J (letter): Difference between revisions
imported>John Dvorak m (J moved to J (letter): move letter) |
imported>Ro Thorpe |
||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
'''J''' is the tenth letter of the [[English alphabet]]. Its name is pronounced like that of the bird ''jay''. | '''J''' is the tenth letter of the [[English alphabet]]. Its name is pronounced like that of the bird ''jay''. | ||
==Use in English== | ==Use in English== | ||
'''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 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 the unvoiced version of it, t + sh, which is spelt '''ch''' in both English and Spanish, whence '''mácho'''.) | ||
j likes to occur initially (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see [[English phonemes]]): jét, jázz, jíg, jést, jêep, jólly, 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, often mispronounce j as zh: its normal sound is dzh. | j likes to occur initially (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see [[English phonemes]]): jét, jázz, jíg, jést, jêep, jólly, 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, often mispronounce j as zh: its normal sound is dzh. | ||
Revision as of 16:02, 27 November 2008
J is the tenth letter of the English alphabet. Its name is pronounced like that of the bird jay.
Use in English
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 the unvoiced version of it, t + sh, which is spelt ch in both English and Spanish, whence mácho.)
j likes to occur initially (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see English phonemes): jét, jázz, jíg, jést, jêep, jólly, 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, 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. It 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 is more usual 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.
j does not begin consonant clusters, and the only jj is in hàjj.