Tittle
Channel: all the knowledge of the universe PRINCIPIA
Date: 2022-01-21

Tittle, by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1010924 / CC BY SA 3.0

#Diacritics
#Christian_terminology
#Writing_systems
Lowercase i and j in Liberation Serif, with tittles in red.
A tittle or superscript dot is a small distinguishing mark, such as a diacritic in the form of a dot on a lowercase i or j.
The tittle is an integral part of the glyph of i and j, but diacritic dots can appear over other letters in various languages.
In most languages, the tittle of i or j is omitted when a diacritic is placed in the tittle's usual position （as í or ĵ）, but not when the diacritic appears elsewhere （as į, ɉ）.
The word tittle is rarely used.
One notable occurrence is in the King James Bible at Matthew 5:18: "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" （KJV）.
The quotation uses "jot and tittle" as examples of extremely small graphic details in "the Law," presumably referring to the Hebrew text of the Torah.
In English the phrase "jot and tittle" indicates that every small detail has received attention.
The Greek terms translated in English as "jot" and "tittle" in Matthew 5:18 are iota and keraia （Greek: κεραία）.
Iota is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet （ι）; the even smaller iota subscript was a medieval innovation.
Alternatively, iota may represent yodh （י）, the smallest letter of the Hebrew and Aramaic alphabets （to which iota is related）.
"Keraia" is a hook or serif, and in Matthew 5:18 may refer to Greek diacritics, or, if the reference is to the Hebrew text of the Torah, possibly refers to the pen strokes that distinguish between similar Hebrew letters, e.
g.
, ב （Bet） versus כ （Kaph）, or to ornamental pen strokes attached to certain Hebrew letters, or to the Hebrew letter Vav, since in Hebrew vav also means "hook." "Keraia" in Matt.
5:18 cannot refer to vowel marks known as Niqqud which developed later than the date of Matthew's composition.
Others have sugg...