J (letter): Difference between revisions
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'''j''' combines the two sounds '''d''' (as in '''dóg''') and '''zh''' (as in '''[[Leonid Brezhnev|Brézhnev]]''' or like '''z''' in '''ázure''' or '''s''' in '''pléasure'''). Many languages, including French, German, Portuguese and Arabic, do not have this sound. (Russian and Spanish have only the unvoiced version of it, '''t''' + '''sh''', which is spelt '''ch''' in both English and Spanish, whence '''mácho'''.) | '''j''' combines the two sounds '''d''' (as in '''dóg''') and '''zh''' (as in '''[[Leonid Brezhnev|Brézhnev]]''' or like '''z''' in '''ázure''' or '''s''' in '''pléasure'''). Many languages, including French, German, Portuguese and Arabic, do not have this sound. (Russian and Spanish have only the unvoiced version of it, '''t''' + '''sh''', which is spelt '''ch''' in both English and Spanish, whence '''mácho'''.) | ||
'''j''' is common initially (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see [[English spellings]]): '''jét, jázz, jíg, jést, jêep, jólly, Jûlia, jàr, jám, Jásper, Jóhn, Jêsus, Jeŵish, Jím, Jâmes, Jíll, Jáckson, Jéffrey''' (= '''Géoffrey''') and after a prefix: '''disjŏinted, disjúnctive, injúnction, unjúst, injústice, outjúmp'''. Foreign learners, for example [[French language|francophones]], often mispronounce '''j''' as '''zh''': its normal sound is '''dzh'''. | '''j''' is common initially (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see [[English spellings]]): '''jét, jázz, jíg, jést, jêep, jólly, Jûlia, jàr, jám, Jásper, Jóhn, Jêsus, Jeŵish, Jím, Jâmes, Jíll, Jáckson, Jéffrey''' (= '''Géoffrey''') and after a prefix: '''disjŏinted, disjúnctive, injúnction, unjúst, injústice, outjúmp'''. Foreign learners, for example [[French language|francophones]] under the influence of their own language, often mispronounce '''j''' as '''zh''': its normal sound is '''dzh'''. | ||
'''j''' is rarely found alone, between two vowels, inside a word: '''cajôle, ajàr, rejéct'''. The normal spelling for the '''j''' sound here is '''g''' or '''dg''': '''pígeon, dúdgeon'''. So '''júdge''' is pronounced *júj. | '''j''' is rarely found alone, between two vowels, inside a word: '''cajôle, ajàr, rejéct'''. The normal spelling for the '''j''' sound here is '''g''' or '''dg''': '''pígeon, dúdgeon'''. So '''júdge''' is pronounced *júj. | ||
Revision as of 12:53, 27 November 2009
J, j is a letter of the Latin alphabet. It is the tenth letter of most variants, being placed after I and before K, as is the case for instance in the English alphabet. Its English name is pronounced [ˈdʒeɪ], like that of the bird jay.
Use in English
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use in English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alphabetical word list | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retroalphabetical list | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common misspellings |
j combines the two sounds d (as in dóg) and zh (as in Brézhnev or like z in ázure or s in pléasure). Many languages, including French, German, Portuguese and Arabic, do not have this sound. (Russian and Spanish have only the unvoiced version of it, t + sh, which is spelt ch in both English and Spanish, whence mácho.)
j is common initially (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see English spellings): jét, jázz, jíg, jést, jêep, jólly, Jûlia, jàr, jám, Jásper, Jóhn, Jêsus, Jeŵish, Jím, Jâmes, Jíll, Jáckson, Jéffrey (= Géoffrey) and after a prefix: disjŏinted, disjúnctive, injúnction, unjúst, injústice, outjúmp. Foreign learners, for example francophones under the influence of their own language, often mispronounce j as zh: its normal sound is dzh.
j is rarely found alone, between two vowels, inside a word: cajôle, ajàr, rejéct. The normal spelling for the j sound here is g or dg: pígeon, dúdgeon. So júdge is pronounced *júj.
j renders the d in ad- redundant: adjûdicate, ádjunct, ádjective, adjöurn, adjúst.
j is only used finally in words from Hindi: Ràj, Ámritràj. The normal spelling for the j sound finally is (d)ge: bádge, grúdge, plédge, dódge, gâuge, câge, pâge, wâge, sìêge, wâge, sâge, gàrbage, lúggage.
And g occurs more often than j before front vowels: Géoffrey, Gíllian (cf. Jíll), gîant, gigántic, Gërmany, géneral, George, géntle, and is much more common inside words: âgent, págeant, pígeon, rêgion.
Majŏrca is pronounced *Məyŏrcə.
j is one of the three letters, the others being q and v, that are never silent. It does not begin consonant clusters, and the only jj is in hàjj (which may also be spelt hádj).