Tuesday, June 18, 2013

What is the dot over letters 'i' and 'j' called?

Usually in many languages, specific characters are added to an alphabet to denote a particular accent.  This a mark added to a letter that is meant to signal a change in either the sound or meaning of a character.
The small distinguishing mark you see over a lowercase 'i' and a lowercase 'j' is called a tittle- which seems like a combination of tiny and little.  It was added to the letter i in the Middle Ages to distinguish the letter from adjacent vertical strokes. Tittle is also referred as a superscript dot or a jot.