OCTOBER 29TH 1996 NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ENTITLED SCHOLARS DEBATE ORGINS OF YIDDISH & THE MIGRATION OF JEWS “THE EASTERN EUROPEAN JEWS ARE NOT SEMITIC, THEY WERE LARGELY DESCENDED FROM THE TURKISH KHAZARS WHO CONVERTED TO JUDAISM IN MEDIEVAL TIMES.
ETYMOLOGY, THE ROOT MEANING OF WORDS “J ” - it is a latecomer to the alphabet and originally had no sound value. The letter itself began as a scribal modification of Roman -i- in continental Medieval Latin.