j

See also: J [U+004A LATIN CAPITAL LETTER J], յ [U+0575 ARMENIAN SMALL LETTER YI], Appendix:Variations of "j", and ᒎ [U+148E CANADIAN SYLLABICS COO]

j	U+006A, j LATIN SMALL LETTER J

← i
[U+0069]

Basic Latin

k →
[U+006B]

Character variations

ʲ	U+02B2, ʲ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL J

← ʱ
[U+02B1]

Spacing Modifier Letters

ʳ →
[U+02B3]

ｊ	U+FF4A, ｊ FULLWIDTH LATIN SMALL LETTER J

← ｉ
[U+FF49]

Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms

ｋ →
[U+FF4B]

Languages (50)

Translingual • English

Araki • Azerbaijani • Basque • Central Mazahua • Chipewyan • Dutch • Egyptian • Esperanto • Estonian • Faroese • Finnish • French • Fula • Gothic • Hungarian • Icelandic • Ido • Indonesian • Italian • Kankanaey • Karelian • Kashubian • Latvian • Livonian • Malay • Mam • Middle English • Navajo • Norwegian • Nupe • Polish • Portuguese • Romani • Romanian • Serbo-Croatian • Silesian • Skolt Sami • Spanish • Swedish • Tagalog • Tlingit • Turkish • Turkmen • Uzbek • Welsh • Yele • Yoruba • Zulu

Page categories

Translingual

English Wikipedia has an article on:

j

Wikipedia

Letter

j (upper case J)

The tenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation of IPA [jːɑː, ɑjjɑː] with the sound [j]: (file)

Symbol

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Palatal approximant

Wikipedia

j

(IPA) a palatal approximant a.k.a. yod.
(superscript ⟨ʲ⟩, IPA) palatalization ([j]-coloring) of a consonant; or a weak, fleeting or epenthetic [j].
(pharmacy, obsolete) one.
℥j
one ounce
(physics) imaginary unit

Gallery

Letter styles
Normal and italic J
Uppercase and lowercase J in Fraktur

English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

(letter name): enPR: jā, IPA^(key): /dʒeɪ/
- Audio (US): (file)
- Audio (UK): (file)
- Rhymes: -eɪ
- (archaic or dialectal, Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒaɪ/
  - Rhymes: -aɪ
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /dʒ/

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J, plural js or j's)

The tenth letter of the English alphabet, called jay and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

In Spanish language loanwords and names, "j" is pronounced as an "h", for example in fajita and Julio.
The name of this letter is spelled jay, plural jays
In Scotland, this letter is sometimes spelled jy, to reflect the local pronunciation.

Derived terms

j-word

Noun

j (plural js)

(slang) A term for a marijuana cigarette ('joint').
"I went outside to smoke myself a J" — Paul Simon, from the song "Late in the Evening" from the album, "One Trick Pony."
(mathematics) An alternative version of i, the positive square root of -1; used in the context of electronics.
(mathematics) The second unit vector, after i

Etymology 2

Abbreviation.

Suffix

j

(stenoscript) a suffix or final syllable /ʃən/ (-tion, -sion, etc.)

Araki

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /t͡ʃ/

Letter

j (uppercase J)

A letter of the Araki alphabet.

Azerbaijani

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /ʒ/

Letter

j lower case (upper case J)

The fifteenth letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Basque

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (Southern) /xota/, [xo̞.t̪a]
IPA^(key): (Northern) /jota/, [jo̞.t̪a]

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The tenth letter of the Basque alphabet, called jota and written in the Latin script.

Central Mazahua

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /h/, /j/

Letter

j (upper case J)

A letter of the Mazahua alphabet.

Chipewyan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /t͜ʃ/

Letter

j (upper case J)

A letter of the Chipewyan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Dutch

Pronunciation

Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -eː
(letter name): IPA^(key): /jeː/

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

the tenth letter of the Dutch alphabet

Egyptian

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /i/
- Conventional anglicization: i

Interjection

O! (vocative interjection)

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of j

j

jꜣ

[Old Kingdom]

[Middle Kingdom]

Descendants

Old Coptic: ⲏⲓ (ēi)

Verb

(transitive) to say

Usage notes

By historical times, this verb is used almost exclusively as part of the quotative jn in its various forms.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of j

j

Noun

m

(rare) statement, report, word (about someone’s good qualities) [Pyramid Texts]
- c. 2255 BCE – 2246 BCE, Pyramid Texts of Merenre — west wall of the corridor’s north section, line 25–27, spell 609.18–22:^[1]
  jn m j n (j)fd(w) jpw jꜣtjw
  ḥmsw ḥr ḏꜥb.sn prrjw m gs jꜣb n(j) pt
  wṯz.sn j.k pn nfr n nḥb-kꜣw
  ḏd.n n.k zꜣt.k jdt
  wṯz nḥb-kꜣw j.k pn nfr n psḏtj
  Translation by Allen^[2]
  A statement will be fetched to the four mound-gods who sit at their charcoal-burning and emerge from the eastern side of the sky, and they will bear this good statement of you, which your daughter the Cow has spoken for you, to Kas-Assigner, and Kas-Assigner will bear this good statement of you to the Dual Ennead.
- c. 2246 BCE – 2152 BCE, Pyramid Texts of Pepi II — east wall of the corridor’s south section, line 6–8, spell 609.18–22:^[3]
  [jn jj]j n(j) ppy [nfr]-kꜣ-[rꜥ n jfdw jpw jꜣtjw
  ḥmsw ḥr ḏꜥb.sn prrjw m] gs jꜣb n(j) pt
  [wṯz].sn jjj n(j) [ppy] nfr-kꜣ-[rꜥ] pn nfr n nḥ[b-kꜣw]
  [… p]py [nfr]-kꜣ-[rꜥ] ḏ[d.n n.k zꜣt].k [jd]t
  wṯz nḥb-kꜣw jj[j n(j)] ppy nfr-kꜣ-rꜥ pn [nfr n psḏtj]
  Translation by Allen (modified)^[2]
  [A state]ment of Pepi [Nefer]ka[re will be fetched to the four mound-gods who sit at their charcoal-burning and emerge from] the eastern side of the sky, and they [will bear] this good statement of [Pepi] Neferka[re … Pe]pi [Nefer]ka[re], which your [daughter the Co]w [has] spo[ken for you], to [Kas-As]signer, and Kas-Assigner will bear this [good] state[ment of] Pepi Neferkare [to the Dual Ennead].

Usage notes

The above quotes constitute all the known attestations of this word.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of j

jjj

j

Noun

m

some part of a reed, likely panicles or leaves

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of j

j

References

Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 25, 25.5
Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 7
James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 199, 319, 455.

^ Allen, James (2013) A New Concordance of the Pyramid Texts, volume V, Providence: Brown University, PT 609.18–22 (Pyr. 1708a–1708f), M
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Allen, James (2005) The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, page 230
^ Allen, James (2013) A New Concordance of the Pyramid Texts, volume V, Providence: Brown University, PT 609.18–22 (Pyr. 1708a–1708f), N

Esperanto

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /jo/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /j/
Audio: (file)

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The thirteenth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called jo and written in the Latin script.

Estonian

Estonian Wikipedia has an article on:

j

Wikipedia ^et

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈjotʲː/

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The tenth letter of the Estonian alphabet, called jott and written in the Latin script.

Faroese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

j (upper case J)

The twelfth letter of the Faroese alphabet, called jodd and written in the Latin script.

Finnish

Etymology

The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and j for information on the development of the glyph itself.

Pronunciation

Audio; “jii, Jaakko, tarjous, jii”: (file)

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The tenth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called jii and written in the Latin script.

French

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /ʒi/

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The tenth letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Fula

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dʒ/

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

A letter of the Fula alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Common to all varieties of Fula (Fulfulde / Pulaar / Pular).

Gothic

Romanization

j

Romanization of 𐌾

Hungarian

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈj]
(letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈjeː]

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The seventeenth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called jé and written in the Latin script.

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	j	j-k
accusative	j-t	j-ket
dative	j-nek	j-knek
instrumental	j-vel	j-kkel
causal-final	j-ért	j-kért
translative	j-vé	j-kké
terminative	j-ig	j-kig
essive-formal	j-ként	j-kként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	j-ben	j-kben
superessive	j-n	j-ken
adessive	j-nél	j-knél
illative	j-be	j-kbe
sublative	j-re	j-kre
allative	j-hez	j-khez
elative	j-ből	j-kből
delative	j-ről	j-kről
ablative	j-től	j-ktől
non-attributive possessive - singular	j-é	j-ké
non-attributive possessive - plural	j-éi	j-kéi

Possessive forms of j
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	j-m	j-im
2nd person sing.	j-d	j-id
3rd person sing.	j-je	j-i
1st person plural	j-nk	j-ink
2nd person plural	j-tek	j-itek
3rd person plural	j-jük	j-ik

Icelandic

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /jɔðː/

Letter

j (upper case J)

The thirteenth letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Ido

Pronunciation

(context pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʒ/
(letter name) IPA^(key): /ʒe/

Letter

j (upper case J)

The tenth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Indonesian

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /d͡ʒe/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /d͡ʒ/

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The tenth letter of the Indonesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Italian

Letter

j f or m (invariable, lower case, upper case J)

the tenth letter of the Latin alphabet, called i lunga in Italian

Usage notes

The letter J is not considered part of the contemporary Italian alphabet. See under J.

Kankanaey

Etymology

Borrowed from Tagalog j. Letter pronunciation is influenced by English j.

Pronunciation

(letter name) IPA^(key): /ˈdjej/ [ˈd͡ʒei̯]
- Rhymes: -ej
(phoneme) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒ/ [d͡ʒ]

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The tenth letter of the Kankanaey alphabet, called dyey and written in the Latin script.

References

Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (2016) Ortograpiya di Kankanaëy [Kankanaey Orthography]‎^[2] (in Kankanaey and Tagalog), →ISBN, pages 10-11

Karelian

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

j (upper case J)

The tenth letter of the Karelian alphabet, called jii and written in the Latin script.

Kashubian

Etymology

The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Kashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, and j for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The fourteenth letter of the Kashubian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Latvian

Latvian Wikipedia has an article on:

j

Wikipedia ^lv

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [j]
Audio: (file)

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The fifteenth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called jē and written in the Latin script.

Livonian

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

j (upper case J)

The fifteenth letter of the Livonian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Malay

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The tenth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Mam

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /χ/

Letter

j (uppercase J)

A letter of the Mam alphabet.

Middle English

Pronoun

j

Alternative form of I (“I”)

Navajo

Letter

j (upper case J)

A letter of the Navajo alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Norwegian

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /jeː/, /jodː/, [jeː], [jɔdː]
(phoneme): IPA^(key): [j], [jː]

Letter

j (upper case J)

Antepenultimate letter of the Norwegian alphabet, coming after i and before k.

Nupe

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /d͡ʒ/

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The twelfth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Polish

Etymology

The Polish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the history of Polish orthography article on Wikipedia for more, and j for development of the glyph itself.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈjɔt/

Letter

j (upper case J, lower case)

The thirteenth letter of the Polish alphabet, called jot and written in the Latin script.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /ʒ/
(letter name) IPA^(key): /ˈʒɔ.tɐ/
Audio (Brazil): (file)

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The tenth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romani

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

(International Standard) The thirteenth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
(Pan-Vlax) The fourteenth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

References

Yūsuke Sumi (2018) “J, j”, in ニューエクスプレス　ロマ（ジプシー）語 [New Express Romani (Gypsy)] (in Japanese), Tokyo: Hakusuisha, →ISBN, page 14

Romanian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʒ/

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The thirteenth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called je or jî and written in the Latin script.

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

J (uppercase)

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /j/

Letter

j (Cyrillic spelling ј)

The fourteenth letter of the Serbo-Croatian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Silesian

Etymology

The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Silesian language article on Wikipedia for more, and j for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The twelfth letter of the Silesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /ʝ/

Letter

j (upper case J)

The seventeenth letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Spanish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (phoneme) /x/
IPA^(key): (letter name) /ˈxota/ [ˈxo.t̪a]
- Audio (Spain): (file)
- Rhymes: -ota

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The tenth letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Swedish

Pronunciation

Letter name

IPA^(key): /jiː/

Phoneme

IPA^(key): /j/, /ɧ/
- Homophone: g (in some positions)

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The tenth letter of the Swedish alphabet, called ji and written in the Latin script.

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish j. Each pronunciation has a different source:

Filipino alphabet pronunciation is influenced by English j.
Abecedario pronunciation is from Spanish j.

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog)
- IPA^(key): /ˈdjej/ [ˈd͡ʒeɪ̯] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
  - IPA^(key): (no yod coalescence) /ˈdjej/ [ˈd̪jeɪ̯] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
  - Rhymes: -ej
- IPA^(key): /ˈhota/ [ˈhoː.t̪ɐ] (letter name, Abecedario)
  - Rhymes: -ota
- IPA^(key): /d͡ʒ/ [d͡ʒ] (phoneme)
  - IPA^(key): (no yod coalescence) /ds/ [d̪s] (phoneme)
- IPA^(key): /h/ [h] (phoneme, Spanish unadapted loanwords)
- IPA^(key): /s/ [s] (phoneme, Spanish unadapted loanwords, obsolete)

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J, Baybayin spelling ᜇ᜔ᜌᜒᜌ᜔)

The tenth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Filipino alphabet), called dyey and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

This letter is mostly used only in slang, proper nouns, or unadapted loanwords.
Some purists of Tagalog replace j in words with dy.

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J, Baybayin spelling ᜑᜓᜆ)

(historical) The eleventh letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abecedario), called jota and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

Some Spanish words originally with Spanish j tend to be replaced with h in Tagalog.

Tlingit

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /tʃ/

Letter

j (upper case J)

A letter of the Tlingit alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Turkish

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /ʒ/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /ʒeː/

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The thirteenth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called je and written in the Latin script.

Turkmen

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒ/

Letter

j (upper case J)

The eleventh letter of the Turkmen alphabet, called je and written in the Latin script.

Uzbek

Pronunciation

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒ/

Letter

j (upper case J)

The ninth letter of the Uzbek alphabet, called je and written in the Latin script.

Welsh

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dʒeː/

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The fourteenth letter of the Welsh alphabet, called èl and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by i and followed by l.

Mutation

Dd cannot be mutated in Welsh.

Yele

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /t̪ʲ/ (nj is pronounced [nd͡ʑ])

Letter

j

A letter of the Yele alphabet. Only occurs in the digraph ⟨nj⟩.

Yoruba

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /d͡ʒ/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /d͡ʒí/

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The eleventh letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called jí and written in the Latin script.

Zulu

Letter

j (lower case, upper case J)

The tenth letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.