Capitalisation of I

[Sam_I_Am]

I always thought I put the tittles (the word for the dots!) but when I looked back over my writing I hardly ever do. I write in cursive so it looks like I just get to the end of the word and keep going. It makes sense because I principally write in lectures when I have to keep up my lecturer.

 

[MacLeod]

I just call it archaic, and it's typical of the writing of the day. I kind of get a kick out of it and occasionally do it myself.

I wonder, does anybody dots i's and j's when they write or print? I can't remember ever actually doing that, except maybe in early grade school.

I have always dotted my i's and j's. To be honest I don't think I've seen someone not do it. The dots are so integral to those letters!

Indeed. I have never seen them without the dot.

well an undotted i could be mistaken for a l (L).

 

[Alidar Jarok]

French doesn't capitalise its formal you (vous). We're rude, never forget that !

Interestingly, it is not uncommon to capitalize you formal in Italian (Lei). I think the reason is that "lei" is also she, so it is done to distinguish the two.

If I'm not mistaken, Usted (Spanish you formal) is also capitalized, but I could be wrong. It might only be capitalized when abbreviated (Ud. for usted, Uds. for ustedes).

 

[scotpens]

I always thought I put the tittles (the word for the dots!) . . .

Heh-heh . . . tittles . . . heh-heh-heh . . .

If I'm not mistaken, Usted (Spanish you formal) is also capitalized, but I could be wrong. It might only be capitalized when abbreviated (Ud. for usted, Uds. for ustedes).

That's how I learned it in high school. The formal pronoun usted is not capitalized when spelled out, but the abbreviation Ud. is capitalized.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

OK, I couldn't remember to be sure. Now watch someone correct my Italian as well

 

[iguana_tonante]

Ask and you shall receive.

Interestingly, it is not uncommon to capitalize you formal in Italian (Lei). I think the reason is that "lei" is also she, so it is done to distinguish the two.

I don't think that confusion with "lei" (she) is the main reason (even if it's a possibility). In fact, in formal letters also Voi (plural you) and Vostro/a/i/e (plural your) are capitalized.

Nobody would ever think of capitalize "io" (I). It would be seen as the epitome of narcissism.

 

[Count Zero]

Turkish actually has a dotted i and an undotted ı. The dotted İ is even dotted when capitalized.

Yes, they're pronounced differently. Turkish has plenty of diacritical marks that unfortunately are often discarded outside of Turkey and the Turkish communities, leaving you guessing at the correct pronunciation of stuff. It's one of my personal pet peeves with news papers, magazines and sites, also regarding Czech.

 

[scotpens]

The Vietnamese language, as written in the Latin alphabet, has more diacritical marks than I've seen in any other language. Apparently Vietnamese pronunciation and orthography are very complicated.

 

[Kommander]

The personal pronoun I is capitalized to differentiate from the math symbol i.[citation needed]

Back when the Rules of Etiquette were established, it was considered socially unacceptable to refer to oneself as being a number or imaginary, rude to refer to oneself as the square root of anything, and extremely rude to refer to oneself as the square root of a negative number. Also, people were offended by math in general back then.

 

[RoJoHen]

Math can be pretty douchey sometimes.

 

[propita]

I'm kinda jealous of the writing samples here. I rarely used cursive, but my printing was excellent due to an old-style drafting class. Which also gave me the tendency to write in small caps--imagine that. But, over time, my printing lapsed, to the point that I had a hard time reading my own printing.

As for my signature, it's basically "First letter of first name, scribble, space, First letter of last name, scribble." I'm ashamed of it.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The personal pronoun I is capitalized to differentiate from the math symbol i.[citation needed]

Back when the Rules of Etiquette were established, it was considered socially unacceptable to refer to oneself as being a number or imaginary, rude to refer to oneself as the square root of anything, and extremely rude to refer to oneself as the square root of a negative number. Also, people were offended by math in general back then.

Speaking of numbers, I is number one, the way the Romans wrote it.

 

[Kommander]

^ While it is commonly believed that Roman Numerals were created by the Romans back in Bible Times, they were actually invented in 1934 for use in dating films. The stencils used to create the credits at the end of movies did not contain numbers because of a patient issue. Roman Numerals were created to circumvent this. This was almost a century after the Rules of Etiquette were created so didn't apply at the time.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

While it is commonly believed that Roman Numerals were created by the Romans back in Bible Times, they were actually invented in 1934 for use in dating films.

Some may disagree...

 

[CorporalCaptain]

they were actually invented in 1934 for use in dating films.

Citation, please.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Ancient Roman graffiti:

FOR A GOOD TIME CALL XIVIVIIIXXLDC

 

[Miss Chicken]

The foundation stone for the Penitentiary Chapel in Hobart says Anno Domini M.DCCCXXXI (1831) and the Chapel's clock has Roman numerals and was built in 1828 by Thwaites and Reed of Clerkenwell, London (it was one of 4 clocks in a single order that authorities in Tasmania bought from Thwaites and Reed).

 

[Kommander]

Some may disagree...

Well, they are free to do so.

Citation, please.

There are only so many times I can type [citation needed] in a thread before it stops being funny. However, it is totally funny the first few times.[citation needed]

The foundation stone for the Penitentiary Chapel in Hobart says Anno Domini M.DCCCXXXI (1831) and the Chapel's clock has Roman numerals and was built in 1828 by Thwaites and Reed of Clerkenwell, London (it was one of 4 clocks in a single order that authorities in Tasmania bought from Thwaites and Reed).

Any appearance of Roman numerals before 1934 is the result of time travel.

 

[Miss Chicken]

OK, you are not serious. It is sometimes hard to tell on this board (or on the internet in general).

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Any appearance of Roman numerals before 1934 is the result of time travel.

Gotya.

OK, you are not serious. It is sometimes hard to tell on this board (or on the internet in general).

Yep, as per that saw, "There's no inflection in ASCII."

Plus, no doubt there's an Internet rule to the effect that, no matter what it is, someone will take it seriously.