from its history of being similar (it seems) with the letter "i" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J
Good Luck!!!
2006-12-20 05:29:29 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Never heard the expression dot your i's & stroke your t's?
What is tittle?
SPELL CHECK?
2006-12-20 05:26:08 · answer #5 · answered by Basement Bob 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It makes it look nice, as it is similar to lower-case "i"
2006-12-20 07:40:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋