Jolly Journeys: 8 Jaunty Facts About the Letter J You Need to Know
June and July. Jumping Jehoshaphat! That’s two months in a row that start with J!
These two summer months got us thinking about the tenth letter of the alphabet. It's one of the least used letters in English, yet you’ll see J quite a bit. Let’s journey through eight jazzy justifications about why we like this jaunty letter.
1. January, June, and July: The J Trio
Jeepers! Three months of the year jumpstart with the letter J. That’s more than any other letter! Go on a jolly J hunt as you play with your ABC blocks. See if you can count all the Js! As you play with your Create a Calendar Chips, can you find all the months that kick off with the letter J?
2. A Jamboree of Names that Start with J
Your Uncle Goose sends out many (so many!) Classic Letters and Speciality Letters of names that start with the letter J. How many can you spell? We still send out plenty of traditional J names like John, James, Justin, Joshua, Jennifer, Jean, Josephine, Jay, Jack, Jeremiah, Jesus, and Joseph. Juniper and Josie are also jumping up the charts in the baby names.
3. J is a Judicious Juggernaut
The letter J is everywhere! And yet, J is one of the least used letters in English. Because it’s so rare, using a J or an X earns you a whopping 8 points in Scrabble. And in our block sets, you’re not going to find as many J’s as you are A’s and E’s, either!
4. Jolly Jester, that J
Maybe we like J names and J months because J is fun to say. It’s often associated with words that bring smiles: joke, joy, jolly, jest, jovial, jingle, jazzy, jaunty, and jubilant. What other fun words do you know that jumpstart with J?
5. Jousting with J
The J sound is also associated with action. Do you like jockeying, juggling, jumping, jangling, and jostling? Of course you do! Most of the action words associated with J are downright jovial. What other action words start with the letter J?
6. Juxtaposing J and I
Did you know that J was the last letter added to the English alphabet? It was added in the 16th century. Originally, J wasn’t a letter: it was "just" a stylized version of the letter I. Before J came on board, the letter I represented both the vowel and the consonant sound in Italian. Later, the letter J spread to other European languages.
7. J has a Little Tittle
The little dot above the lowercase I and J has a special name: a tittle. The tittle was initially used to differentiate the letter I from a lowercase L. When the letter J evolved out of the letter I, the letter J inherited the jittery little tittle.
8. Jet-Setting with J
The letter J sounds different in different languages. In German, it sounds more like how English speakers pronounce the consonant Y. In Spanish, some regions pronounce the J like the English H in ham, while others pronounce it more like the Scottish CH as in loch.
No matter how you say it, you can jump, jive, and jazz up your vocabulary with the letter J! It’s jolly, jovial, and jam-packed with joy! Grab your blocks and join in a jamboree of jocular journeys with J!