IJ

The IJ (lowercase ij) is the digraph of the letters i and j. Occurring in the Dutch language, it is sometimes considered a ligature, or even a letter in itself – although in most fonts that have a separate character for ij the two composing parts are not connected, but are separate glyphs, sometimes slightly kerned.

An ij in written Dutch usually represents the diphthong [ɛi].^[1] In standard Dutch, and most Dutch dialects, there are two possible spellings for the diphthong [ɛi]: ij and ei. This causes confusion for schoolchildren, who need to study lists of words with ei and with ij. To distinguish between the two, the ij is referred to as the lange ij ("long ij"), the ei as korte ei ("short ei") or simply E – I.^[2] The long name is probably because of the form extending below the baseline, not because of its sound, as both sounds are pronounced identically.

In certain Dutch dialects (notably Dutch Low Saxon, West Flemish and Zeelandic) a difference in the pronunciation of ei and ij is maintained.

Whether pronounced identical to ei or not, pronunciation is often perceived difficult by native English speakers. The tendency is to pronounce ij as [aɪ],^{[citation needed]} which in turn can lead to confusion among native listeners.

The IJ is different from the letter Y. It used to be common, in particular when writing in capitals, to write Y in stead of IJ. In fact this has been the official spelling in the earlier part of the 19th century.^{[citation needed]} The practice is now long deprecated, but Dutch children will still tend to pronounce the letter Y as ij when reading the alphabet.^{[citation needed]} Also, in scientific disciplines such as mathematics, the y is usually pronounced ij.^{[citation needed]}

In Dutch Y only occurs in loanwords, names or in (variantly spelled) old Dutch. Y is called Griekse IJ ("Greek Y"), I-grec (the latter from French, with the stress on grec) or Ypsilon. However, in Afrikaans, the Y replaces the IJ. Further, the names of Dutch immigrants to the United States and Canada often were Anglicized so that the IJ became a Y; for example, the surname Spijker became Spyker.

The words “ijsvrij” and “yoghurt” in various forms of handwriting

The name of a railway station

IJ is here written as if it is one letter

Here, IJ is written as Y

History

IJ probably developed out of ii, representing a long [i:] sound (which it still does in some occasions, such as in the word bijzonder and in several Dutch dialects). In the middle ages, the i was written without a dot in handwriting, and the combination ıı was often confused with u. Therefore, the second i was elongated. Later, the dots were added (albeit not in Afrikaans, a language that has its roots in Dutch. In this language the y is used instead).

Another theory is that it may have arisen from lowercase y being split into two strokes in handwriting. At some time in the 15th or 16th century, this began to be spelled as a ligature ij. Contradicting this theory is the fact that even in handwritings which do not join letters, ij is often written as a single sign.

Some time after the birth of the new letter, the sound which was now represented by ij in most cases began to be pronounced much like ei instead, but words containing it were still spelled the same. Today ij in most cases represents the diphthong [ɛi], except in the suffix -lijk, where it is usually pronounced as a schwa. In one special case, the Dutch word bijzonder, the (old) sound [i:] is correct standard pronunciation, although [i] is more common and [ɛi] is also allowed.

Status

A poster showing the letters of the alphabet used for writing education in the Netherlands. The final three letter pairs read "Xx IJij Zz".

This board was used to teach Dutch children to read. Letters which form a single sound are grouped, and this includes 'ij' in 'g ij s'

In this version the letter i and j are joined as if they are a single letter

The IJ is not only confusing to foreigners. It is also a source of discussion among those who speak Dutch, since the actual usage in the Netherlands and Flanders sometimes differs from the official recommendations.

Official status

The smaller Van Dale Handwoordenboek Hedendaags Nederlands (descriptive) dictionary states that ij is a letter sign, consisting of two i’s, with the second elongated.^[3] Both the Dutch Language Union and the Genootschap Onze Taal consider the ij to be a digraph of the letters i and j.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, IJ is often considered to be one letter:

• In Dutch primary schools 'ij' used to be taught as being the 25th of the alphabet.
• In the Netherlands, when a word starting with IJ is capitalised, the entire digraph is capitalised: IJsselmeer, IJmuiden.
• On old-fashioned typewriters there is/was one key that produced 'ij' (in a single letterspace). However, this is not the case on most computer keyboards.
• In word puzzles it fills one square.
• The Winkler Prins encyclopedia states that ij is the 25th letter of the Dutch alphabet, between X and Y.

Flanders

In Flanders, IJ is usually considered to be two letters:

• In Flemish primary schools IJ is taught as consisting of two letters.
• In Belgium, sometimes only the I is capitalized: Ijzer, Ijzeren Rijn. However, this practice is uncommon and capitalisation of the entire digraph is the norm.
• Other letter combinations, such as ou, au, eu, ui, are not considered one letter either. Even ligatures, such as the French œ, are usually considered as two letters. The sound [ɛi] can occur in words as ij or ei, both of which have two letters.

Usage

Capitalisation

When a Dutch word starting with IJ is capitalised, the entire digraph is capitalised: IJsselmeer, IJmuiden.^[4]

In Flanders, this rule is not followed as strictly, resulting sometimes in spellings like Ijzer. Although this is not standard usage, one can sometimes even find this type of capitalisation on official road signs in Flanders.

Many software packages with automated spelling corrections have the tendency to change the capital "J" to lower case, resulting in the frequent erroneous combination Ij in text prepared in such programs.

Collation

Dutch dictionaries since 1850 invariably sort ij as an i followed by a j, i.e. between ih and ik. This is the preferred sorting by the Taalunie.^[5]

On the other hand, some encyclopedias, like the Winkler Prins, 7th edition, sort ij as a single letter positioned between x and y.

Telephone directories as well as the Yellow Pages in the Netherlands (but not those in Belgium) sort ij and y together, as if they are the same, between x and z. Thanks to this, surnames like Bruijn and Bruyn which sound and even (to some extent) look the same can be found in the same spot. (Bruin, however, though it sounds similar, is placed with "Brui-" and not "Bruy-".)

Abbreviations

When words or (first) names are shortened to their initials, in the Netherlands a Dutch word or name starting with IJ is abbreviated to IJ. For example, IJsbrand Eises Ypma is shortened to IJ. E. Ypma^[6]

On this signboard of a liquor store (slijterij) , IJ occupies the same space as single letters. The I is put over the lower end of the J to reinforce their unity, but this is optional and I and J can also be found separately on other signs

Wide inter-letter spacing

When words are written with large inter-letter spacing, IJ is often, but not always, kept together. F r a n k r ij k or F r a n k r i j k.

When words are written from top to bottom, with non-rotated letters, IJ is usually, but not always, kept together. Keeping it together is the preferred way. ^[6]

Spelling

Vrijdag can be spelled out in two ways, depending on whether the speller considers ij to be one letter or not:

• V – R – IJ – D – A – G
• V – R – I – J – D – A – G

Spelling of names

In Dutch names the interchanged use of ij and y is frequent. Some names have changed officially, for commercial reasons or by indifference:

• Johan Cruijff/Cruyff, former football player and manager
• Feijenoord/Feyenoord, football team and stadium in Rotterdam
• Piet Heijn/Heyn/Hein, Dutch admiral
• Dirk Kuijt/Kuyt, football player
• Arie Luyendijk/Luyendyk, driver
• Ruud van Nistelrooij/Nistelrooy, football player
• Spijker/Spyker, Dutch car

Radio alphabet

In the Dutch radio alphabet, the codeword IJmuiden represents the IJ. This is clearly different from the codeword Ypsilon, which is used to represent the Y.

Word games

In crossword puzzles (except Scrabble - see next paragraph), and in Lingo, IJ is considered one letter, filling one square, but the IJ and the Y are considered distinct. In other word games, rules may vary.

The Dutch version of Scrabble has a Y with face value 8. Most players used it to represent IJ or Y. The recent Dutch version comes with an example game, which clearly indicates that Y is only Y and IJ should be composed of I and J.

In word games which make distinction between vowels and consonants, IJ is considered a vowel if it is considered one letter. (Whether Y is a vowel or a consonant, is another matter of discussion, as Y can both represent a vowel or a (half-)consonant sound in loanwords.)

In sports

The Dutch football team of Feyenoord changed its name from the original "Feijenoord" to "Feyenoord" after achieving some international successes. This was done as a reaction to foreign people mispronouncing the name. The Feijenoord district in Rotterdam where the team is from still writes its name using the original ij. The names of football players Johan Cruijff and Ruud van Nistelrooij are often written as Johan Cruyff and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Technical details

Apt to confusion: (1) i + j, (2) ligature ij, (3) y with diaeresis, (4) y in Garamond

Print and handwriting

In print ÿ (lowercase y with diaeresis) and ij look very different, but in the handwriting of most^{[citation needed]} Dutch speakers ÿ, ij and Y, IJ are identical. Fortunately, since the y occurs only in loanwords, the ÿ is extremely rare (if not altogether non-existent) in Dutch.

The long ij extends below the baseline and is therefore written with a long stroke; even in handwritings which do not join letters, it is often written as a single sign.

On some road signs in the Netherlands, IJ appears as a single glyph formed like a U with a break in the left-hand stroke.

Uppercase IJ glyph with the distinctive "broken-U" ligature in a Helvetica font for Omega TeX

Braille

In Dutch Braille the IJ is represented by ⠽, which represents a Y in standard Braille. The Y is written as ⠠⠽.^[7]

Encoding

The Dutch ij is not in ASCII or in any of the ISO 8859 character encodings, and therefore the digraph is most often encoded as an i followed by a j. The ligature does exist in Unicode in the Latin Extended-A range as the uppercase character IJ (U+0132) and lowercase character ij (U+0133).^[8] In HTML they would be coded IJ and ij respectively. These characters are considered compatibility decomposable characters. They are included for compatibility and round-trip convertibility with legacy encodings. Their use is discouraged.^[9] So even with Unicode available, it is recommended to encode ij as two separate letters.^[6][10]

Keyboards

While Dutch typewriters usually have a separate key for lowercase ij, Belgian typewriters don't. In the Netherlands, a QWERTY computer keyboard lay-out is common. The standard US layout (sometimes in 'International Mode') is widely used although a specific Dutch variant (KBD143) is available. In Belgium a specific Belgian variant of AZERTY keyboard lay-out (KBD120) is widely used. None of these keyboards feature a key for ij or IJ.

This Dutch shopkeeper wrote 'byoux' instead of 'bijoux', perhaps because he could not imagine 'ij' to exist in a French word

Exceptions

If the i and the j belong to different syllables, such as in the mathematical term bijectie (syllables bi-jec-tie), they are not considered to form a ligature or a single letter. Earlier statements about sorting ij on par with y, keeping ij together in wide inter-letter spacing, the single square in crossword puzzles, etc. do not apply.

In other languages the combination i+j can exist as well, but in those foreign (from Dutch point of view) words that combination should not be considered a single letter either. In the Netherlands, the combination is sometimes confused with the letter y. In several Dutch shops, byoux or byous are for sale according to the signs, instead of bijoux (jewels).

Notes

References

• Nicoline van der Sijs. Taal als mensenwerk: De geschiedenis van het ABN. Sdu Uitgevers. ISBN 9789012105873.
• Van Dale. Groot Woordenboek van de Nederlandse Taal. XIVth edition. 2005.
• Van Dale. Handwoordenboek Hedendaags Nederlands. "IJ". 2005.
• Taalunie. Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal (het Groene Boekje). 2005.
• Taalunie. "Ijsland / IJsland"
• Taalunie. "IJ - alfabetiseren"
• Genootschap Onze Taal. "Lange ij (oorsprong)".
• Genootschap Onze Taal. "IJ, plaats in het alfabet".
• Grote Winkler Prins Encyclopedie. "IJ [alfabet]". 9th edition. 1993.
• European rules for the use of the IJ in public records.
• Michael Everson. Repertoires of letters used to write the indigenous languages of Europe: Dutch.
• Leendert Brouwers. Meertens Instituur. Nederlandse Familienamen Databank. "ij-y"

External links

• Steven Pemberton. An Englishman's Difficulties with the Dutch.
• Andreas K. Horlings. De lange IJ bestaat niet.
• R. Harmsen. The Dutch "letter" IJ.