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Not until the middle of the 17th century did this usage become universal in English books in the King James Bible of 1611, for example, the words Jesus and judge are invariably Iesus and iudge. The use of j as an initial led ultimately to its specialized use to indicate both the old semi-vowel sound y, found in German, and the new palatal consonant sounds (z) and (dz), found in French, Spanish and English.

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In the Middle Ages the elongated form (j) was used as an ornamental device, most often initially and in numeral series many old French manuscripts indicate the numeral 4 by the letter sequence iiij. The only difference in spelling, however, was the occasional use of double i for the y sound for example, in maiior, spelled presently major. The Romans pronounced I as a vowel in some words, such as iter, and as a semi-vowel in others, for example, iuvenis, spelled presently juvenis. In form, J was originally merely a variation of I J appeared first in Roman times, when it was used sometimes to indicate the long i vowel sound, but was often used interchangeably with I. It is the latest addition to the English script and has been inserted in the alphabet after I, from which it was developed, just as V and W follow U, the letter from which they arose. Funk and WagnallвЂ™s Encyclopedia (1979 edition), volume 14, page 94 under вЂњJ,вЂќ states: вЂњJ, the tenth letter and seventh consonant in the English alphabet. The great majority of English words beginning with j are of foreign (mostly French) origin, as вЂjaundice,вЂ™ вЂjudgeвЂ™вЂќвЂ¦(p.103). Initially it is pronounced in English as an affricate dzh. As, however, in many cases initial i had the consonantal value of the English y in iugum (yoke), &c., the symbol came to be used for the value of y, a value which it still retains in German: Ja! Jung, & c. It was first used as a special form of initial I, the ordinary form being kept for use in other positions.

Later, through specialization, it came to be distinguished as a separate sign, acquiring its present phonetic value under the influence of the French.вЂќ The Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition, under вЂњJ,вЂќ offers additional information: вЂњJ, a letter of the alphabet which, as far as form is concerned, is only a modification of the Latin I and dates back with a separate value only to the 15th century. The Random House Dictionary of the English Language says about the J: вЂњThe tenth letter of the English alphabet developed as a variant form of I in Medieval Latin, and except for the preference for the J as an initial letter, the two were used interchangeably, both serving to represent the vowel (i) and the consonant (y). I is a descendant of the ancient Phoenician and Hebrew letter yod and the Greek letter iotaвЂќ (Vol. The early history of the letter J is the same as the history of the letter I.

It is a descendant of the letter I and was not generally considered a separate letter until the 17th century. It was not until 1630 that the differentiation became general in England.вЂќ The New Book of Knowledge reads: вЂњJ, the tenth letter of the English alphabet, is the youngest of the 26 letters. Gradually, the two symbols (J, I) were differentiated, the J usually acquiring consonantal force and thus becoming regarded as a consonant, and the I becoming a vowel. Either symbol (J, I) used initially generally had the consonantal sound of Y as in year.

The Letter J in our Alphabets The Encyclopedia Americana contains the following on the J: вЂњThe form of J was unknown in any alphabet until the 14th century.

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