What was the most recent letter added to the English alphabet?
The most recent single letter to be formally added to the English alphabet is "J." While the letter itself existed in various forms before, it wasn't fully recognized as a distinct letter, separate from "I," until the 17th century. Before this time, "I" served double duty as both a vowel and a consonant, similar to how "U" and "V" were also interchangeable. The differentiation of "J" from "I" marked its official inclusion as the 26th letter of the English alphabet.
This standardization largely came about with the rise of printing. Printers found it more practical to have distinct glyphs for the consonantal sound we now associate with "J" and the vowel sound of "I." Over time, the use of "J" became more consistent, particularly at the beginning of words and syllables where the consonantal sound was more common. By the mid-17th century, dictionaries and other linguistic resources began to treat "J" as a separate and established letter, solidifying its place in the English alphabet as we know it today.
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