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Search Britannica Click here to search Search Britannica Click here to search Subscribe Now Subscribe Login Ask the ChatbotGames & QuizzesHistory & SocietyScience & TechBiographiesAnimals & NatureGeography & TravelArts & CultureMoneyVideos a Table of Contents Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics Images Related Questions * Where did writing first develop? * Why was writing invented? * Where does the word alphabet come from? * When was the Latin-Turkish alphabet introduced? Read Next Lay, Lie, Lied, Lain: When Do We Use Which? 7 Everyday English Idioms and Where They Come From The World’s 5 Most Commonly Used Writing Systems Why Do Languages Die? Discover 10 Best Hockey Players of All Time 9 Worst Generals in History 5 Unbelievable Facts About Christopher Columbus 12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written” What’s the Difference Between a President and a Prime Minister? 7 Canceled or Reintroduced Olympic Sports 7 Questions About Lizards, Snakes, and Other Reptiles Answered Contents Geography & Travel Languages A letter Actions Cite Share Give Feedback External Websites Print Cite Share Feedback External Websites Also known as: A Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents A See all media Related Topics: vowel Great Vowel Shift back vowel letter (Show more) See all related content → a, letter that has stood at the head of the alphabet during the whole of the period through which it can be traced historically. The name of the letter in the Phoenician period resembled the Hebrew name aleph meaning “ox”; the form is thought to derive from an earlier symbol resembling the head of an ox. The letter was taken over by the Greeks in the form of alpha. In the Phoenician alphabet the letter stood for a species of breathing, as vowels were not represented in the Semitic alphabets. Click Here to see full-size tableThe sound for which the letter consistently stood in Greek and Latin was the open low back vowel, sometimes known in modern English as continental a. There are of course countless slight variations in the method of pronouncing this sound. In English the sound has undergone far-reaching changes during and since the Middle English period. These are due to fronting, that is to say, pronouncing the sound more toward the front of the mouth, or to rounding, slightly rounding the lips, which has the effect of causing the sound to be pronounced higher in the mouth. At the present time the letter represents six principal vowel sounds: (1) its original value, the low back vowel, as in father; (2) an intermediate vowel, as in plan; (3) a closer vowel, further fronted, as in hare, occurring only before the liquid r; (4) a diphthong (ei) in take or spade. This is the sound that the letter now normally represents when the vowel is long. Sound 3 represents a stage in the development of a on its way from 1 to 4 which was arrested at this point when the sound was followed by r. A similar fronting of this sound took place in the Ionic-Attic dialects of Greek, where sounds derive from the a-sound and represented in other dialects by a are represented by η. The two remaining developments of the sound are due to rounding: (5) the vowel of water and (6) the vowel of was. This development is due to the influence of the preceding bilabial spirant. This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray. i Table of Contents Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics Images Related Questions * Where did writing first develop? * Why was writing invented? * Where does the word alphabet come from? * When was the Latin-Turkish alphabet introduced? * How do Roman numerals work? Read Next Lay, Lie, Lied, Lain: When Do We Use Which? 7 Everyday English Idioms and Where They Come From The World’s 5 Most Commonly Used Writing Systems Is It Still Important to Learn Roman Numerals? Why Do Languages Die? Discover 7 Questions About Lizards, Snakes, and Other Reptiles Answered Which Religion Is the Oldest? What’s the Difference Between Great Britain and the United Kingdom? 11 Banned Books Through Time 12 Greek Gods and Goddesses Periods of American Literature 10 Best Hockey Players of All Time Contents Geography & Travel Languages I letter Actions Cite Share Give Feedback External Websites Print Cite Share Feedback External Websites Also known as: I Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Article History Table of Contents i See all media Related Topics: vowel Great Vowel Shift Roman numeral letter (Show more) See all related content → i, ninth letter of the alphabet. It corresponds to the Semitic yod, which may derive from an early symbol for hand, and to the Greek iota (Ι). Early Greek forms from the island of Thera resembled the Semitic more than the later single vertical stroke. In Attic and early Corinthian inscriptions a form resembling an S appears. The Chalcidian alphabet had the form I, and this was the form in all the Italic alphabets, including the Etruscan. The minuscule letter is merely a shortened form of the majuscule. The dot first appears in manuscripts of about the 11th century and was used to distinguish the letter and assist reading in words in which it was in close proximity to letters such as n or m (inimicis, for example). The dot frequently took the form of a dash. It became the custom in medieval manuscripts to distinguish an initial or otherwise prominent i by continuing it below the line, and it was from this habit that the differentiation of the letters i and j arose. The initial letter, nearly always lengthened, had most frequently a consonantal force, and this led to j representing the consonant, i the vowel. The two letters were not considered as separate until the 17th century. In Semitic the letter represented a sound akin to the English y. In Greek, Latin, and the Romance languages it has represented a high front vowel similar to English long e, as in be. In Latin short i represented a considerably more open sound than long i, as is evidenced by the fact that in Late Latin it ran together with long e. In modern English the sound of short i is almost identical to what it was in Latin—e.g., in the word pit. Long i has become a diphthong (ai, as in the word ice), its former sound as a high front vowel having been assumed by long e as its position shifted forward and upward. In words such as fir the letter represents the neutral vowel, while in certain words it retains a Continental sound, identical to that which it represented in Middle English—e.g, in the words pique and emir. The combinations ei and ie, as in receive and believe, have in the great majority of cases the sound of the long e in precede, although the long i sound of tide is found in many local and personal names of German origin and in a few other foreign borrowings—e.g., cider. The vowel sound in either is optional. In chemistry I is the symbol for iodine. This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray. Load Next Page Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "a". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Aug. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/A-letter. Accessed 9 August 2024. Copy Citation Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/A-letter External Websites * Medieval Writing - The History of a verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "a". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Aug. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/A-letter. Accessed 9 August 2024. Copy Citation Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/A-letter External Websites * Medieval Writing - The History of a Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information OPT OUT OF THE SALE OR SHARING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION We won't sell or share your personal information to inform the ads you see. You may still see interest-based ads if your information is sold or shared by other companies or was sold or shared previously. Dismiss Opt out Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "i". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 May. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/topic/I-letter. Accessed 9 August 2024. Copy Citation Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/I-letter External Websites * Medieval Writing - The History of i verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "i". Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 May. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/topic/I-letter. Accessed 9 August 2024. Copy Citation Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/I-letter External Websites * Medieval Writing - The History of i