What's the deal with letter 'J'?

Factual Questions
1

There’s a current thread that is discussing the frequency of letters appearing in text. J comes in dead last. I was thinking about this, and trying to come up with words with J in them. I noticed a strange phenomenon - The vast majority of words the have a J in them, have it as the first letter - Judge, Jump, Junk, Jalopy. I had a hard time even thinking of a word that had J in the middle - the first one I thought of (Haj) came to English from Arabic. After a lot of searching, I came up with a few - Subject, Injury, Injustice, Project. Notice that these all seem to be words that started with J + a prefix (Sub-, Pro-, In-).

So, why is J so rarely found anywhere but at the beginning of a word?

2

A name like Beowulf, and you miss ‘fjord’?

I’m going to make a guess. English is substantially derived from German (or they have common roots, anyway). In modern German, the J (‘yot’) makes a ‘y’ sound. I can think of a few words with y-sounds in the middle (e.g., cayenne, canyon), but not that many. And the two examples have 'y’s in them. So perhaps we don’t often use ‘j’ in the middle of a word because we have the ‘y’?

3

Inject, reject, project …

4

He says those are J-words with a prefix.

5

Here is a brief article by Cecil about the letter J. Not directly answering your question, but related and of interest to some.

Why no “J” street?

6

Because J is a variation of I as pronounced when it was the initial letter of the word?

7

cajole

ETA: pejorative, cajun

8

Enjoy & Rejoice.

9

Because the native English sound is often spelled “dg” (edge [Old English ecg], judge*, etc.) I am pretty sure it does not occur initially in Old English. Some soungs just don’t — ng (as in singing) does not occur initially in English, though it does in many languages, and ts (as in its) very rarely does, and only in borrowed words. I’d hazard a guess that most of the English J’s are from Latin, where it’s a variant of I [the --ject-- series] and only gets the “dg” sound in English. French zh gets borrowed as English dg, but half the time it’s spelled with a g [damage, courage vs. journal].

ETA: As far as why it’s a variant of I, in Latin I could have two sounds. A true vowel, like the I in machine or pin (basically), and a semivowel, like our Y as in yes. For various reasons more to do with handwriting than anything, initial I’s got tails. Later still, post-Elizabethan English, some brave soul noticed two ways of writing the letter, two sounds, and it took. Same deal with U & V.

*The spelling of “judge” just about says it all. Three sounds: J, U, J. One “J” spelled “J”, one spelled “DGE.”

10

Majority.

11

And what about banjo? It’s not a prefix word. It’s just banjo. You’re not banning Jo, you’re playing the banjo.

So there!

12

Its probably just the people you hang out with. I use ‘J’ words all the time. I probably say “Jormundgand” at least a dozen times a day! :smiley:

13

Of course, “banjo” comes from some African language; the American instrument known as the banjo was derived from a common African instrument called the “banjolele”.

14

Initial “j” is usually the result of Latin words which began with “i”, such as Julius. This extends to include words derived from Latin with a prefix before the “j” (adjudge, for example, from ad + judicare).

Medial “j” is usually the result of words where the sound we call “soft g” is to be used before the letters “a” or “o”, since in English, the “g” before such letters is supposed to be pronounced “hard” (as in goat). Thus, I presume, the spelling of “banjo.”

15

:smack:

Careless reading on my part, sorry.

16

Any more of these hijinks and you’re all banished to Fiji. Idjits.

17

Thats not a major mistake, don’t worry.
adjective, adjectives, adjoin, adjoined, adjoining, adjourn, adjourned, adjourning, adjourns, adjudicate, adjudicated, adjunct, adjust, adjusted, adjuster, adjusting, adjusts, ajar

bejeweled

Dojo, Donjons

Ejaculate, ejaculated, ejaculating, ejaculator, ejaculators, eject, ejected, ejecting, ejector, ejectors

Fuji

Hajji

inject, injected, injecting, injection, injections, injector, injectors, injects, injured, injuries, injurious, injury, interject, interjected, interjecting, interjections, interjector, interjects

jab, jabbed, jabber, jabberer, jabbering, jabberwocky, jabbing, jabot, jabs, jacamar, jacaranda, jacinth, jackal, jack, jackass, jacked, jacket, jacketed, jacketing, jackets, jackfruit, jackhammer, jackhammered, jackhammering, jackhammers, jacinth, jackknife, jackknifed, jackpot, jackpots, jackrabbit, jackrabbits, jacks, jacquard, jacquards, Jacuzzi, jade, jaded, jadestone, jadestones, jag, jagged, jaggedly, jaggiest jaggy, jags, Jaguar, Jaguars, jail, jailbird, jailbirds, jailbreak, jailbreaks, jailed, jailer, jailers, jailhouse, jailing, jailor, jails, Jakarta, jalapeno, jalapenos, jalopies, jalopy, jalousie, jam, Jamaica, Jamaican, jamb, Jambalaya, jamboree, jamborees, jambs, jammed, jamming, jams, jangle, jangler, janglers, janitor, janitors, January, Japan, Japanese, jar, jardinière, jarred, jarring, jargon, jars, Jasmine, jaundice, jaundiced, jaunt, jaunted, jauntily, jaunting, jaunts, jaunty, java, javelin, javelins, jaw, jawbone, jawbones, jawboning, jawed, jaws, jay, jaybird, jaybirds, jays, jaywalk, jaywalked, jaywalker, jaywalking, jaywalks, jazz, jazzed, jazzing, jazzy

jealous, jealousness, jealously, jealousy, jeep, jeeps, jeer, jeered, jeerer, jeering, jeeringly, jeers, jell, jelled, jellies, jelling, jells, jelly, jellybean, jellybeans, jellyfish, jellyroll, jellyrolls, jeopardize, jeopardized, jeopardizing, jeopardizes, jeopardy, jerk, jerking, jerky, jester, jesters, jesting, jests, Jesus, jet, jetlag, jetliner, jetliners, jetted, jetting, jets, jetties, jetty, jewel, jeweled, jeweler, jewelers, jewelry, jewels, Jewish, Jezebel

jib, jibe, jibs, jiffy, jig, jiggled, jiggles, jigs, jigsaw, jigsaws, jilt, jilted, jilter, jilters, jilting, jilts, jingle, jingles, jinglier, jingling, jingly, jinx, jinxed, jitter, jitterbug, jitters, jittery, jive, jives

job, jobber, jobbers, jobbing, jobless, joblessness, jobs, jock, jockey, jockeyed, jockeying, jockeys, jocks, jockstrap, jockstraps, jocular, jodhpur, jodhpurs, jog, jogged, jogger, joggers, jogging, jogs, join, joined, joiner, joiners, joining, joins, joint, jointed, joints, joist, joisted, joisting, joists, joke, joker, jokers, jokes, joking, jokingly, jolly, jolt, jolted, jolter, jolting, jolts, Jonquil, Jordan, josh, joshing, jostle, jostled, jostles, jot, jots, jotted, jotter, jotting, journal, journaling, journalism, journalist, journalistic, journals, journey, journeyed, journeyer, journeying, journeyman, journeymen, journeyers, journeys, joust, jousted, jouster, jousting, jovial, joviality, jovially, jowl, jowls, joy, joyful, joyfulness, joyfully, joyless, joyous, joyride, joyriding, joystick, joysticks, joys

jubilance, jubilancy, jubilant, jubilantly, jubilation, jubilations, jubilee, jubilees, Judaism, judge, judged, judger, judges, judgeship, judging, judgment, judgmental, judgments, judicable, judicative, judicator, judicators, judicatory, judicature, judicial, judicially, judicious, Judo, jug, juggernaut, juggernauting, juggernauts, juggle, juggled, juggler, jugglers, juggles, jugs, jugular, juice, juiced, juicer, juicers, juices, juiciest, juiceless, juicy, Jujitsu, jukebox, julep, juleps, julienne, juliennes, July, jumble, jumbled, jumbler, jumbling, jumbles, jumbo, jump, jumper, jumped, jumpers, jumpiness, jumping, jumps, jumpstart, jumpstarted, jumpstarting, jumpstarts, jumpsuit, jumpsuits, jumpy, junction, junctions, juncture, junctures, June, Juneau, jungle, jungles, junior, juniper, junipers, junk, junked, junker, junkie, junkies, junking, junks, junkyard, junkyards, Jupiter, Jurassic, juries, jurisdiction, jurisdictional, jurisdictions, jurist, juror, jurors, jury, just, justice, justifiable, justifiably, justification, justified, justifier, justifies, justifiably, justifier, justify, justness, justly, jut, jute, jutes, jutted, jutting, juts, juvenile, juveniles, juxtapose, juxtaposed, juxtaposes, juxtaposing

major, majors, majority, mojo

pajamas

unjust, unjustified, unjustly

windjammer
cite: a wiki cite.

18

Perjury

19

Can’t believe no one’s said hijack. It was the first one I thought of.

20

A very un-jejune thread