Tittle
A tittle is a small distinguishing mark, such as a diacritic or the dot over an i.
It 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.
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: "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.
In the Greek original translated as English "jot and tittle" is found iota and keraia. 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.
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.
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].
It is thought that the phrase "to a T" is derived from this word.
See also
Sources
External links
 | This writing system–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |