# I

**I** is the ninth letter and third vowel of the [Latin alphabet](https://www.edgepedia.org/latin-alphabet).<sup>[11](https://codepoints.net/U+0049)</sup> In the Unicode Standard it is the character U+0049 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I, decimal code 73, with the lowercase i at U+0069.<sup>[1](https://www.unicodepedia.com/unicode/basic-latin/49/latin-capital-letter-i/)</sup> In the Roman numeral system I represents 1, and in medieval Latin documents it could be written as i or j.<sup>[2](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/reference/dating-latin-documents/)</sup> Until the early seventeenth century the standard Latin alphabet had 23 letters, with i and j considered letterforms of one letter, as were u and v.<sup>[3](https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/rarebks/rarebks/appendix_g4._letterforms_i_j%2C_u_v%2C_i_j%2C_and_u_v.htm)</sup>

In the Unicode Standard it is the character U+0049 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I, decimal code 73, with the lowercase i at U+0069.<sup>[1](https://www.unicodepedia.com/unicode/basic-latin/49/latin-capital-letter-i/)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Position | Ninth letter and third vowel of the Latin alphabet<sup>[11](https://codepoints.net/U+0049)</sup> |
| Unicode | U+0049 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I (decimal 73); lowercase i is U+0069<sup>[1](https://www.unicodepedia.com/unicode/basic-latin/49/latin-capital-letter-i/)</sup> |
| Numeral value | I = 1 in Roman numerals; in medieval Latin documents written as i or j<sup>[2](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/reference/dating-latin-documents/)</sup> |
| Historical alphabet | Until the early seventeenth century the standard Latin alphabet had 23 letters; i and j were letterforms of one letter, as were u and v<sup>[3](https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/rarebks/rarebks/appendix_g4._letterforms_i_j%2C_u_v%2C_i_j%2C_and_u_v.htm)</sup> |
| Turkish pair | Dotted İ (U+0130) and dotless ı (U+0131) are separate letters in Turkish and Azerbaijani<sup>[4](https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0100.pdf)</sup> |
| IPA use | U+026A ɪ LATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL I denotes the near-close front-unrounded vowel<sup>[5](https://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?id=UnicodeNames&site_id=nrsi)</sup> |

## Origin and history

The Latin alphabet grew out of a western Greek script that the Romans adopted; the dominant view holds that this happened indirectly, via the Etruscans, who reshaped it substantially to suit their own language. Up to the first century BC it comprised twenty-one letters (A to X), after which Y and Z were introduced, originally to write Greek names and foreign words.<sup>[6](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/latin-palaeography/latin-script-in-antiquity/7AAE013BCD262AB689DE4B2FAAD02B0D)</sup>

**One letter, two shapes.** Until the early seventeenth century the standard Latin alphabet contained 23 letters. The letters now known as i and j were considered different minuscule shapes of the same letter, as were u and v, and the letter w was not part of the standard alphabet at all. A printer's choice between the i and j letterforms depended on placement in the word and followed convention, which varied by printer and often reflected national and regional preferences. In the pre-modern distribution there was only one capital form, I (its gothic form resembling a modern J), used in all positions without signifying vocalic or consonantal use; lowercase i appeared in initial, medial, and final position, while j was used medially or finally only after a preceding i, a pattern more typical on the European continent.<sup>[3](https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/rarebks/rarebks/appendix_g4._letterforms_i_j%2C_u_v%2C_i_j%2C_and_u_v.htm)</sup> A gradual shift from the late fifteenth through the middle of the seventeenth century gave I/i the vowel value and J/j the consonant value, and in the modern 26-letter alphabet i and j are separate letters.<sup>[3](https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/rarebks/rarebks/appendix_g4._letterforms_i_j%2C_u_v%2C_i_j%2C_and_u_v.htm)</sup> The same history explains older spellings such as *iustice* for modern *justice*.<sup>[3](https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/rarebks/rarebks/appendix_g4._letterforms_i_j%2C_u_v%2C_i_j%2C_and_u_v.htm)</sup>

## I as a numeral

In the Roman numeral system I represents 1, and the letter served as a numeral sign in the products of the Roman mint.<sup>[7](https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=I)</sup> [Medieval Latin](https://www.edgepedia.org/medieval-latin) documents carried the practice forward with their own conventions: [Roman numerals](https://www.edgepedia.org/roman-numerals) were often written in lower case rather than capitals, and a number ending in i was often written with a final j. Thus 1 could appear as i or j, 2 as ii or ij, and 4 as iiii or iiij rather than the classical iv.<sup>[2](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/reference/dating-latin-documents/)</sup> The same documents used Roman numerals throughout the period covered by standard dating tutorials, with [Arabic numerals](https://www.edgepedia.org/arabic-numerals) (1, 2, 3, and so on) appearing in England only from the sixteenth century onwards.<sup>[2](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/reference/dating-latin-documents/)</sup>

## Variants and derived characters

The letter i takes diacritics in many languages, and some of these marked forms are separately encoded. Turkish and Azerbaijani distinguish a dotted capital İ (U+0130, LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I WITH DOT ABOVE) from a dotless lowercase ı (U+0131, LATIN SMALL LETTER DOTLESS I), a pairing with no equivalent in English.<sup>[4](https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0100.pdf)</sup> Other encoded forms include Ĩ and ĩ (i with tilde), Ī and ī (i with macron, used in Latvian and Latin), Ĭ and ĭ (i with breve), and Į and į (i with ogonek, used in Lithuanian).<sup>[4](https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0100.pdf)</sup>

**Phonetic and specialized uses.** The International Phonetic Alphabet, an extension of the Latin alphabet, uses U+026A ɪ LATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL I for the near-close front-unrounded vowel.<sup>[5](https://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?id=UnicodeNames&site_id=nrsi)</sup> Further specialized characters include U+1D7B ᵻ LATIN SMALL CAPITAL LETTER I WITH STROKE, used with different meanings by Americanists and Oxford dictionaries, and U+A7BD ꞽ LATIN SMALL LETTER GLOTTAL I, used for the Latin transliteration of yod in ancient Egyptian texts.<sup>[8](https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1D00.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[9](https://unicode.org/versions/Unicode18.0.0/core-spec/chapter-7/)</sup>

The Dutch digraph IJ, though often perceived as a single letter, is coded as two separate letters I and J in Dutch public-record practice; when a word beginning with IJ is capitalized, both letters are written as capitals.<sup>[10](https://open-std.org/JTC1/SC22/WG20/docs/n865-IJ.htm)</sup>

## References

1. [LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I (U+0049), Unicodepedia](https://www.unicodepedia.com/unicode/basic-latin/49/latin-capital-letter-i/)
2. [Dating Latin documents, The National Archives (UK)](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/reference/dating-latin-documents/)
3. [Appendix G4. Letterforms I/J, U/V, i/j, and u/v, Descriptive Cataloging of Rare Books, Cataloger's Reference Shelf](https://www.itsmarc.com/crs/mergedprojects/rarebks/rarebks/appendix_g4._letterforms_i_j%2C_u_v%2C_i_j%2C_and_u_v.htm)
4. [The Unicode Standard, Version 17.0, Latin Extended-A code chart (U+0100)](https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0100.pdf)
5. [Unicode Names, SIL](https://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?id=UnicodeNames&site_id=nrsi)
6. [Bernhard Bischoff, Latin Palaeography: Latin script in antiquity, Cambridge University Press](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/latin-palaeography/latin-script-in-antiquity/7AAE013BCD262AB689DE4B2FAAD02B0D)
7. [I, NumisWiki, The Collaborative Numismatics Project](https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=I)
8. [Phonetic Extensions code chart (U+1D00), The Unicode Standard, Version 17.0](https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1D00.pdf)
9. [Chapter 7, The Unicode Standard, Version 18.0.0](https://unicode.org/versions/Unicode18.0.0/core-spec/chapter-7/)
10. [Sorting IJ in the Netherlands, SC22/WG20 N865](https://open-std.org/JTC1/SC22/WG20/docs/n865-IJ.htm)
11. [U+0049 Latin Capital Letter I, Codepoints](https://codepoints.net/U+0049)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Languages and linguistics › Writing and notation systems › Latin script*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

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