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Message board > Why is "I" capitalized?
Why is "I" capitalized?
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kelechikwu
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Why is "I" capitalized?
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Hello teachers,
Have you ever wondered why we have to capitalize "I" and it�s such a big mistake if we don�t? Well, I didn�t know so I researched and here is what I have found:
"Ego has nothing to do with the capitalization of the pronoun I. Printing and handwriting have everything to do with it. In Middle English the first person was ich--with a lower-case i. When this was shortened to i, manuscript writers and printers found it often got lost or attached to a neighboring word. So the reason for the capital I is simply to avoid confusion and error."
Interesting, don�t you think?
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10 Dec 2008
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wolfy
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you should have asked the question and left us guessing. lol. |
10 Dec 2008
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libertybelle
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In many European languages, pronouns are still written with capital letters.
this included I, You, They, We, He etc.
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10 Dec 2008
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Olindalima ( F )
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Wow, what a polite reason for such a strange way of writing ME, MYSELF, ( heheh)
I have always told my students that English people were very proud of themselves, so the reason why " I " was written with a capital letter.
But, on the other hand, I have always explained that British are so, but so polite that they never, ever say:
I and my friend,
but always,
" My friend and I ", because they have good manners and are very polite.
Just imagine what we, foreigners teachers, invent to try that students don�t get lost in the mess of different languages.
Curious, anyway, thanks for your research
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10 Dec 2008
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Vickiii
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This is a terrible admission, I told my students it was just like a proper noun and therefore required a capital letter.  |
10 Dec 2008
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Olindalima ( F )
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Hi. ICHAZINHA
so long
where have you been all this time,
I miiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssss yyyyyyoooooooooouuuuuuuu.
Hugs
Olinda
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10 Dec 2008
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I think they�ll like the explanation :) Thanks for sharing this info with us 