Dear List, I gather from the few responses to my note that the substitution of the small "i" for the personal pronoun "I" following the initial use is not something others have encountered. In response to one of the questions -- yes this usage was followed, more or less consistently, by all the siblings of one generation. I know that "public" education was was largely nonexistent in the South prior to the Civil Wars [those who could afford it went to private "academies"], a situation which may also have prevailed in Cecil Co., Maryland where these correspondents grew up, I suspect that one or both parents "home-schooled" the family and he (or she) could see no sense in capitalizing the "I" after the first one. The siblings also avoided nearly all double consonants and largely did away with punctuation. Sentences, by and large, did not begin with a capitalized word. On the other hand, certain letters, perhaps because the writer liked the way they looked, were routinely capitalized wherever they appeared. Nobody said this stuff would be [email protected] Jack Fallin Walnut Creek, CA

Now, Jack, when it comes to punctuation (or the lack thereof), that's a horse of another color! I seldom see much in the way of punctuation in the personal letters of "normal" people during that period! And indeed, capitalization is a bizarre subject in it's own right! Susan in Missouri -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jack Fallin Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 7:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [LDR] An "i" for an "I"; responses Dear List, I gather from the few responses to my note that the substitution of the small "i" for the personal pronoun "I" following the initial use is not something others have encountered. In response to one of the questions -- yes this usage was followed, more or less consistently, by all the siblings of one generation. I know that "public" education was was largely nonexistent in the South prior to the Civil Wars [those who could afford it went to private "academies"], a situation which may also have prevailed in Cecil Co., Maryland where these correspondents grew up, I suspect that one or both parents "home-schooled" the family and he (or she) could see no sense in capitalizing the "I" after the first one. The siblings also avoided nearly all double consonants and largely did away with punctuation. Sentences, by and large, did not begin with a capitalized word. On the other hand, certain letters, perhaps because the writer liked the way they looked, were routinely capitalized wherever they appeared. Nobody said this stuff would be [email protected] Jack Fallin Walnut Creek, CA *************************************** QUESTIONS about POSTING GUIDELINES, SUBSCRIBING or UNSUBSCRIBING? Visit The Lower DelMarVa Roots Mailing List FAQ: http://www.tyaskin.com/handley/ldrfaq.htm ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message