"In fact english is the only langauge where it's represented with 1 letter" in russian it's Я which is one letter in russian alphet. You could say that it's 2 sounds [ya], but so is I [i is pronounced with two sounds, ai]
It always surprises me how many things the Russian language seems to have in common with English. It's more than the shared Greek influence. There are so many strange little coincidences like this one.
There's another exception to the lower-case personal pronoun rule... when referring to God. In Christian texts at least, not only is God capitalized whereas when referring to a Roman god it isn't... but so are the pronouns... "He, HIm, His", etc. If you wrote "I did it in God's name" you would likewise write "I did it in His name".
Yeah we do this, though Christians aren't the only one, Muslims and religious Jews will also often do the same when writing in English, its more a monotheist thing.
@@Spartan322 It's usually acceptable to use lowercase for the pronouns for deity, because that is the style of the old King James translation. I've only seen lowercase-g "god" without other qualification used for the monotheistic deity in a contemptuous manner by purposeful atheists, e.g. "I do not believe in god" rather than even the more respectful "I do not believe in the god of Jews or Christians." As for my own moniker, at least I tried to get a capital G in there then You Tube changed its manner of representing some names by adding a four digit suffix and lowercasing all the letters.
By the way, German "ich" is not pronounced as "ick." The "ch-laut" is pronounced as the 'h' in "hue" (IPA: /ç/). The Old English word "ic" was also pronounced as you would pronounce "ich," since 'c' was among some letters in Old English that became palatalized when near front vowels. "Ich" also interestingly lasted in southern English dialects all the way up till Shakespearean times, where he would mock the pronunciation in some of his plays.
And the pronunciation is extremely relevant! The video says "for some reason, { ic } was reduced to { i }" - that reason is much easier to intuit if you think of /ɪç/ becoming /iː/ (or even /ɪj/ as Geoff Lindsay would have it) instead of getting distracted by spelling and trying to justify /ɪk/ -> /ɑɪ/
I remember my 2nd grade English teacher justifying that we needed to capitalize "I" in English because only atheists don't do it. To this day, I don't know where she got that from.
Christians often capitalise "he", "him" and "his" when they refer to God. Atheists don't tend to do this. Maybe that's what confused your teacher. She just thought Atheists don't capitalise pronouns.
In Dutch, the formal singular form of "you" ("u") used to be capitalized, but now it's done rarely. This is an excellent moment to point out that "you" in English can have lots of possible transaltions in other languages. In Dutch, "you" could be: jij, je, jou, u, jullie
In German, the formal singular "you" is always capitalized. Sie The regular singular you is written like this: du The feminine "she", on the other hand, is written in lower case. sie (he, she, it = er, sie, es) The "they", third person plural is also written in lower case: sie
@@jensschroder8214 Germans really like "sie"... I remember when I started studying it, having to guess which sie was being used was a nightmare before I got used to the conjugation
In Afrikaans, we went back to the Proto-Germanic. We use "ek" for I. In and around Cape Town, "ek" is pronounce closer to the Dutch "ik," but in other areas is it's closer to the English "ack." Some people in former "Transvaal" pronounce closer to "ak, which is like the English say "ark," but much shorter.
@@Tsuki----普通の馬鹿 Exactly the same in spanish! There's just one exception, when the following word starts with the english "ee" sound, the "i" or "y" is replaced by an "e" (for better understanding, I guess). Like: Islas y rocas Rocas e islas
The lettering in comics is traditionally done in all caps, to make the text easier to align and fit into panels. But there's still a visual distinction for the pronoun 'I' from how 'i' appears in other contexts: When the letter 'i' is in the middle of a word, a lot of comic artists write it as a single vertical line. But when it's the pronoun 'I', a word of its own, it almost always gets the horizontal serifs at the top and bottom to make it stand out visually.
It can be difficult to integrate the stressing rules of another language into a sentence of a language that uses stress to communicate grammar like English does. Not saying he didn't screw it up, but be mindful not to expect too much. :P
Also, in Russian, word “Вы” (you), when used as singular (polite version of “ты” - “thou” in old English), gets capitalised, instead of “Я”. So there’s a joke that English are more selfish then Russian, cause we mark our interlocutors as important, bot ourselves
@@oro5421I'm Russian and I've never heard about specifically Вы being capitalized. It just feels that whatever you want to show big respect for you can (but don't have to) capitalize.
@@oro5421It's the same in Swedish. We used to write Ni-our version of Вы: plural, but a «polite» singular. Later, though, we started writing Du-which is ты, but still capitalized for politeness. Alas this is barely seen today, albeit I certainly still address like such. Ha-ha, I approve of that joke-thought the exact same thing. P·ſ: I've studied Russian, so glad to know you also do this!
In German, the formal form of "you" ("Sie" or even "Ihr") is capitalized. But they are other pronouns. The pronoun "Sie" is translated "she" or "they" (3rd person singular or plural). The pronoun "Ihr" is nowadays not used anymore as it is very old and translates to, well, "you" but the 2nd person plural. When Germany was a monarchy, "Sie" would be used for nobles and "Ihr" for the emperor himself (or the highest nobleman in the area). So, a rule of thumb.
Ja als gegenpart zum marchästetischen wir wurde das ihr auch benutzt du benutzt es heute aber immernoch als Mehrzahl "könnt ihr mir mal das salz reichen" "habt ihr ihn gesehen". Womit es zu seiner ursprünglichen verwendung zurückgefunden hat. Sowas ähnliches gab es auch mit dem wörtchen er auch bis in die Kaiserzeit als direkte ansprache an einen Dienstboten von seinem Herren. "Hat er schon die Arbeiten erledigt."
In Russian, officially, you are to write вы/вам/вас with a lower case, however many people, even in the academic space use Вы/Вам/Вас to show respect. Also, there are shenanigans with the word god as Бог/бог can mean both a translation of Yakhve's name and just a god.
What I find fascinating on a related note, is that there's not a strong consensus on the capitalization of the royal "we." It's common to capitalize it when it replaces "I," but it's also fairly common to not capitalize it at all.
@@esmerat As I said, only the royal We where it replaces I, and there's no consensus on whether doing so is proper. So for example "In truth, We art quite distressed at these tidings."
Danish also has a capital I, but it's the second person plural pronoun (you/y'all). It's only upper case to avoid confusion with the preposition "i" (meaning "in").
Related note, I wish the word “yous” was widely accepted to mean “you all” (3rd person plural). We say that word in parts of England but it never appears in print yet would be really useful.
@@philreed1605 Yous/yall/yinz etc. The English language is bringing back the singular/plural distinction for the second person. Different regions have different words for it, but I believe it's spreading, since more and more people can see the need for having it!
I often need two pronouns for 'we', in both Danish and English. One meaning 'someone else, or some others, and myself' (excluding 'you'). The other meaning 'you and I, and possibly some others'.
I always assumed “I” is a proper pronoun in the same way names are proper nouns. Proper nouns are capitalized because they refer to a specific person or place. Similarly, “I” always refers to a specific person-yourself. “She” can refer to any woman. “You” can refer to anyone I’m talking to. But “I” always refers to myself. Whenever I use it, I’m never talking about anyone else.
One other example: O (in the sense of a title of respect, like "I ask you, O king, to hear my request"). I know it's a bit archaic since we don't use honorifics much anymore, but it is still an example of a single capital letter! (Note, this is a different word from "oh," the interjection used to show surprise or intensity of emotion)
@@Reubentheimitator6572 that could be correct, I'm not sure. Certainly a formal form of address, but that makes sense that it's like "what comes next is the name of whoever I'm speaking to." An example that might support your point is the song "Bless the Lord, O My Soul" - it makes more sense that the O is directing the address than that the speaker is paying respect to his own soul.
One thought on "a" is that you can't really separate it from its twin brother "an" which is based on the vowel/consonant feel of the word it modifies. so, a/an sort of have the same existence in the mind. It's also intimately connected with the word following it, as opposed to I, which stands on its own. I remember being a small child, hearing a word and searching the dictionary in vain because there was clearly no "anacronym" (an acronym) in it, so much does both a and an get merged into the word it modifies.
I have a theory. When you use he, she, or them, you could be referring to any Tom, Dick, or Jane. However I, in this case, refers directly to David Lewis. Like a substitution in math, I simply replaces a proper name. Since a substitution take on the characteristics of the thing being substituted for, I would default to proper name status and be always capitalized. However, by this theory, You should be capitalized if referring to a specific person. However, since you can be singular or plural, its easier to to keep it lower case at all times.
By your logic it would be easier to disambiguate singular/plural at least in written English by having singular you be capitalised and plural you be uncapitalised.
It's interesting that we're so averse to capitalizing "a" or other articles, that we even keep it lowercase in things like book and movie titles: "To Kill a Mockingbird" instead of "To Kill A Mockingbird."
4:49 that's a pretty bad mispronounciation. Kind of destroyes the entire point, but the ch represents a voiceless palatal fricative. What was said would be written as "ik" in German (ik is actually the Dutch word for I, so that should've been chosen instead). Please start researching the pronounciation of words from other languages before recording.
Ikr... and he doesn't even show a phonetic transcription so you can't even read the real thing. Like it made me wonder if old English actually used the velar stop he was making or the palatal frictative I know modern German actually uses. He could at least mention he's conflating two different sounds because he can't pronounce one of them...
Yes. Please pronounce every single word from every single language exactly like a native speaker. And also don’t speak in any accent. 👀 😳 🤣 Ridiculous expectations here
@@redapol5678 you know exactly that that's not what I said. Him pronouncing "ich" as "ik" and then using this blatant mispronunciation to prove a point is literally one step removed from just making shit up.
@@Idkpleasejustletmechangeithis point wasn’t based on his mispronunciation. It’s very likely that something like “ic” or “ich” slowly changed into i (short vowel sound) and eventually to I (long vowel sound). Even if he mispronounced a German word, the point still stands. But let’s hope for your sake every RUclips video pronounces foreign words like a native speaker so it sounds nice to your ears 😉 (and really hope you never have to pronounce a completely foreign word from a language with sounds unlike anything in English! 😬 🤣)
@@redapol5678 1 I acknowledged that his point is true (when I said that the Dutch "ik" should've been chosen instead). 2 this is about how he used a mispronounciation of "ich" as an example. This can easily lead to disinformation. 3 my native language is German, I speak three other languages (English, French, Dutch) and if I needed to say a word from a language I don't speak, then I'd research the pronounciation to at least get it right (especially in an educational situation like this) 4 stop being so fucking pretentious, please
Interesting; this Cyrillic я is backwards said English I. 😁 We in ex-Yu (Bosnian here) write it as "ja" in both Latin and Cyrillic script. We don't use я and other double characters and have "j" for what's in English "y" sound.
Regarding single-letter words, in old songs and poems, you sometimes see the interjection "Oh" spelled just as "O," particularly when followed by an exclamation point. I wonder why that one didn't stick.
It also means "me." Klingon does not have subject or object cases. And in Klingon, the I is always capitalized, representing the fact that it sounds like the "i" in "pin" not a Latin "i."
@@埊 Capital. But Klingon doesn't use capital letters to indicate things like importance or nouns or names or starts of sentences. Capitals just mean "Watch out, actor speaking these lines! This doesn't sound the way you think it does!"
Fun Fact: Many people think using “thou” instead of “you” (like in Shakespeare) is pretentious when in fact thou was the informal form, you was the formal. I’ve read that it was dropped because of the English Revolution but I don’t know if that’s true (the English Revolution was about religion not class). I do know that that WAS the case during the Russian Revolution.
Bosnian (Serbian, Croatian, Montenegrin): "ja" (j is y) and is pronounced if you say English I backwards. 😁 I think it's same (or similar) for all or most Slavic languages.
@@Potkanka We say it same... we just don't write those accents. We do it only if there could be misunderstanding (not everyone) - for example: "Ja sam sam" means "I am alone" - to distinguish those "sam" by this meaning alone we write "â": "Ja sam sâm". But this is only case for masculine form. There is no need to do it if you are female: "Ja sam sama", where "sama" is feminine for of "alone". I know, Czech writing is more precise, but this how things were set at the beginning and its easier to write (sometimes harder to read). Btw, I think our Latin script (including Slovenian too) was based on Czech Latin script.
@@sabkobds I see, interesting! We need to always write accents (diacritics) because they show pronunciation. Vowels with the ´ accent (á, é, í, ó, ú, ý) are long, those without it are short (there's also ů, that's long too). Hm yeah, I think our alphabet was an inspiration for some others :)
The German word "ich" is *not* pronounced "ick." It's closer to if you take a breath and as you exhale, with your throat and tongue relaxed, say something like "ish." But even that is not really a good way to describe it, because if it comes out sounding like "fish" or "dish" you're way off. The "ch" should sound closer to the "h" if you were to put stress on the English word "huge."
The way Ich was pronounced gave my brain a seizure. I mean, I knew you wouldn't get the voiceless palatal fricative correct, cos basically no native english speaker that hasn't done German classes would do it from sight. But I was expecting the way every english and american I see would pronounce it, like "Itch", but "Ik" felt wild.
I would say that it is capital because it takes only one strike to write the capital letter, but it takes two strikes to write the small letter. This and j are the only letters that have this characteristic. In Greek small ι is dotless.
In old Swedish the word for “you (plural)” was always written as a capital “I”. In the 18th century “I” was replaced by “ni”, often capitalised; “Ni”. (The initial /n/ derives from the verb endings; ären I > är Ni “you are”.) Today the word “I” has a smack of Biblical sayings, old songs, ancient scripts, etc.
This is still true of Danish. "I" means "you"! The informal plural, that is, which is "ihr" in German and "ye" in Biblical English. This Danish "I" is also always a capital.
The official rule is that you spell it “ni”. However in letters and advertisements you find “Ni” as well as “Du”. Some people might make up their own rules, claiming that “Ni” refers to one person and “ni” to many persons. Among educated people it appears stupid, and also impolite, to address a single person as “ni/Ni”. Unfortunately this habit does occur among immigrants and youngsters. (The correct word is “du”.)
@@joachimvonritter6113 The reason for “ni” having been seen as impolite is that it had acquired an undertone of condescension due to its then rather one-sided use in conversations between people of different statuses. A person of higher status might have used “ni” to address someone of lower status, whereas they themselves would have been referred to by his or her title. Nowadays, titles have largely disappeared and so too has the memory of such a dynamic. Anyone who uses singular “ni” today does so to show respect, as that is how most young people have come to view its use. Isn’t it a bit ironic that you should consider the use of the singular “ni” to be disrespectful and advocate against it, while also contrasting those who might use it-“immigrants and youngsters,” to borrow your words-with “educated people” and calling them stupid?
9:40 I don't use capital letters when I'm on my computer since it's a hassle to hold down shift just to type one letter and the meaning still comes across just fine. my phone handles capitalization automatically so I just leave that as is whilst using it.
The explanation I was given in school is that back in the day, when they copied manually on paper, a small "i" alone was too small, and it was easier to have that single letter word written capitalized because it was easier to see.
3:35 In my dialect of Norwegian, "I" is written "e"(in normal Norwegian "jeg"). The "am" in "I'm" can also more commonly be written as "e", so "E e" is perfectly normal where i'm from when using "I'm".
Some people like the French and Turks write dotted capital I. So dumb. Now, the man is not correct O, Heavenly Host. O is an intersection, and it is spelled with just one letter like a and I.
Additionally I've noticed is that in written text people may write the capital "I" at the start of words as just the stem, but if they then use "I" to mean themself they will also write the cap and foot. So for some "I" not only is capitalised but has a unique form of capitalisation. Not enough sentences start with "I" that isn't the word "I" for me to know how prevelant it is, but I know I started doing it after I noticed someone else doing it
In Norway depending on where you are, like in the north, they refer themselves as "Æ" We even have a discount app for one of the big grocery stores named Æ. Some areas just use E instead. You can see the derivativr form clearly from the Nynorsk official written form for "I" which is "Eg"
Ok so my English teacher used to say that the reason I is capitalized is because the English think of themselves so highly. Seems like she wasn't far off lol
English is not the only language where there is a word that consists of only one letter. Pronoun 'I' in Russian is represented as a single letter as well: 'Я'.
08:50 My own hypothesis is that "a" usually not being capitalised because this leaves room for capitalising it in order to emphasise it. Why should you? Maybe, someone talks about _the_ city of Alexandria, and you want to emphasise that there were several of them by writing "actually it's A city of Alexandria".
O Canada; O Captain, My Captain. In German, second person formal is capitalized in all cases, which distinguishes it in print from third person plural.
5:00 in German, iirc, W is pronounced as V is pronounced in English, and V is pronounced as F is pronounced in English. so "Vogel" would sound like 'Fogel' ("Wogel" would sound like 'Vogel')
also, "Ich" is not 'ick', it's kind of like 'eecgh' not a "ck" sound as we understand it, but not a "ch" sound. the vowel is more 'ee' than 'ih' though. not like nasty American 'eEE' though. but still kind of more 'ee' than 'ih'. (if that makes sense, and iirc)
Kind of disappointed. I expected there be an answer, turns out there is none… Please consider adding that to the beginning of the video if it’s meant as an informative video.
for me it is personal preference, -ever since i was little, and was told "i is capitalized because i has importance referring to yourself (or something like that), i...don't feel that way, -yes, i am important as a person, but, a capital I, just feels...egotistical to me...plus, i ALWAYS have trouble telling "is that an I or an l?" and it's more friendly looking, so...personally, i, is my chosen one, easy to read, and not trying to make itself feel too important and pompous. also LOL just saw the end of the video where people think it could be harder to see/read...not for me!!!, -maybe it is my bad eye-lenses, but the dot for it shines like a star and i can DEFINITELY see it easier than if it were just a line, because the break in it for the dot makes it easier to see and tell which one it is. OH, and i think losing capitals for the start of a sentence is STUPID, because it catches the eye to where...the start, is...or the end of a continuation in one's speaking.
I've never used capital i like this. Makes absolutely no sense to me. It was one of those things that when i was learnign english i just asked "Do i HAVE to use this?" and when the answer was "no", boy oh boy, i was so happy.
lol i'm a millennial and always write in lowercase when communicating casually. emails get capitalized properly, i capitalize properly when journaling or sending teams messages to my supervisor or managers i'm not friendly with...but when i text or use social media, i am not capitalizing anything except for emphasis. i don't think it's a gen-z thing; i've noticed other people my age doing the same thing.
It is spelt I instead of i because it is pronounced like the capital letter not the lower case letter unlike a and there are no other indicators of its pronunciation like you get with English words that got more than 1 letter in it so I gotta be capitalised always.
In Polish, when you write someone a letter/mail and you want to be polite you need to capitalise"you/your/yours" so you'll write "Ty" "Cię" "Twoje" "Ciebie" ect. And the same goes with plural form, "Wy" insted of "wy".
Since we moved from writing with pen to typing, capitalizing letters now takes more effort then not capitalizing them, you need two fingers for it. Even worse on a phone. It's not surprising the capitalization of I is ending.
Interestingly, you do the same in Danish. "I" means "they", and it's the only one that gets capitalised. In German, "Sie" "formal you", is the only one. Though older speakers still write "Du" "informal you" capitalised
Polish has many more single letter words, and they're all pronounced phonetically (like how "a" in English is pronounced as aa not ay, unlike "I") z - from/with w - in/at i - and o - about u - at (like "at his (house)") a - modal particle, sometimes used like "but" with emphasis, or just adds emphasis in general (maybe makes questions more interrogative/inquisitive as well??)
There is actually another instance of a personal pronoun being capitalized. When referring to God or a god, people often use the capital Him even in the middle of sentences.
A reason a lot of gen z dont use capital letters can possibly be explained by the rise of use in computers and the internet. Old operating systems were case sensitive, using capital letters required more effort (with a physical keyboard), to stylistic choices. Texting in an instant in IRCs or sms/imessage mimic real life conversation flow, so typing formally usually slows down that conversation and isn't as casual.
3:41 Russian has several words that are only one letter: и, я, у and в, that i know of. “и” (ee) is “and;” “я” (ya) is “I;” “y” (oo/ou) is one I don’t know the literal translation of, but it’s a preposition of sorts, and is used to describe having something, such as “У меня есть,” which is to say “i have;” “в” (v) is “in” That said, English is the only language that uses the Latin alphabet to have one-letter words, if your claim otherwise holds true
I'm pretty sure that the Gen Z aversion to capitals is because of texting. Punctuation is also lax as well, leading almost to a continuous string of text with no obvious emphasis on meaning.
When he started speaking about German, I thougth he would mention the "Sie" pronoun, the formal second person, that's also always capitalized, and the fact that in German that pronoun is capitalized in its other forms too (Ihre, Ihnen), which is something that doesn't happen in English. Also I've seen the same happening sometimes with the formal second person, "Usted/es", in Spanish.
One thing I have noticed is many Gen Zedders may capitalise every word they consider important in a sentence. I have seen video titles that are something to the effect of “Allies or Enemies”. With or being an unimportant word and enemies being an important one.
That's title case, where you don't capitalize articles, prepositions, or conjunctions. Maybe other stuff I'm forgetting. Title case is so weird in English
A few more possible examples of where a word could be abbreviated to a single letter. Three of them [p, q and u], are in addition to yours for the same letter. Maybe a slight cheat with Q/Kew as Kew is a place name and X/ex as that is a prefix rather than a word. J - could also mean jay [bird] O - could mean oh, [O alone is sometimes used in poetry, prayers and hymns to start a line] P - could also be a pea [small green vegetable]. Q - could also be Kew, place to the west of London famed for its botanic gardens U - could also mean ewe [female sheep] or yew [tree species] X - could also be the prefix 'ex'
Because my culture sees capitalization as part of respect, i often capitalize You rather than i so as to be respectful rather than arrogant, at least when talking with someone familiar with that aspect of my culture
I want to challenge the notion that a and I are the only two words in standard English that are one letter by raising "o" which is used (admittedly archaic but still very much in standard English) as a sort of vocative, as in "O Come All Ye Faithful"
in japanese referring to others is the most polite version, and using one's name to refer to oneself is quite common and not rude or predisposed in some way
I never did as a kid, my mom would mark points off my grade, i was home schooled. And to this today, age of 38, i never use the upper case "i" when speaking about myself. I am not special enough for that.
3:37 "English is the only language where a word consists of a single letter". In spanish we have "y" meaning "and", in case the next word to the word "y" starts with the letter "i" the "y" is replaced with "e" because "y" in that context is pronounced the same as "i". We also have the word "o" meaning "or". We also have the word "a" which I'm not sure how to describe, it can be used to mean "to" like if you say "he went TO that place" it would be "el fue A ese lugar".
What is the word for I (as in the personal pronoun) in your language?
"Eu"! (Portuguese)
"jag" -- usually pronounced "ja" making it homophone to "ja" which is the word for "yes" ...
ik (Dutch)
أنا (Ana)
"ja" (Croatian)
3:48 I mean, 私 can't even be capitalised
ワたし
that's cheating@@littlefishbigmountain
@@osakablinladen
Alternatively you could write 私 _slightly_ bigger than the rest of the other characters
@@littlefishbigmountain you mixed hiragana and katakana in that. Should be わたし
@@J7Handlei think it was deliberate
"In fact english is the only langauge where it's represented with 1 letter"
in russian it's Я which is one letter in russian alphet. You could say that it's 2 sounds [ya], but so is I [i is pronounced with two sounds, ai]
The only pronoun that said & written with just one word is "O" in turkish. It means he/she/it.
I came to the comments to make this exact point
@ernestregia The Dutch "U", a formal version of the English "you", is also pronounced as a single sound
It always surprises me how many things the Russian language seems to have in common with English.
It's more than the shared Greek influence. There are so many strange little coincidences like this one.
@@perrydowd9285 probably by way of its contact with Germanic languages. 🤷🏻♂
4:45
"Oh he's going to say the Dutch word, ik"
"German"
"Oh he's going to say ich"
"Ik"
lmaoo my thoughts exactly
Ik wou dit net gaan commenten, maar je was me voor :D!
[Translation into English: I wanted to comment this, but you already typed it :D!]
Why do every English speaker say "ich" as "ik" instead of the correct version "ish" ?
@@DrFerno727 it's not ish either (that would be spelled isch). its /ɪç/ (that /ç/ being similar the h in hue)
Well, in northern parts of germany, it's indeed pronounced as Ick(e), but yeah, in standard German it'd be ich :p
There's another exception to the lower-case personal pronoun rule... when referring to God. In Christian texts at least, not only is God capitalized whereas when referring to a Roman god it isn't... but so are the pronouns... "He, HIm, His", etc. If you wrote "I did it in God's name" you would likewise write "I did it in His name".
Yeah we do this, though Christians aren't the only one, Muslims and religious Jews will also often do the same when writing in English, its more a monotheist thing.
You could also use it when referring to a monarch or dictator for similar effect
@@Spartan322 I confirm
@@Spartan322 It's usually acceptable to use lowercase for the pronouns for deity, because that is the style of the old King James translation. I've only seen lowercase-g "god" without other qualification used for the monotheistic deity in a contemptuous manner by purposeful atheists, e.g. "I do not believe in god" rather than even the more respectful "I do not believe in the god of Jews or Christians."
As for my own moniker, at least I tried to get a capital G in there then You Tube changed its manner of representing some names by adding a four digit suffix and lowercasing all the letters.
By the way, German "ich" is not pronounced as "ick." The "ch-laut" is pronounced as the 'h' in "hue" (IPA: /ç/). The Old English word "ic" was also pronounced as you would pronounce "ich," since 'c' was among some letters in Old English that became palatalized when near front vowels. "Ich" also interestingly lasted in southern English dialects all the way up till Shakespearean times, where he would mock the pronunciation in some of his plays.
And the pronunciation is extremely relevant! The video says "for some reason, { ic } was reduced to { i }" - that reason is much easier to intuit if you think of /ɪç/ becoming /iː/ (or even /ɪj/ as Geoff Lindsay would have it) instead of getting distracted by spelling and trying to justify /ɪk/ -> /ɑɪ/
ic/iċ would be pronounced ik if you were northern or ich (like a normal english ch) if you were southern (kind of)
In standard German, yes. But in dialects it exists (as well as in Dutch and several other Germanic languages).
Also, "O" when used as an address, "O, my king!" etc
Except in this case that is the start of a sentence an so is capitalized for that reason
@@duncandewar9885Nah, I’ve seen it used like in “O, Muhammad!”
O is also in the US national anthem
@@just_dmitri3192 still the start of a sentence
@@duncandewar9885 "what would you like to eat today, O, my king?"
I remember my 2nd grade English teacher justifying that we needed to capitalize "I" in English because only atheists don't do it. To this day, I don't know where she got that from.
As an atheist, I can confirm that we use proper grammar.
Christians often capitalise "he", "him" and "his" when they refer to God. Atheists don't tend to do this. Maybe that's what confused your teacher. She just thought Atheists don't capitalise pronouns.
@@AnnoyedSonic Missed the perfect opportunity to not capitalise your I 😔
your the wons that mess writing up. i always get it write?
i would have assumed the other way around
In Dutch, the formal singular form of "you" ("u") used to be capitalized, but now it's done rarely. This is an excellent moment to point out that "you" in English can have lots of possible transaltions in other languages. In Dutch, "you" could be: jij, je, jou, u, jullie
Yeah exactly this
In German, the formal singular "you" is always capitalized. Sie
The regular singular you is written like this: du
The feminine "she", on the other hand, is written in lower case. sie (he, she, it = er, sie, es)
The "they", third person plural is also written in lower case: sie
@@jensschroder8214 Germans really like "sie"... I remember when I started studying it, having to guess which sie was being used was a nightmare before I got used to the conjugation
In Afrikaans, u as the formal second person pronoun is only capitalised when speaking to God.
In Afrikaans, we went back to the Proto-Germanic. We use "ek" for I. In and around Cape Town, "ek" is pronounce closer to the Dutch "ik," but in other areas is it's closer to the English "ack." Some people in former "Transvaal" pronounce closer to "ak, which is like the English say "ark," but much shorter.
In spanish "i" was our word for "and" but as it was so hard to read it got changed to "y"
In Polish "i" means "and" as well. It's pronouced like "ee" in English.
@@Tsuki----普通の馬鹿 Exactly the same in spanish! There's just one exception, when the following word starts with the english "ee" sound, the "i" or "y" is replaced by an "e" (for better understanding, I guess). Like:
Islas y rocas
Rocas e islas
@@Tsuki----普通の馬鹿 In portuguese we say "e" (also pronounced "ee")
@@trufflefur
I didn't know that
Interestingly, in Portuguese "and" is always "e", but the pronunciation vary according to the accent.
It's probably just a coincidence but in Bulgarian we also use "i" for "and" but the cyrillic equivalent - и
The lettering in comics is traditionally done in all caps, to make the text easier to align and fit into panels. But there's still a visual distinction for the pronoun 'I' from how 'i' appears in other contexts: When the letter 'i' is in the middle of a word, a lot of comic artists write it as a single vertical line. But when it's the pronoun 'I', a word of its own, it almost always gets the horizontal serifs at the top and bottom to make it stand out visually.
I’m sorry the way he said “ wa-TAHH-shi” in 3:44😭😭😭
It can be difficult to integrate the stressing rules of another language into a sentence of a language that uses stress to communicate grammar like English does.
Not saying he didn't screw it up, but be mindful not to expect too much. :P
2:51 I would so much prefer a world where people just guessed someone’s name “oh look it’s Jim” “you know them?” “No I just gave them a name”
In danish the words Å, i and Ø are the only one letter words meaning
Å=small river
I=you(multiple)
Ø=island
I find it funny that the words for a small river and an island could be so important that they deserve a single letter word
It's the same in Swedish with å = river, ö = Island but "I" means "inside / in". ex : "den är i köket" (it's in the kitchen)
@@someuser4166 the word I in Danish has a couple of meanings
It could mean
You in multiple
Inside
3:30 just wait until you hear about "я"
3:36 in Russian “I” is “Я” - one letter, too
Also, in Russian, word “Вы” (you), when used as singular (polite version of “ты” - “thou” in old English), gets capitalised, instead of “Я”. So there’s a joke that English are more selfish then Russian, cause we mark our interlocutors as important, bot ourselves
@@oro5421I'm Russian and I've never heard about specifically Вы being capitalized. It just feels that whatever you want to show big respect for you can (but don't have to) capitalize.
@@oro5421It's the same in Swedish. We used to write Ni-our version of Вы: plural, but a «polite» singular. Later, though, we started writing Du-which is ты, but still capitalized for politeness. Alas this is barely seen today, albeit I certainly still address like such.
Ha-ha, I approve of that joke-thought the exact same thing. P·ſ: I've studied Russian, so glad to know you also do this!
In German, the formal form of "you" ("Sie" or even "Ihr") is capitalized. But they are other pronouns. The pronoun "Sie" is translated "she" or "they" (3rd person singular or plural). The pronoun "Ihr" is nowadays not used anymore as it is very old and translates to, well, "you" but the 2nd person plural.
When Germany was a monarchy, "Sie" would be used for nobles and "Ihr" for the emperor himself (or the highest nobleman in the area). So, a rule of thumb.
Ja als gegenpart zum marchästetischen wir wurde das ihr auch benutzt du benutzt es heute aber immernoch als Mehrzahl "könnt ihr mir mal das salz reichen" "habt ihr ihn gesehen". Womit es zu seiner ursprünglichen verwendung zurückgefunden hat. Sowas ähnliches gab es auch mit dem wörtchen er auch bis in die Kaiserzeit als direkte ansprache an einen Dienstboten von seinem Herren. "Hat er schon die Arbeiten erledigt."
In my Church one of the educators for youth organisators likes to be referred in the pluralis majestatis (ihr/euer)
In Russian, officially, you are to write вы/вам/вас with a lower case, however many people, even in the academic space use Вы/Вам/Вас to show respect. Also, there are shenanigans with the word god as Бог/бог can mean both a translation of Yakhve's name and just a god.
Elmo just watched this... Elmo doesn't understand.
i looks much nicer. It's like a little guy
I disagree.
No
Frfr adorable
i agree
I- uhhhh- i dont really care
What I find fascinating on a related note, is that there's not a strong consensus on the capitalization of the royal "we." It's common to capitalize it when it replaces "I," but it's also fairly common to not capitalize it at all.
wait, people capitalise we?
@@esmerat As I said, only the royal We where it replaces I, and there's no consensus on whether doing so is proper. So for example "In truth, We art quite distressed at these tidings."
Danish also has a capital I, but it's the second person plural pronoun (you/y'all). It's only upper case to avoid confusion with the preposition "i" (meaning "in").
Related note, I wish the word “yous” was widely accepted to mean “you all” (3rd person plural). We say that word in parts of England but it never appears in print yet would be really useful.
@@philreed1605 Yous/yall/yinz etc. The English language is bringing back the singular/plural distinction for the second person. Different regions have different words for it, but I believe it's spreading, since more and more people can see the need for having it!
I often need two pronouns for 'we', in both Danish and English. One meaning 'someone else, or some others, and myself' (excluding 'you'). The other meaning 'you and I, and possibly some others'.
@@pepebriguglio6125 It's called clusivity! Some languages have it, but typically not European ones, unfortunately.
@@pepebriguglio6125 Ah yes! Like the 'exclusive or' in Boolean logic.
Indonesian always capitalizes Anda, the more formal of its two second-person singular pronouns.
Why is it?
I always assumed “I” is a proper pronoun in the same way names are proper nouns. Proper nouns are capitalized because they refer to a specific person or place. Similarly, “I” always refers to a specific person-yourself. “She” can refer to any woman. “You” can refer to anyone I’m talking to. But “I” always refers to myself. Whenever I use it, I’m never talking about anyone else.
One other example: O (in the sense of a title of respect, like "I ask you, O king, to hear my request"). I know it's a bit archaic since we don't use honorifics much anymore, but it is still an example of a single capital letter!
(Note, this is a different word from "oh," the interjection used to show surprise or intensity of emotion)
I don't think 'O' was an honorific particle. I think and have learned 'O' was a vocative particle - to show address - but you might be right too.
@@Reubentheimitator6572 that could be correct, I'm not sure. Certainly a formal form of address, but that makes sense that it's like "what comes next is the name of whoever I'm speaking to." An example that might support your point is the song "Bless the Lord, O My Soul" - it makes more sense that the O is directing the address than that the speaker is paying respect to his own soul.
@@LincolnDWard Thank you for the polite reply.
O is sometimes used as a single letter word as an interjection in Latin. E.g., O! Patrick.
And in English, when expressing the vocative, O friend (upper case, too!)
What about "O" as a single-letter word? It's used often in historical literature.
Doesn't it come from Latin?
@@Mallowigi Not sure.
Yeah but isn't that because it's typically at the start of the sentence?
@@MallowigiI read in one dictionary that it does come from Latin.
Most cuz it's not really used in modern English much
One thought on "a" is that you can't really separate it from its twin brother "an" which is based on the vowel/consonant feel of the word it modifies. so, a/an sort of have the same existence in the mind. It's also intimately connected with the word following it, as opposed to I, which stands on its own. I remember being a small child, hearing a word and searching the dictionary in vain because there was clearly no "anacronym" (an acronym) in it, so much does both a and an get merged into the word it modifies.
I don't think my generation will change formal writings to stop capitalizing I.
I agree. I think that there will be a larger difference between formal and informal writing, though.
i think they might
I have a theory. When you use he, she, or them, you could be referring to any Tom, Dick, or Jane. However I, in this case, refers directly to David Lewis. Like a substitution in math, I simply replaces a proper name. Since a substitution take on the characteristics of the thing being substituted for, I would default to proper name status and be always capitalized.
However, by this theory, You should be capitalized if referring to a specific person. However, since you can be singular or plural, its easier to to keep it lower case at all times.
By your logic it would be easier to disambiguate singular/plural at least in written English by having singular you be capitalised and plural you be uncapitalised.
I never refer to any Tom, Dick, or Jane. I only refer to any Tom, Dick, or Harry.
Then why not Me or My?
It's interesting that we're so averse to capitalizing "a" or other articles, that we even keep it lowercase in things like book and movie titles: "To Kill a Mockingbird" instead of "To Kill A Mockingbird."
This used to annoy me when I was younger but I have come to see it as neater overall
In Dutch it’s the same. It’s the Netherlands and not The. Also with family names it’s always a lowercase. It’s official spelling.
O wise RUclipsr, how can you claim that there are only two single-letter words in English?
O
I don't feel like O is really a "word" as its an archaic form mostly used for address, not communication.
@@Spartan322 Facts don't care about your feelings.😉
Address is communication. But I understand your reasoning.
4:49 that's a pretty bad mispronounciation. Kind of destroyes the entire point, but the ch represents a voiceless palatal fricative. What was said would be written as "ik" in German (ik is actually the Dutch word for I, so that should've been chosen instead).
Please start researching the pronounciation of words from other languages before recording.
Ikr... and he doesn't even show a phonetic transcription so you can't even read the real thing. Like it made me wonder if old English actually used the velar stop he was making or the palatal frictative I know modern German actually uses. He could at least mention he's conflating two different sounds because he can't pronounce one of them...
Yes. Please pronounce every single word from every single language exactly like a native speaker. And also don’t speak in any accent. 👀 😳 🤣 Ridiculous expectations here
@@redapol5678 you know exactly that that's not what I said. Him pronouncing "ich" as "ik" and then using this blatant mispronunciation to prove a point is literally one step removed from just making shit up.
@@Idkpleasejustletmechangeithis point wasn’t based on his mispronunciation. It’s very likely that something like “ic” or “ich” slowly changed into i (short vowel sound) and eventually to I (long vowel sound). Even if he mispronounced a German word, the point still stands.
But let’s hope for your sake every RUclips video pronounces foreign words like a native speaker so it sounds nice to your ears 😉 (and really hope you never have to pronounce a completely foreign word from a language with sounds unlike anything in English! 😬 🤣)
@@redapol5678
1 I acknowledged that his point is true (when I said that the Dutch "ik" should've been chosen instead).
2 this is about how he used a mispronounciation of "ich" as an example. This can easily lead to disinformation.
3 my native language is German, I speak three other languages (English, French, Dutch) and if I needed to say a word from a language I don't speak, then I'd research the pronounciation to at least get it right (especially in an educational situation like this)
4 stop being so fucking pretentious, please
I absolutely despise the use of lowercase for the word "I," it just looks so much worse if i make it lowercase
3:38 in russian I is я (ya), it is two sounds I suppose but still ONE letter
Interesting; this Cyrillic я is backwards said English I. 😁
We in ex-Yu (Bosnian here) write it as "ja" in both Latin and Cyrillic script. We don't use я and other double characters and have "j" for what's in English "y" sound.
"I" in English is also two sounds. In facts it kind of sounds like "ya" in reverse.
@@Jonassoe they arent related though, well, they are related but not in that way. related from very distant distant languages
That's why the say Russian is English in reverse
In english all vowels, beside E, make two sounds, so they are pronounced as diphthongs. A = EI, I = AI, O = OU, U = IU
Regarding single-letter words, in old songs and poems, you sometimes see the interjection "Oh" spelled just as "O," particularly when followed by an exclamation point. I wonder why that one didn't stick.
0:27 n can be a single letter word which is a shortened version of and, as in "rock 'n' roll".
Thanks for the comment I appreciate it
O for of as in bo'oh'o'wo'eh
@@rizzwan-42069??????
@@esmerat the o in bo'oh'o'wo'er is of bri'ish innit bruv.
5:22 when informally speaking, veré in Austria and I'm guessing in Germany as well, we tend to say "i" (e) instead of the full "ich"
"a" too.
"jlH" in the Klingon language means "I" in English.
It also means "me." Klingon does not have subject or object cases. And in Klingon, the I is always capitalized, representing the fact that it sounds like the "i" in "pin" not a Latin "i."
that language takes capitals to a whole nother level
is the | in jlH capital I or lesser l?
@@埊 Capital. But Klingon doesn't use capital letters to indicate things like importance or nouns or names or starts of sentences. Capitals just mean "Watch out, actor speaking these lines! This doesn't sound the way you think it does!"
No, it means I in Klingon. It TRANSLATES to I in English.
Fun Fact: Many people think using “thou” instead of “you” (like in Shakespeare) is pretentious when in fact thou was the informal form, you was the formal. I’ve read that it was dropped because of the English Revolution but I don’t know if that’s true (the English Revolution was about religion not class). I do know that that WAS the case during the Russian Revolution.
Bosnian (Serbian, Croatian, Montenegrin): "ja" (j is y) and is pronounced if you say English I backwards. 😁
I think it's same (or similar) for all or most Slavic languages.
In Polish, "I" is also ja and in Russian, it's я, pronounced the same
Yeah, in Czech it's "já" (the á is prononounced long)
@@Potkanka We say it same... we just don't write those accents. We do it only if there could be misunderstanding (not everyone) - for example: "Ja sam sam" means "I am alone" - to distinguish those "sam" by this meaning alone we write "â": "Ja sam sâm". But this is only case for masculine form. There is no need to do it if you are female: "Ja sam sama", where "sama" is feminine for of "alone". I know, Czech writing is more precise, but this how things were set at the beginning and its easier to write (sometimes harder to read). Btw, I think our Latin script (including Slovenian too) was based on Czech Latin script.
@@sabkobds I see, interesting! We need to always write accents (diacritics) because they show pronunciation. Vowels with the ´ accent (á, é, í, ó, ú, ý) are long, those without it are short (there's also ů, that's long too).
Hm yeah, I think our alphabet was an inspiration for some others :)
I spend years thinking that A was also capitalized because it was so short to make it stand out in a text
The German word "ich" is *not* pronounced "ick." It's closer to if you take a breath and as you exhale, with your throat and tongue relaxed, say something like "ish." But even that is not really a good way to describe it, because if it comes out sounding like "fish" or "dish" you're way off. The "ch" should sound closer to the "h" if you were to put stress on the English word "huge."
This is why ipa was invented lol
The symbol is [x], right?
@@samuelwaller4924no, it's [ç]
@@svantlas6034 thanks
just say kh 😭
The way Ich was pronounced gave my brain a seizure. I mean, I knew you wouldn't get the voiceless palatal fricative correct, cos basically no native english speaker that hasn't done German classes would do it from sight. But I was expecting the way every english and american I see would pronounce it, like "Itch", but "Ik" felt wild.
noticed you end sentences a lot on a "-a" like that octopus guy from pirates of the carribean
I would say that it is capital because it takes only one strike to write the capital letter, but it takes two strikes to write the small letter. This and j are the only letters that have this characteristic.
In Greek small ι is dotless.
Hearing your German pronounciation made me cry. Great video though 👍
In old Swedish the word for “you (plural)” was always written as a capital “I”. In the 18th century “I” was replaced by “ni”, often capitalised; “Ni”. (The initial /n/ derives from the verb endings; ären I > är Ni “you are”.) Today the word “I” has a smack of Biblical sayings, old songs, ancient scripts, etc.
This is still true of Danish. "I" means "you"! The informal plural, that is, which is "ihr" in German and "ye" in Biblical English. This Danish "I" is also always a capital.
I think I learned that "ni" is spelled as "Ni" when used formally to refer to only a single person.
The official rule is that you spell it “ni”. However in letters and advertisements you find “Ni” as well as “Du”. Some people might make up their own rules, claiming that “Ni” refers to one person and “ni” to many persons. Among educated people it appears stupid, and also impolite, to address a single person as “ni/Ni”. Unfortunately this habit does occur among immigrants and youngsters. (The correct word is “du”.)
Does this mean that in Sweden, there were actual knights who said "ni"?
@@joachimvonritter6113 The reason for “ni” having been seen as impolite is that it had acquired an undertone of condescension due to its then rather one-sided use in conversations between people of different statuses. A person of higher status might have used “ni” to address someone of lower status, whereas they themselves would have been referred to by his or her title. Nowadays, titles have largely disappeared and so too has the memory of such a dynamic.
Anyone who uses singular “ni” today does so to show respect, as that is how most young people have come to view its use. Isn’t it a bit ironic that you should consider the use of the singular “ni” to be disrespectful and advocate against it, while also contrasting those who might use it-“immigrants and youngsters,” to borrow your words-with “educated people” and calling them stupid?
9:40 I don't use capital letters when I'm on my computer since it's a hassle to hold down shift just to type one letter and the meaning still comes across just fine. my phone handles capitalization automatically so I just leave that as is whilst using it.
My guy says its a hassle to apply the slightest pressure with his pinky.
@@mrcroob8563 it is. It also locks one of your hands
Interesting that you say that while capitalizing I but not the beginning of the second sentence, it has to be intentional right?
i completely disabled autocorrect on my phone so i could type in all-lowercase as a stylistic choice
@@obonyxiam You're so quirky
I is also “i” in a lot of southern german/ austrian/ swiss dialects
The explanation I was given in school is that back in the day, when they copied manually on paper, a small "i" alone was too small, and it was easier to have that single letter word written capitalized because it was easier to see.
3:35 In my dialect of Norwegian, "I" is written "e"(in normal Norwegian "jeg"). The "am" in "I'm" can also more commonly be written as "e", so "E e" is perfectly normal where i'm from when using "I'm".
Is this correct "Ee snakker norsk"?
Some people like the French and Turks write dotted capital I. So dumb.
Now, the man is not correct
O, Heavenly Host. O is an intersection, and it is spelled with just one letter like a and I.
Correct!
4:45 C'mon, couldn't you check the correct pronunciation of the German "ich" using some online translation tool?
Additionally I've noticed is that in written text people may write the capital "I" at the start of words as just the stem, but if they then use "I" to mean themself they will also write the cap and foot. So for some "I" not only is capitalised but has a unique form of capitalisation. Not enough sentences start with "I" that isn't the word "I" for me to know how prevelant it is, but I know I started doing it after I noticed someone else doing it
All nouns used to be capitalized in English. The word I just stayed this way when the rest didn’t.
Except “I” isn’t a noun, it’s a pronoun
And pronouns are a type of nouns.
@@deadfishy666 yeah, the point was “all nouns used to be capitalised” but even then it did not apply to pronouns
Thanks!
In Norway depending on where you are, like in the north, they refer themselves as "Æ"
We even have a discount app for one of the big grocery stores named Æ.
Some areas just use E instead.
You can see the derivativr form clearly from the Nynorsk official written form for "I" which is "Eg"
Ok so my English teacher used to say that the reason I is capitalized is because the English think of themselves so highly. Seems like she wasn't far off lol
English is not the only language where there is a word that consists of only one letter. Pronoun 'I' in Russian is represented as a single letter as well: 'Я'.
Всем похуй
08:50
My own hypothesis is that "a" usually not being capitalised because this leaves room for capitalising it in order to emphasise it. Why should you? Maybe, someone talks about _the_ city of Alexandria, and you want to emphasise that there were several of them by writing "actually it's A city of Alexandria".
Tldr: dunno...
You mean... TLDWatch?
@@MaoRatto obviously 🤣
@@xyzxyzxyzxyzxyzxyz It's necessary to be a smart-arsch sometimes. :)
Technically "and" can also be spelled with only one character if you spell it as "&".
Also, "Я" in Russian is spelled with only one letter.
"Ich" can be shortened to "I" in non standard German too. For example you can say "it's me" as "I bims".
„English is a weird old languadgehh“ 😂 9:20
O Canada; O Captain, My Captain.
In German, second person formal is capitalized in all cases, which distinguishes it in print from third person plural.
5:00 in German, iirc, W is pronounced as V is pronounced in English, and V is pronounced as F is pronounced in English.
so "Vogel" would sound like 'Fogel'
("Wogel" would sound like 'Vogel')
also, "Ich" is not 'ick', it's kind of like 'eecgh'
not a "ck" sound as we understand it, but not a "ch" sound. the vowel is more 'ee' than 'ih' though. not like nasty American 'eEE' though. but still kind of more 'ee' than 'ih'. (if that makes sense, and iirc)
In Russian the word for I is ‘ya’ which is written in the cyrillic alphabet as ‘Я’ so it is also actually a single letter! :)
Ay, ay, ay ... I eye I, and I see the I sounds like aye.
Kind of disappointed. I expected there be an answer, turns out there is none… Please consider adding that to the beginning of the video if it’s meant as an informative video.
Thanks for telling me before i watched it all
for me it is personal preference, -ever since i was little, and was told "i is capitalized because i has importance referring to yourself (or something like that),
i...don't feel that way, -yes, i am important as a person, but, a capital I, just feels...egotistical to me...plus, i ALWAYS have trouble telling "is that an I or an l?" and it's more friendly looking,
so...personally, i, is my chosen one, easy to read, and not trying to make itself feel too important and pompous.
also LOL just saw the end of the video where people think it could be harder to see/read...not for me!!!, -maybe it is my bad eye-lenses, but the dot for it shines like a star and i can DEFINITELY see it easier than if it were just a line, because the break in it for the dot makes it easier to see and tell which one it is.
OH, and i think losing capitals for the start of a sentence is STUPID, because it catches the eye to where...the start, is...or the end of a continuation in one's speaking.
ek (एक) means 1 in hindi
Stop stealing from the Dutch.
I've never used capital i like this. Makes absolutely no sense to me. It was one of those things that when i was learnign english i just asked "Do i HAVE to use this?" and when the answer was "no", boy oh boy, i was so happy.
The German word for I "ich" is more accurately pronounced "ish". It is the Dutch whose word for I is pronounced as ik
True, but it's more accuratly ihy, like the hy sound in hue.
It's rather closer to the way u say "h" in "human"
Whose*
3:40
One more singular letter personal pronoun would be "я". Yep, still not capitalized.
lol i'm a millennial and always write in lowercase when communicating casually. emails get capitalized properly, i capitalize properly when journaling or sending teams messages to my supervisor or managers i'm not friendly with...but when i text or use social media, i am not capitalizing anything except for emphasis. i don't think it's a gen-z thing; i've noticed other people my age doing the same thing.
Dutch is an even closer cousin, and "I" is "ik". 🤷♂
It is spelt I instead of i because it is pronounced like the capital letter not the lower case letter unlike a and there are no other indicators of its pronunciation like you get with English words that got more than 1 letter in it so I gotta be capitalised always.
Now *this* is a question I never thought to ask! I just capitalize it automatically without thinking about it.
5:01 Google Translate has a feature to read everything out loud you get a translation for. No need to mispronounce foreign words anymore ('Volgel').
It took a long time to standardize the English language. There was 80 different spellings for church. Everything from Kirk to cheurche. No kidding.
In Polish, when you write someone a letter/mail and you want to be polite you need to capitalise"you/your/yours" so you'll write "Ty" "Cię" "Twoje" "Ciebie" ect. And the same goes with plural form, "Wy" insted of "wy".
Since we moved from writing with pen to typing, capitalizing letters now takes more effort then not capitalizing them, you need two fingers for it. Even worse on a phone. It's not surprising the capitalization of I is ending.
Interestingly, you do the same in Danish. "I" means "they", and it's the only one that gets capitalised.
In German, "Sie" "formal you", is the only one. Though older speakers still write "Du" "informal you" capitalised
Polish has many more single letter words, and they're all pronounced phonetically (like how "a" in English is pronounced as aa not ay, unlike "I")
z - from/with
w - in/at
i - and
o - about
u - at (like "at his (house)")
a - modal particle, sometimes used like "but" with emphasis, or just adds emphasis in general (maybe makes questions more interrogative/inquisitive as well??)
Some Swiss Germans also say "I" when referring to themselves. In English it would sound something like a double "ee".
It's because i is already √-1
3:40 But the Russian word for I is Я
There is actually another instance of a personal pronoun being capitalized. When referring to God or a god, people often use the capital Him even in the middle of sentences.
A reason a lot of gen z dont use capital letters can possibly be explained by the rise of use in computers and the internet. Old operating systems were case sensitive, using capital letters required more effort (with a physical keyboard), to stylistic choices. Texting in an instant in IRCs or sms/imessage mimic real life conversation flow, so typing formally usually slows down that conversation and isn't as casual.
3:41 Russian has several words that are only one letter: и, я, у and в, that i know of. “и” (ee) is “and;” “я” (ya) is “I;” “y” (oo/ou) is one I don’t know the literal translation of, but it’s a preposition of sorts, and is used to describe having something, such as “У меня есть,” which is to say “i have;” “в” (v) is “in”
That said, English is the only language that uses the Latin alphabet to have one-letter words, if your claim otherwise holds true
I'm pretty sure that the Gen Z aversion to capitals is because of texting. Punctuation is also lax as well, leading almost to a continuous string of text with no obvious emphasis on meaning.
When he started speaking about German, I thougth he would mention the "Sie" pronoun, the formal second person, that's also always capitalized, and the fact that in German that pronoun is capitalized in its other forms too (Ihre, Ihnen), which is something that doesn't happen in English. Also I've seen the same happening sometimes with the formal second person, "Usted/es", in Spanish.
That’s a very good point because the sie that means “she” is not capitalized if I remember correctly.
One thing I have noticed is many Gen Zedders may capitalise every word they consider important in a sentence.
I have seen video titles that are something to the effect of “Allies or Enemies”. With or being an unimportant word and enemies being an important one.
That's title case, where you don't capitalize articles, prepositions, or conjunctions. Maybe other stuff I'm forgetting. Title case is so weird in English
A few more possible examples of where a word could be abbreviated to a single letter. Three of them [p, q and u], are in addition to yours for the same letter. Maybe a slight cheat with Q/Kew as Kew is a place name and X/ex as that is a prefix rather than a word.
J - could also mean jay [bird]
O - could mean oh, [O alone is sometimes used in poetry, prayers and hymns to start a line]
P - could also be a pea [small green vegetable].
Q - could also be Kew, place to the west of London famed for its botanic gardens
U - could also mean ewe [female sheep] or yew [tree species]
X - could also be the prefix 'ex'
Because my culture sees capitalization as part of respect, i often capitalize You rather than i so as to be respectful rather than arrogant, at least when talking with someone familiar with that aspect of my culture
I want to challenge the notion that a and I are the only two words in standard English that are one letter by raising "o" which is used (admittedly archaic but still very much in standard English) as a sort of vocative, as in "O Come All Ye Faithful"
You should do a video explaining why “I” and “me” are so different 🤔
That is a good one.
in japanese referring to others is the most polite version, and using one's name to refer to oneself is quite common and not rude or predisposed in some way
I never did as a kid, my mom would mark points off my grade, i was home schooled. And to this today, age of 38, i never use the upper case "i" when speaking about myself.
I am not special enough for that.
Sounds like your mother also marked points off your self esteem lmao 😭
3:37 "English is the only language where a word consists of a single letter".
In spanish we have "y" meaning "and", in case the next word to the word "y" starts with the letter "i" the "y" is replaced with "e" because "y" in that context is pronounced the same as "i".
We also have the word "o" meaning "or".
We also have the word "a" which I'm not sure how to describe, it can be used to mean "to" like if you say "he went TO that place" it would be "el fue A ese lugar".