Latin Capital Letter I with Dot Above

The Latin Capital Letter I with Dot Above at U+0130 is an uppercase Latin letter used where a dotted capital I is a distinct part of the alphabet rather than a typographic variant. It is in the Latin Extended-A block and is best known from Turkic-language orthographies that distinguish dotted and dotless I. In Turkish, Azerbaijani, and Crimean Tatar written in Latin script, İ is the capital form of lowercase i and represents the front vowel sound usually pronounced like “ee” in “machine.” This matters in ordinary words and names: İstanbul begins with İ, while Isparta begins with dotless I because the two letters represent different vowels. Its most important practical role is correct casing. In these languages, changing i to uppercase should produce İ, not plain I; likewise, the lowercase of İ is i. Software, search systems, and databases that use English-style case rules can mishandle Turkish text, causing misspellings or failed matches in names, addresses, and user records. The letter is sometimes seen in linguistic examples, dictionaries, and transliterations that discuss Turkish vowel harmony or the dotted-versus-dotless I contrast. It can be confused at a glance with a regular capital I in fonts where the dot is small, but in the languages that use it the dot is not optional.