Etymology

From Central Franconian i-Dötzje ‎(“first-year pupil”), from the letter i, which was traditionally the first letter that school children learnt, and the noun Dotz ‎(“little, often chubby, child”). This word’s original meaning is “knob, bump”, it being probably cognate with Dutch and English dot. The word i-Dötzje might therefore alternatively be derived from i-Dotz meaning “dot of the i”, as has been proposed; but neither is this latter sense in general use, nor does the derivation suggest itself semantically.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈiːˌdœts.çən/ (standard)
• IPA^(key): [ˈiːˌdøts.jən] (native dialectal pronunciation)