A tittle is a small distinguishing mark, such as a diacritic or the dot over an i or a j. Example of a letter with a diacritic A diacritical mark or diacritic, also called an accent, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation or to distinguish between similar words. ...

History and usage

The tittle first appeared in Latin manuscripts in the 11th century, to distinguish the letter i from strokes of nearby letters. Although originally a larger mark, it was reduced to a dot when Roman-style typefaces were introduced. Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ... Roman type has two separate meanings in typography, both of which refer to the fact that the capital letters of a Roman font have an appearance similar to those used for lettering stone in ancient Rome: Roman type can refer to one of the major families of traditional typefaces as... For the origin and evolution of fonts, see History of western typography. ...

The only place a modern reader is apt to confront this word is during the introduction to the Antithesis of the Law in the Gospel of Matthew (5:18): "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled" (NKJV). The quotation uses them as an example of extremely minor details. The phrase "jot and tittle" indicates that every small detail has received attention. The Antithesis of the Law (Matthew 5:17-48) is a less well known but highly structured (you have heard . ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally, according to Matthew; Greek, Κατά Μαθθαίον or Κατά Ματθαίον, Kata Maththaion or Kata Matthaion) is a synoptic gospel in the New Testament, one of four canonical gospels. ... The New King James Version (NKJV) is a modern Bible translation, published by Thomas Nelson, Inc. ...

The phrase is also used in the Terry Gilliam film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. When Baron Munchausen (John Neville) is introduced to Venus (Uma Thurman), he says that she is even more beautiful then Catherine the Great - Venus says he is flattering her, and he replies "not one jot, not one tittle". Terrence Vance Gilliam (born November 22, 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, animator, and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. ... The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a 1988 film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring John Neville (as the Baron), Sarah Polley, Eric Idle, Jonathan Pryce, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, and Robin Williams. ... Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Baron von Münchhausen (May 11, 1720 - February 22, German nobleman who in his youth was sent to serve as page to Anton Ulrich and later joined the Turks. ... John Neville as the Well Manicured Man in the TV-series The X-Files John Neville, C.M., OBE (born May 2, 1925) is an English theatre and film actor who moved to Canada in 1972. ... Adjectives: Venusian or (rarely) Cytherean Atmosphere Surface pressure: 9. ... Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American film actress. ... Catherine II (Екатерина II Алексеевна: Yekaterína II Alekséyevna, April 21, 1729 - November 6, 1796), born Sophie Augusta Fredericka, known as Catherine the Great, reigned as empress of Russia from... Adjectives: Venusian or (rarely) Cytherean Atmosphere Surface pressure: 9. ...

In the Greek original translated as English "jot and tittle" is found iota and keraia.^[1] Iota is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet (ι), but since only capitals were used at the time the Greek New Testament was written (Ι), it probably represents the Hebrew or Aramaic yodh (י) which is the smallest letter of the Hebrew and Aramaic alphabets. "Keraia" is a hook or serif, possibly accents in Greek but more likely hooks on Hebrew or Aramaic letters, (ב) versus (כ), or additional marks such as crowns (as Vulgate apex) found in the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, which are the first five books of the Jewish Bible. A keraia is also used in Greek numerals. Look up Ι, ι in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Greek alphabet is an alphabet that has been used to write the Greek language since about the 9th century BCE. It was the first alphabet in the narrow sense, that is, a writing system using a separate symbol for each vowel and consonant alike. ... Majuscules or capital letters (in the Roman alphabet: A, B, C, ...) are one type of case in a writing system. ... This article is about the Christian scriptures. ... Aramaic is a Semitic language with a four-thousand year history. ... Yodh (also spelled Yud or Yod) is the tenth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew , Syriac and Arabic (in abjadi order, 28th in modern order). ... Bilingual inscription (Greek and Aramaic) by the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great, 3rd century BC. The Aramaic alphabet is an abjad alphabet designed for writing the Aramaic language. ... In typography, serifs are non-structural details on the ends of some of the strokes that make up letters and symbols. ... The Vulgate Bible is an early 5th century version in Latin, partly revised and partly translated by Jerome on the orders of Pope Damasus I in 382. ... 11th century Targum Tanakh [תנ״ך] (also spelt Tanach or Tenach) is an acronym for the three parts of the Hebrew Bible, based upon the initial Hebrew letters of each part: Torah [תורה] (The Law; also: Teaching or Instruction), Chumash [חומש] (The... Greek numerals are a system of representing numbers using letters of the Greek alphabet. ...

The standard reference for NT Greek is A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, Bauer, Gingrich, Danker, et al.

Dotless and Dotted I

A number of alphabets use dotted and dottless I, both upper and lower case.

In the modern Turkish alphabet, the absence or presence of a tittle distinguishes two different letters representing two different phonemes: the letter "I" / "ı", with the absence of a tittle also on the lower case letter, represents the close back unrounded vowel [ɯ], while "İ" / "i", with the inclusion of a tittle even on the capital letter, represents the close front unrounded vowel [i]. The Turkish alphabet is a variant of the Latin alphabet used for writing the Turkish language, consisting of 29 letters, a certain number of which (Ç, Äž, I, Ä°, Ö, Åž, and Ãœ) have been adapted or modified for the phonetic requirements of the language. ... Two distinct versions of the letter I, dotted and dotless, are used in the Turkish alphabet, which is a variant of the Latin alphabet. ... In spoken language, a phoneme is a basic, theoretical unit of sound that can distinguish words (i. ... The close back unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ...

In the latest Latin based Kazakh alphabet, there are also dotted and dotless letter i and I for different sounds. The Kazak Cyrillic script is based on the Russian alphabet with 9 additional letters: Ә, Ғ, Қ, Ң, Ө, Ұ, Ү, Һ, İ. The letters Ц, Ч, В, Ъ, Ь, and Ё are only used in loanwords, most of them coming from Russian. ...

Phrases

• It is thought that the phrase "to a T" is derived from this word.^[2]

• Dot your I's and cross your T's can mean either pedantry or thoroughness.

References

See also

• Dot
• Titlo
• Tilde
• Inherently funny words
• Turkish dotted and dotless I

When used as a diacritic mark, the term dot is usually reserved for the middle dot (·), or to the glyphs combining dot above ( ) and combining dot below ( ) which may be combined with some letters of the extended Latin alphabets in use in Eastern European languages and Vietnamese. ... Titlo is an extended diacritic symbol first used in old Cyrillic manuscripts, e. ... The tilde (~) is a grapheme with several uses. ... Some influential comedians have long regarded certain words in the English language as being inherently funny and have used these to enhance the humor of their comic routines. ... Two distinct versions of the letter I, dotted and dotless, are used in the Turkish alphabet, which is a variant of the Latin alphabet. ...

Sources

• Dictionary.com — Tittle
• Not One "Jot or Tittle"

External links

• Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon