i

by Christian Gallardo

Words are of grave importance in our everyday lives. They constitute the basic foundation of our communication. They are what set us apart from other beings, for through words we can communicate with accuracy, thus making us more rational than the others. Even Martin Heidegger impliedly assents to this when he stated that the way in discovering philosophy is tracing down the root of the word itself. But since there are myriad of words, and analyzing each would render me lost in all its complexity, I would rather examine the basic blocks that form a word- letters. And to be more specific, I would like to examine the letter “i”.

Why I?

I would like to uncover the mysteries of the letter due to the fact that from the very start, we were taught to capitalize it when it stands alone as a word. But why is it that the letter “a” is not capitalized? Nor the letter “y” in Spanish?

Perhaps, the most logical answer would be: Because “I” refers to us. But then again I ask, why not all the pronouns referring to us capitalized? Perhaps the logical answer is that: Because those pronouns refer to the others, but not to the speaker itself. From the above argument, can we presume that the speaker acknowledges the importance of itself rather than the importance of others? Or is it that, that the “i” represents something more than the speaker itself.

I would like to assume that the rules of writing and speaking are derived from an existing reality, rather than a purely imagined nothingness. Why? For in my philosophy class, I have learned that words are actually derived from reality. Through its onomatopoeic sound, it, in actuality, is trying to describe realities. If this would hold true, what then does the form of writing “i” connotes?

Another observation is that the “i” closely resembles the form of an arrow- as if it is pointing to something. And looking at it as if it is an arrow pointing upward, it is actually pointing to a dot if it is not capitalized. Now what does a dot signify? Does that only signify an end- like the dot that ends a sentence? Or an unnoticed, since small dots come usually unnoticed to us, be it accidental or not? Or a continuous act since ellipses signifies constancy? Or does the dot signify a perfect circle- a circle, due to its stalwart size, is capable of perfection in symmetry? If it is the latter, what then could it imply? Perhaps if it is pointing to a perfect circle, it is symbolically pointing to a perfect order- since actual perfection is, in one definition, a proportionality in alignment- in placing things up.

With regards to placing things up in an order, it is also amazing how “i” looks like the number “1”. And this is actually signifying a pathway between words and numbers. If it is, indeed, a pathway, what is the connection of words and numbers, aside from them both being abstract and their job in describing the concrete? And a more vital and deep question, what is the connection of “i” and the “1”?

From this I can remember our discussion in philosophy about “One is All”. And transforming this into another form, we can say that “1” is “All”. But since “1” is “i”, can we say that “i” is “All”. If so, is it the reason why the “i” is spelled as “I”.

There are many paths in interpreting the complexity of words and one can get easily lost in it. Indeed, a lifetime may not be enough to study and decipher it. But the goal here is not to interpret and derive a certain truth, but rather, to arrive into new possibilities that can provide as paths in interpreting things.