The Story of the Letter “J”
In fact, during Shakespeare’s time, people did not use the letter J the way we do today. The alphabet we know now has a long and interesting history!
Life Before the Letter “J”
Long ago, the letters I and J were considered the same letter.
The letter I was used for:
the vowel sound (as in ink), and
the consonant sound that we now write as J (as in jam).
Because of this, many words looked very different from how we write them today. For example:
Juliet was written as Iuliet
Jesus was written as Iesus
John was written as Iohn
To us, these spellings look strange, but at that time, they were perfectly normal.
How Did the Letter “J” Begin?
As handwriting and printing developed, scribes and printers began adding a small tail to the letter I in certain positions. This decorative or “fancy I” slowly developed into the shape we now recognize as J.
However, even though the shape existed, it was still not treated as a separate letter of the alphabet.
Separating I and J
In 1524, an Italian scholar named Gian Giorgio Trissino suggested an important idea:
Use I for the vowel sound
Use J for the consonant sound
This idea spread across Europe, but languages—especially English—were slow to change.
When Did “J” Become a Real Letter?
The change happened gradually:
During the 1600s, some English books began using J regularly.
By the early 1700s, English finally accepted J as a separate letter.
That is how the English alphabet became the 26-letter alphabet we use today.
Did Shakespeare Use the Letter “J”?
William Shakespeare, who died in 1616, lived during this time of change.
He saw the shape J, but it was not yet a fully accepted letter. In his time, I and J were still often mixed together in writing.
Why Is This Important?
The story of the letter J teaches us that:
Language is always changing
Even the alphabet has a history
What seems normal to us today was once very different
The next time you write the letter J, remember—you are using one of the youngest letters in the English alphabet!
