The Letter I

The letter I occupies the ninth position in the English alphabet, and is the third vowel. It is the fifth most common letter in the English language. The vowel I began as a hieroglyph representing an arm in Ancient Egypt. It was then imported into the Semitic languages, where it was changed to a /j/ sound, because the Semitic word for 'arm' began with a /j/ sound. In English, the words 'yellow' or 'yet' demonstrates how this change has been inherited, with our pronunciation of I. In English, there are still words with a long pronunciation of I as well, such as in the words "I", or "kite".

The Ancient Greeks decided to use the Phoenician form of the letter, which was Yodh and turned it into Iota. In Modern Greek, it was then adapted to represent the letter J. Over time, the full English alphabet was created and I and J because two different letters. This was created in the 16^th century.

There are a few ways of writing the letter I. The first is the lower case version, which is a single vertical line with a dot over the top. This dot is known as the tittle. There are two versions of the upper case letter. The most common version is a single vertical line. Because this looks similar to the number 1, there are times when two horizontal lines at the top and bottom of the single vertical line.

The I is a letter that is commonly missed out from number plates and vehicle identification numbers. This is because the letter is commonly confused with the number 1. There are other letters that are also avoided when it comes to number plates and other situations like that.

When it is used in some fonts, there are times that the letter I is mistaken for an L, when in the uppercase. There are also times when it is confused with a vertical bar. This can make it confusing and is the main reason why many basic and common fonts have the two horizontal lines at the top and bottom of the vertical line.

I is a letter that can be used on its own and is when the first person narrative. This is common in memos, diaries and some fiction novels.

Like most vowels, the I is very common in English words, and is generously disbursed in the Scrabble tile pouch. Nine I tiles exists, each yielding 1 point, a typical score for the early vowels.