Long I

{{short description|Letter variant}} {{distinguish|text=the Cyrillic letter [[palochka]], the Latin capital [[I]], or the Latin [[J]]}} {{SpecialChars}} '''Long i''' ({{langx|la|i longum}} or ''[littera] i longa''), written {{angle bracket|ꟾ}}, is a variant of the [[I|letter i]] found in ancient and [[Early Middle Ages|early medieval]] forms of the Latin script.

==History==

In inscriptions dating to the early [[Roman Empire]], it is used frequently but inconsistently to transcribe the [[Vowel length|long]] vowel {{IPA|/iː/}}. In Gordon's 1957 study of inscriptions, it represented this vowel approximately 4% of the time in the 1st century CE, then 22.6% in the 2nd century, 11% in the 3rd, and not at all from the 4th century onward,<ref>{{cite book|last=Gordon|first=A. E.|date=1957|title=Contributions to the Palaeography of Latin inscriptions|page=216}}</ref> reflecting a loss of [[phonemic]] vowel length by this time (one of the [[phonological changes from Classical Latin to Proto-Romance]]). In this role it is equivalent to the (also inconsistently-used) [[apex (diacritic)|apex]], which can appear on any long vowel: {{angle bracket|{{sm|á é í ó v́}}}} {{IPA|/aː eː iː oː uː/}}. An example would be {{angbr|{{sm|fIliI}}}}, which is generally spelled {{lang|la|fīliī}} today, using [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]]s rather than apices to indicate long vowels. On rare occasions, an apex could combine with long i to form {{angbr|{{sm|Í}}}}, e.g. {{angbr|{{sm|dÍs·mánibus}}}}.

The long i could also be used to indicate the semivowel [j], e.g. {{angle bracket|IVSTVS}} or {{angle bracket|CVIIVS}},<ref>{{cite book |last=Allen |first=Sydney |date=1978 |title=Vox Latina: The Pronunciation of Classical Latin |edition=2nd |location=Gateshead, England |publisher=Athenaeum Press |pages=37–39 |isbn=0-521-22049-1}}</ref> the latter also {{angle bracket|CVIVS}}, pronounced {{IPA|[ˈjus̠tus̠, ˈkujːus̠]}}. It was also used to write a close [[allophone]] {{IPA|[i]}} of the short i phoneme, used before another vowel, as in {{angbr|CLAVDIO}}, representing {{IPA|[ˈklau̯.di.oː]}}.<ref>Allen, ''Vox Latina'', pp. 51-52, giving the examples {{sm|dIes, prIvsqvam, pIvs}}</ref>

Later on in the late Empire and afterwards, in some forms of [[New Roman cursive]], as well as pre-[[Carolingian Empire|Carolingian]] scripts of the [[Early Middle Ages]] such as [[Visigothic script|Visigothic]] or [[Merovingian script|Merovingian]], it came to stand for the vowel {{angle bracket|i}} in word-initial position. For example, {{angbr|'''i'''Nponunt '''i'''n umeroſ}}, which would be {{lang|la|inpōnunt in umerōs}} in modern spelling.

==In Unicode==

The character exists in Unicode as U+A7FE {{sm|latin epigraphic letter i longa}}, {{angle bracket|ꟾ}}, having been suggested in a 2006 proposal.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06269-add-roman.pdf |title = Proposal to Add Additional Ancient Roman Characters to UCS |author = Davud J. Perry |date = 2006-08-01 |access-date = 2018-09-30 }}</ref>

==Examples==

<gallery> Scriptura con apices Nimes 1750.jpg|Roman inscription, ''ca.'' [[AD 100]], showing long i's contrasting with apices on other vowels, for example {{sm|órnáment'''I'''s}} in line 3 (besides other words), representing the vowel {{IPA|/iː/}}. Ara a Tibério Cláudio MNArqueologia.tif|Roman inscription, ''ca.'' [[AD 45]], showing a use of the long i letter for the close {{IPA|[i]}} sound of Latin short ĭ before a vowel: {{sm|claud'''I'''o}}. Roman grave inscription, AD 69, long i with apex.jpg|Roman inscription, ''ca.'' [[AD 69]], showing a rare use of long i with an apex in line 1, {{sm|d'''Í'''s mánibus}}. I_littera_in_manuscripto.jpg|Roman letter in [[Old Roman cursive]], ''ca.'' [[AD 50]] from [[Claudius]]' reign, showing handwritten long i's: ''rebus i'''i'''s · '''i'''údicibus'' (line 2), '''''i'''mponátur qu'''i''' · '''i'''ntrá'' (line 3). New Roman Cursive i longum, 6th century.png|Manuscript samples in [[New Roman cursive]] from the 6th century. Top: ''quantum s(upra)s(cripto) emptori '''i'''nterfuerit''. Bottom: ''tenentes '''i'''gitur palestini''. Lectionnaire de Luxeuil i longum 80v 81r.png|Manuscript samples in Merovingian script from ''ca.'' [[AD 700]]. Top: ''et '''i'''nponunt '''i'''n umeros hominum''. Bottom: '''''i'''n synagogis · et salutationis '''i'''n foro''. Codex Vigilanus, Vigila scriba, folio 22v.jpg|[[Codex Vigilanus]], from the late [[10th century]] in Visigothic script, folio 22v, preface of Vigila the scribe (pictured). The first line contains three examples of long i: '''''i'''n exordio '''i'''gitur hu'''i'''[u]s''. </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==See also== * [[Apex (diacritic)]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:I, long}} [[Category:Latin-script letters]] [[Category:Epigraphic letter variants]]