Enigma zilei 1#/Today’s riddle 1#

Astazi, in timp ce citeam un articol al unui coleg blogger am identificat o mica eroare de scriere, si anume scrierea cu caractere mici a pronumelui de persoana I „I” in limba engleza.

Trebuie sa recunosc ca in primii ani de studiu a limbii engleze nu aveam absolut nici cea mai vaga idee importanta scrierea cu majuscula a pronumelui in cauza, cu atat mai mult ma simteam intrigata si nu consideram ca as fi gresit cu ceva.

De ce „I” si nu „i” ?

Limba engleza este singura limba ce, spre deosebire de limbile romanice si germanice insista pe scrierea cu majuscula a pronumelui de persoana I „I”.

Ideea de a folosi scrierea cu majuscule in cazul de fata a fost accidentala. In limba engleza veche si mijlocie, cuvantul „I” a fost apropiat varului sau din limba germana „ich”, ce era de foarte multe ori scris „ic”. In acel moment cuvantul nu a fost scris cu majuscula. In timp insa, pronuntia si ortografia s-au schimbat pierzand consoana „c”.

La inceput noul cuvant „i” s-a scris cu caractere mici. Cu toate acestea, scrierea cu litere mici a pronumelui de persoana I s-a schimbat dintr-un motiv absurd: litera „i” subtire, arata nefavorabil in comparatie cu celelalte cuvinte.

Charles Bigelow, un istoric de clasa si creatorul fonturilor Lucida Sans si Wingdings (pe care le utilizam si astazi in Microsoft Word), explica: „Arata ca si cum s-ar fi despartit de un alt cuvant, s-a pierdut sau a intampinat vreun accident. Cand cuvintul „i” s-a despartit de „ich” o singura litera trebuia sa reprezinte un cuvant important, din punct de vedere gramatical pentru a purta povara semantica, asadar carturarii au facut-o mai mare, ceea ce inseamna mai inalta, ceea ce inseamna echivalentul unei majuscule.”

Din momentul cand autorul renumit Chaucer a scris „Povestile din Canterbury” in 1300, pronumele de persoana intai, „I”, a fost scris cu majuscula pana in zilele noastre.

                                                                      English version

Today, while reading an article by a blogger colleague, I identified a small writing error, namely the small writing of an English-language person’s first English verb „I”.

I have to admit that in the first years of study English, I did not have the slightest idea of ​​the majestic capitalization of the pronoun in question, the more I felt intrigued and did not think I was wrong with anything.

                                                                  Why „I” and not „i”?

English is the only language which, unlike the Romanic and Germanic languages, insists on the capitalization of the person I „I”.

The idea of ​​using capitalization in this case was accidental. In the old and the middle English, the word „I” was close to its German language „ich”, which was very often written „ic”. At that time, the word was not written in capital. Over time, pronunciation and spelling have changed losing consonance „c”.

The word „i” was written in small characters. However, the small writing of a person’s pronoun changed for an absurd reason: the thin letter „i” looks unfavorable in comparison to the other words.

“Graphically, single letters are a problem,” says Charles Bigelow, a type historian and a designer of the Lucida and Wingdings font families. “They look like they broke off from a word or got lost or had some other accident.” When “I” shrunk to a single letter, Bigelow explains, “one little letter had to represent an important word, but it was too wimpy, graphically speaking, to carry the semantic burden, so the scribes made it bigger, which means taller, which means equivalent to a capital.

From the time the famous author Chaucer wrote „The Canterbury Stories” in 1300, the first person pronoun, „I”, has been capitalized up to the present day.

(Image Source – Google images)