I, n.1 : Oxford English Dictionary - Chuyên Trang Chia Sẻ Kiến Thức Thời Trang Mới Nhất

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Etymology: The ninth letter and third vowel of the Roman alphabet, going back through the Greek Iota to the Semitic Yod. The simple form I of the character in Greek from about 500

b.c.

, and in the Roman alphabet, was reduced from a more complex Early Greek form ?, which originated in the Phœnician ?. The Semitic letter represents a consonant (= English Y in yellow, yoke, etc.), but this forms diphthongs with preceding a and e, and ‘quiesces’ in a preceding i, making long ī. It is thus, in the body or at the end of a word, often an indication of the vowel ī; and it was adopted as the symbol of the i vowel by the Greeks, who had no y consonant. In the Latin alphabet, on the other hand, it was used with both values, viz. that of i vowel (long and short), and y consonant, as in ibīdem, ībis; iacui, Iupiter, Iouis. Even when the consonant passed in Romanic from the sound of Y to that of ‘G soft’ (Italian gi-, English and Old French j), and subsequently, in some languages, to other sounds, it continued for many centuries to be expressed by the same letter as the vowel I, with which it had no longer phonetic relations. At length, after 1600 (in England chiefly 1630–40), a differentiation was made, the consonant being expressed by the character J j, in its origin merely a variant form of I i, used in certain positions; for the history of which see the next letter J. The result is that, in the modern development of the Roman alphabet, the ninth letter has been split into two, I and J; and I remains only a vowel.

The original value of the Græco-Roman I vowel when long was that of the ‘high-front-narrow’ vowel of Bell’s scale, which the letter still has in all the continental languages, and in some English words thence adopted, as Louisa, machine, clique, casino, a sound which in native English words is now normally represented by ē, ee, in be, see, mete, meet. The short i was doubtless originally the true ‘short’ of the same sound, the ‘narrow’ i in French fini, Italian fortissimo; but, in Germanic, the short vowel represented by i has probably always been the corresponding ‘wide’ vowel

/, as in English finny, missing. Thus, the current sound of short i in him, it, has, apparently, come down unchanged from Old English times. Long i, on the other hand, has undergone a great change, having about the beginning of the modern period changed into a diphthong with i as its second element. This evidently arose from the practice of beginning the utterance of the long vowel before the vocal organs had quite attained the very close position of long

iː

/, so that the sound began with an opener and less definite vowel quality, which tended in use to become more and more distinct from the second element. The exact quality of the first element at present is difficult to fix: it varies greatly in different localities and in different individuals. ‘We have symbolized the diphthong by

əɪ

/, taking the first element as the “mid-mixed-wide” vowel of Melville Bell’s scale, the general “obscure vowel” of English; but some phonetists take it as the “mid-back” or the “low-mixed” vowel, wide or narrow; and it may be heard locally as the “mid-front” and “low-front” wide or narrow.’ ( N.E.D.) This diphthongization of original long ī is not peculiar to English, but has taken place also in German and Dutch. The difference is that in English the old simple vowel symbol is retained for the new diphthong, while in German and Dutch this is expressed by the new diphthongal symbols ei and ij (formerly y): compare Old English, Old High German, Old Low German mīn with English mine, German mein, Dutch mijn, formerly myn.

In addition to the two normal modern English values

/ and

aɪ

/, the letter i has others, due either to the disturbing influence of a following r, to the retention by foreign words of their foreign sounds, or to the obscuring effect of absence of stress in certain positions. The sounds that occur in stressed syllables are the following:1. /ɪ/in hit/hɪt/.2. /aɪ/in ice/aɪs/.3. /aɪə/in hire/haɪə(r)/.4. /ɜː/in fir/fɜː/.5. /iː/in pique/piːk/.6. /ɪə/in emir/ɛˈmɪə(r)/.

All these may occur also in unstressed syllables.

The combination ie has the value of No. 2 in die, dies, died, etc.; of Nos. 5 and 6 in field, chief, grieve, pier, grenadier, etc.; exceptionally that of

/ in friend,

/ in sieve. Finally, and unstressed, it has that of simple

/, as in aerie, cities, pitied.

The combinations ai, ei, oi represent diphthongs in Isaiah

aɪˈzaɪə

/, aisle

aɪl

/, eider

aɪdə(r)

/, oil

ɔɪl

/, etc.; but ai, ei merely represent

eɪ

ɛə

iː

/ or

ɪə

/ in aim

eɪm

/, air

ɛə(r)

/, rein

reɪn

/, feint, heir

ɛə(r)

/, receive, receipt, Leith

liːθ

/, weir

wɪə(r)

/, etc.

Before another vowel in the suffixes -ian, -ier, -ion, -ious, etc., i has often the consonantal value of

/, or a value which readily passes into it: e.g. Christian, clothier, courtier, million, onion, union, copious, previous; after certain consonants, this

/ value is merged in the consonant, which it palatalizes, as in spacious

ˈspeɪʃəs

/, nation

ˈneɪʃən

/, soldier

ˈsəʊldʒə(r)

/, fusion

ˈfjuːʒən

/, Persia

pɜːʃə

/, hosier

həʊʒə(r)

/, fashion

ˈfæʃən

in positions in which it might have been taken merely for the stroke of another letter. It appears to have begun in Latin manuscripts about the 11th cent. with the ii in such words as ingeníí, and to have been thence extended to i in contiguity with m, n, or u, and finally to have been used with i in all positions. The accent form of the mark, seen in Caxton’s type and in modern German, was in 15th cent. handwriting often developed into a long curved flourish; but in books printed in Roman type it was reduced to the round dot now in use. In chirography, the dot still largely serves its original purpose of indicating the i; hence the phrase to dot the i’s.

The same cause that led to the dotting of i contributed largely to the formation of j, originally merely a lengthened or tailed i used finally as a more distinctive form, especially when two i’s came together, as in ingenij, or in the numerals ij, iij, viij, etc.; also to the substitution of y for i, especially in contiguity with m, n, u, etc., or when final. In English it became at length a kind of scribal canon that i must not be used as a final letter, but must in this position be changed to y; but in inflected forms, where the i was not final, it was retained; hence the current spellings, city, cities; holy, holier, holiest; carry, carries, carried, carrier; weary, wearisome, etc. In modern English no native word ends in i; in alien or adopted words so ending, the i is usually pronounced

aɪ

/ in cirri, foci, magi, and other Latin plurals, also in Rabbi, Rabboni, Eli, Levi, and other Hebrew names, but as

/ in Cadi, kohlrabi, Mahdi, and other foreign words of recent adoption.

The minuscule or ‘small letter’ i is now surmounted by a dot. This is no original part of the letter, but is derived from a diacritic mark, like an acute accent, used to particularize thein positions in which it might have been taken merely for the stroke of another letter. It appears to have begun in Latin manuscripts about the 11th cent. with the ii in such words as ingeníí, and to have been thence extended to i in contiguity with m, n, or u, and finally to have been used with i in all positions. The accent form of the mark, seen in Caxton’s type and in modern German, was in 15th cent. handwriting often developed into a long curved flourish; but in books printed in Roman type it was reduced to the round dot now in use. In chirography, the dot still largely serves its original purpose of indicating the i; hence the phrase to dot the i’s.The same cause that led to the dotting of i contributed largely to the formation of j, originally merely a lengthened or tailed i used finally as a more distinctive form, especially when two i’s came together, as in ingenij, or in the numerals ij, iij, viij, etc.; also to the substitution of y for i, especially in contiguity with m, n, u, etc., or when final. In English it became at length a kind of scribal canon that i must not be used as a final letter, but must in this position be changed to y; but in inflected forms, where the i was not final, it was retained; hence the current spellings, city, cities; holy, holier, holiest; carry, carries, carried, carrier; weary, wearisome, etc. In modern English no native word ends in i; in alien or adopted words so ending, the i is usually pronouncedin cirri, foci, magi, and other Latin plurals, also in Rabbi, Rabboni, Eli, Levi, and other Hebrew names, but asin Cadi, kohlrabi, Mahdi, and other foreign words of recent adoption.

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The ninth letter and third vowel of the Roman alphabet, going back through the Greek Iota to the Semitic Yod. The simple formof the character in Greek from about 500, and in the Roman alphabet, was reduced from a more complex Early Greek form ?, which originated in the Phœnician ?. The Semitic letter represents a consonant (= English Y in yellow, yoke, etc.), but this forms diphthongs with preceding a and e, and ‘quiesces’ in a preceding i, making long ī. It is thus, in the body or at the end of a word, often an indication of the vowel ī; and it was adopted as the symbol of the i vowel by the Greeks, who had no y consonant. In the Latin alphabet, on the other hand, it was used with both values, viz. that of i vowel (long and short), and y consonant, as in ibīdem, ībis; iacui, Iupiter, Iouis. Even when the consonant passed in Romanic from the sound of Y to that of ‘G soft’ (Italian gi-, English and Old French j), and subsequently, in some languages, to other sounds, it continued for many centuries to be expressed by the same letter as the vowel I, with which it had no longer phonetic relations. At length, after 1600 (in England chiefly 1630–40), a differentiation was made, the consonant being expressed by the character J j, in its origin merely a variant form of I i, used in certain positions; for the history of which see the next letter J. The result is that, in the modern development of the Roman alphabet, the ninth letter has been split into two, I and J; and I remains only a vowel.The original value of the Græco-Romanvowel when long was that of the ‘high-front-narrow’ vowel of Bell’s scale, which the letter still has in all the continental languages, and in some English words thence adopted, as Louisa, machine, clique, casino, a sound which in native English words is now normally represented by ē, ee, in be, see, mete, meet. The short i was doubtless originally the true ‘short’ of the same sound, the ‘narrow’ i in French fini, Italian fortissimo; but, in Germanic, the short vowel represented by i has probably always been the corresponding ‘wide’ vowel, as in English finny, missing. Thus, the current sound of short i in him, it, has, apparently, come down unchanged from Old English times. Long i, on the other hand, has undergone a great change, having about the beginning of the modern period changed into a diphthong with i as its second element. This evidently arose from the practice of beginning the utterance of the long vowel before the vocal organs had quite attained the very close position of long, so that the sound began with an opener and less definite vowel quality, which tended in use to become more and more distinct from the second element. The exact quality of the first element at present is difficult to fix: it varies greatly in different localities and in different individuals. ‘We have symbolized the diphthong by, taking the first element as the “mid-mixed-wide” vowel of Melville Bell’s scale, the general “obscure vowel” of English; but some phonetists take it as the “mid-back” or the “low-mixed” vowel, wide or narrow; and it may be heard locally as the “mid-front” and “low-front” wide or narrow.’ ( N.E.D.) This diphthongization of original long ī is not peculiar to English, but has taken place also in German and Dutch. The difference is that in English the old simple vowel symbol is retained for the new diphthong, while in German and Dutch this is expressed by the new diphthongal symbols ei and ij (formerly y): compare Old English, Old High German, Old Low German mīn with English mine, German mein, Dutch mijn, formerly myn.In addition to the two normal modern English valuesand, the letter i has others, due either to the disturbing influence of a following r, to the retention by foreign words of their foreign sounds, or to the obscuring effect of absence of stress in certain positions. The sounds that occur in stressed syllables are the following:1. /ɪ/in hit/hɪt/.2. /aɪ/in ice/aɪs/.3. /aɪə/in hire/haɪə(r)/.4. /ɜː/in fir/fɜː/.5. /iː/in pique/piːk/.6. /ɪə/in emir/ɛˈmɪə(r)/.All these may occur also in unstressed syllables.The combination ie has the value of No. 2 in die, dies, died, etc.; of Nos. 5 and 6 in field, chief, grieve, pier, grenadier, etc.; exceptionally that ofin friend,in sieve. Finally, and unstressed, it has that of simple, as in aerie, cities, pitied.The combinations ai, ei, oi represent diphthongs in Isaiah, aisle, eider, oil, etc.; but ai, ei merely representorin aim, air, rein, feint, heir, receive, receipt, Leith, weir, etc.Before another vowel in the suffixes -ian, -ier, -ion, -ious, etc., i has often the consonantal value of, or a value which readily passes into it: e.g. Christian, clothier, courtier, million, onion, union, copious, previous; after certain consonants, thisvalue is merged in the consonant, which it palatalizes, as in spacious, nation, soldier, fusion, Persia, hosier, fashion