J j — jota
«jota» is a consonant of Valencian, the “the Valencian Latin alphabet” script, read as “a voiced j, between "jam" and the s of "vision"”. A voiced j, by ear between the j of "jam" and the zh of "vision". For example, in the word “juliol” — July. The Valencian alphabet has 35 letters in total. València, jornada, gent — the same sound everywhere; the Spanish h sound never appears in it. It appears, for example, in the word “jo” — I.
In short
| Character | J j |
| Name | jota |
| Sound | a voiced j, between "jam" and the s of "vision" |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 11th of 35: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are i and k, appears in 121 words of this site.
How it sounds
A voiced j, by ear between the j of "jam" and the zh of "vision"
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- juliolJuly
The character in the “letters that deceive” group
This is where Valencian parts ways with Spanish: j is a j as in "jam", s between vowels voices to z, and h is silent — yet hui and huit are not written without it.
- H hsilent, never pronouncedhac
- G gg as in "go"; j before e and ige
- V va soft b, lips never presseduve baixa
- B bb as in "best"; p at the end of a wordbe alta
- C ck as in "kite"; s before e and ice
- Q qk, always with a silent ucu
- S ss as in "sun"; z between vowelsesse
- Ss sss as in "sun", always voicelessessa doble
- R ra tapped r — and final -r is pronouncederre
- Rr rra long trilled rerra doble
Words with this character
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «jota» it is “a voiced j, between "jam" and the s of "vision"”, as in the word “juliol”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 35 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Valencian character j read?
As “a voiced j, between "jam" and the s of "vision"” — it is a consonant of the “the Valencian Latin alphabet” script. A voiced j, by ear between the j of "jam" and the zh of "vision". For example, in the word “juliol” — July.
What is the letter j called?
Jota. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Valencian script: it is called “jota” and reads as “a voiced j, between "jam" and the s of "vision"”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can j be confused with?
València, jornada, gent — the same sound everywhere; the Spanish h sound never appears in it. Similar characters are best studied side by side and deliberately compared: learned on different days, they stay separate and get mixed up at their first meeting inside a word.