A few years ago, it seems like most of the people that sat around us in church had a name that began with the letter \u201cJ.\u201d There were a couple Johns, Jims, Jimmy, James, etc. We used to joke that if your name didn\u2019t begin with a J you couldn\u2019t sit in \u201cour\u201d section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, it\u2019s lucky we were living in modern times. If we\u2019d been going to church before 1524, the letter J would not even have existed \u2014 1524 \u2014 that\u2019s when the letter J was \u201cinvented.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Out alphabet wasn\u2019t always the way it is now. Letters have been removed and some have been added over the years. The most recent addition, and the last letter added to our alphabet was the letter \u201cJ\u201d in 1524. It turns out that the letters I and J started out as the same character. The letter J began as a swash \u2014 a typographical embellishment for the letter I which already existed. When lower case letters were introduced to the Roman numbering system, J was commonly used to denote the conclusion of a series of ones \u2014 like \u201cHenry vijj\u201d for Henry the Eighth. Both I and J were used interchangeably to express the sound of both the vowel and the consonant. Then in 1524, Gian Giorgio Trissino, an Italian grammarian argued for poor letter J\u2019s autonomy. Until Trissino stood up, both I and J were used interchangeably by scribes to express the sound of both the vowel and the consonant. Trissino\u2019s stand made him known as the father of the letter J. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By now this discussion has probably got you wondering about Jesus and all those other \u201cJ\u201d names in the Bible. If the J didn\u2019t come along until the 16th century, how did all those J names \u2014 Joseph, James, Jonah, Joshua, Job, Jehovah, etc. \u2014 get in the Bible? None of the people that lived in biblical times spoke English. The names are all anglicized versions of names that started out, for the most part, as Hebrew names. For example, Joshua and Isaiah are derived from the Hebrew name Yeshua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So where would we be without the letter J \u2014 this blog, \u201cWhat Would Jimmy Do?\u201d would have to be what would someone else do\u2026 even though J is the baby of the English alphabet, I\u2019m glad it finally got the recognition it deserves.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few years ago, it seems like most of the people that sat around us in church had a name that began with the letter \u201cJ.\u201d There were a couple Johns, Jims, Jimmy, James, etc. We used to joke that … Continue reading