Why capital I? SOLVED - Page 4

Kumabjorn · 11-09-2012, 07:11 AM

Diana I & Queen Camilla

HarryT · 11-09-2012, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

Wouldn't that be the Queen's English, at least until Charles takes the throne?
BTW, will he be Charles II?
I can't recall any higher numbers in the annals of English history, not that I'm well versed in it.

Charles III. Charles II (the son of Charles I, who lost his head) reigned from 1649-1651.

fjtorres · 11-09-2012, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

BTW, will he be Charles II?
I can't recall any higher numbers in the annals of English history, not that I'm well versed in it.

Charlie isn't getting his butt on the throne.
The Queen is going to hang around (modern medical tech is grand) until he goes senile and William V can take the throne.

PainMike · 11-09-2012, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Charlie isn't getting his butt on the throne.
The Queen is going to hang around (modern medical tech is grand) until he goes senile and William V can take the throne.

Indeed, the Basil Fawlty Proclamation is still not implemented.

Conor · 11-09-2012, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Charles III. Charles II (the son of Charles I, who lost his head) reigned from 1649-1651.

I think I read somewhere that he wouldn't take the name "Charles". He doesn't have to.

Kumabjorn · 11-09-2012, 01:57 PM

No, Tubemonkey already told us he is taking the name Diana I.

James_Wilde · 11-09-2012, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazella20

When you use 'I' you're referring to yourself, so it needs to be capitalized, just like how names are capitalized.

Won't work, Gazella20. When you use 'you' (to one person) you're referring to that person, so You should be capitalized, as if you said John.

When you use 'he' you're referring to one person, so He should be capitalized.

Gazella · 11-09-2012, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James_Wilde

Won't work, Gazella20. When you use 'you' (to one person) you're referring to that person, so You should be capitalized, as if you said John.

When you use 'he' you're referring to one person, so He should be capitalized.

I guess you're right. I've been following this thread hoping for a definite and specific answer but I guess there isn't a real reason behind this. I guess we were just taught to capitalize our I's for no reason.

fjtorres · 11-09-2012, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazella20

I guess we were just taught to capitalize our I's for no reason.

Oh, there is a reason: you're *expected* to capitalize.
The original reason may be lost to the mists of time and tradition but the expectation remains.
"Ours is not to question, but to obey..."

rleguillow · 11-12-2012, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

I have always meekly accepted that it is I and not i, but why? There is no word that is i so why the extra step of I? I can't even write i without correcting it afterwards because auto-correct will immediately change it back to I.
Does anyone know how the need for capitalization came about?

"Thou art God".

Heinlein

HarryT · 11-13-2012, 05:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazella20

I guess you're right. I've been following this thread hoping for a definite and specific answer but I guess there isn't a real reason behind this. I guess we were just taught to capitalize our I's for no reason.

The Online Etymology Dictionary (a source which I've found to be reliable over the years) has a reasonable explanation:

Quote:

I

12c. shortening of O.E. ic, first person singular nominative pronoun, from P.Gmc. *ekan (cf. O.Fris. ik, O.N. ek, Norw. eg, Dan. jeg, O.H.G. ih, Ger. ich, Goth. ik), from PIE *eg-, nominative form of the first person singular pronoun (cf. Skt. aham, Hitt. uk, L. ego (source of Fr. Je), Gk. ego, Rus. ja, Lith. aš). Reduced to i by mid-12c. in northern England, it began to be capitalized mid-13c. to mark it as a distinct word and avoid misreading in handwritten manuscripts.

Quote:

The reason for writing I is ... the orthographic habit in the middle ages of using a 'long i' (that is, j or I) whenever the letter was isolated or formed the last letter of a group; the numeral 'one' was written j or I (and three iij, etc.), just as much as the pronoun. [Otto Jespersen, "Growth and Structure of the English Language," p.233]

The form ich or ik, especially before vowels, lingered in northern England until c.1400 and survived in southern dialects until 18c. The dot on the "small" letter -i- began to appear in 11c. Latin manuscripts, to distinguish the letter from the stroke of another letter (such as -m- or -n-). Originally a diacritic, it was reduced to a dot with the introduction of Roman type fonts.

Gazella · 11-13-2012, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The Online Etymology Dictionary (a source which I've found to be reliable over the years) has a reasonable explanation:

Very interesting! And thank you for the reference, I've never heard of the Online Etymology Dictionary and wasn't aware that such a site existed. I'm literally just entering random terms and it's fascinating to be able to read the history and origins of the words.

Freeshadow · 11-13-2012, 10:34 AM

That was interesting indeed
And makes the thread's title deserve a SOLVED addon.

HarryT

Kumabjorn · 11-13-2012, 11:48 AM

I actually edited my first post, but it doesn't show up on the thread's title, only on the original post.

HarryT · 11-13-2012, 12:11 PM

Would you like me to edit the thread title?

11-09-2012, 07:11 AM	#46
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 3,018 Karma: 15802129 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	Diana I & Queen Camilla __________________ Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?

11-09-2012, 01:57 PM	#51
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 3,018 Karma: 15802129 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	No, Tubemonkey already told us he is taking the name Diana I. __________________ Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?

11-13-2012, 10:34 AM	#58
Freeshadow temp. out of service Posts: 1,981 Karma: 10577116 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Duisburg (DE) Device: BeBook mini	That was interesting indeed And makes the thread's title deserve a SOLVED addon. HarryT __________________ The reason for having edited one of my posts is a typo unless explicitly stated otherwise. As I am not a native (english) speaker feel free to correct my usage of idioms and expressions, as improvement in eloquence is taken as a gift.

11-13-2012, 11:48 AM	#59
Kumabjorn Basculocolpic Posts: 3,018 Karma: 15802129 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sweden Device: Kindle 3 WiFi, Kindle 4SO, Kindle for Android, Sony PRS-350 and PRS-T1	I actually edited my first post, but it doesn't show up on the thread's title, only on the original post. __________________ Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?

11-13-2012, 12:11 PM	#60
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 54,674 Karma: 26165759 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Touch, PW, Fire HD, iPad 3, iPhone 4, Samsung Tab 2 7 + More	Would you like me to edit the thread title? __________________ Harry Currently proofreading The Poison Belt, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

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