"J" Suffix Question....

Jim Keenan · 05-22-2003, 12:23 AM

Hi, guys,

The J was not used because it really did not exist. In old German, the I and J were the same letter, and even by the time of the Luger, there was not a clear distinction between them either in the typeface (in Fraktur) or in pronunciation. The German J today is not pronounced like the English J (as in "jug"), it is pronounced like Y, a letter German does not use. So the German word for hunter, Jaeger, is pronounced like Yaeger, and the famous pilot's last name surely was originally Jaeger or Iaeger.

(I am using "ae" in lieu of the umlaut "a"; in spite of several attempts, I have not been able to get the umlaut to work.)

Jim

05-22-2003, 12:23 AM	#4
Jim Keenan User Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 184 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Hi, guys, The J was not used because it really did not exist. In old German, the I and J were the same letter, and even by the time of the Luger, there was not a clear distinction between them either in the typeface (in Fraktur) or in pronunciation. The German J today is not pronounced like the English J (as in "jug"), it is pronounced like Y, a letter German does not use. So the German word for hunter, Jaeger, is pronounced like Yaeger, and the famous pilot's last name surely was originally Jaeger or Iaeger. (I am using "ae" in lieu of the umlaut "a"; in spite of several attempts, I have not been able to get the umlaut to work.) Jim