Old English Latin alphabet
The Old English Latin alphabet generally consisted of about 24 letters, and was used for writing
Ð), and two developed from the runic alphabet (Ƿ, Þ). The letters Q and Z were essentially left unused outside of foreign names from Latin and Greek. The letter J had not yet come into use. The letter K was used by some writers but not by others. W gained usage in late Old English under Norman influence, as seen towards the end of the Peterborough Chronicle
manuscript, though in this period W was still a ligature and not a full-fledged letter. The manuscripts MS Harley 208, Stowe MS 57, and Cotton Titus D 18 differ in how they arrange the non-standard Old English letters (Harley has Ƿ–ЖƖÞ, Stowe has Ƿ–ЖÞ, Titus has Ƿ–Þ–Ð), but all three manuscripts place them after the standard Latin letters.
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| Letter | IPA |
|---|---|
| A, a | /ɑ(ː)/ |
| B, b | /b/ |
| C, c | /k/, /tʃ/ |
| D, d | /d/ |
| E, e | /e(ː)/ |
| F, f | /f/, [v] |
| G, g | /g/, [ɣ], /j/ |
| H, h | /h/, [x], [ç] |
| I, i | /i(ː)/ |
| K, k | /k/ |
| L, l | /l/ |
| M, m | /m/ |
| N, n | /n/ |
| O, o | /o(ː)/ |
| P, p | /p/ |
| R, r | /r/ |
| S, s | /s/ |
| T, t | /t/ |
| U, u | /u(ː)/, /w/ (rare) |
| X, x | /ks/ |
| Y, y | /y(ː)/ |
Ƿ , ƿ
|
/w/ |
Þ , þ
|
/θ/, [ð] |
| Æ, æ | /æ(ː)/ |
Ð , ð
|
/ð/, [θ] |
| Digraph | IPA |
|---|---|
| cg | [dʒ] |
| ch (rare) | [x] |
| ea | /æɑ(ː)/ |
| eo | /eo(ː)/ |
| gc (rare) | [dʒ] |
| ie | perhaps /iy(ː)/ |
| io | perhaps /iu(ː)/ |
| ng | [ŋg], [ndʒ] |
| sc | /sk/, /ʃ/ |
| th (rare) | /θ/, [ð] |
| uu (rare) | /w/ |
| Trigraph | IPA |
|---|---|
| cgg (rare) | [dʒ] |
| ncg (rare) | [ndʒ] |
History
Old French alphabet, leading to Middle English
.
The letter
ꝥ⟩). Macrons ⟨¯⟩ over vowels were used, though rarely, to indicate long vowels.[citation needed] A macron was also used occasionally as a nasal indicator (sort of like a tilde in modern phonetic writing
) if the vowel was succeeded by an s (ms or ns would turn into ◌̄s).
References
- OCLC 642421515.
Being a Treatise Written by Sir John Fortescue, Kt. Lord Chief Justice, and Lord High Chancellor of England, under King Henry VI. Faithfully Transcribed from the MS. Copy in the Bodleian Library, and Collated with Three Other MSS. Publish'd with some Remarks by John Fortescue-Aland, of the Inner-Temple, Esq; F.R.S.
. - ISBN 0-521-26438-3.
Bibliography
- Bosworth, J. & Toller, T. Northcote (1898). An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
External links
- "Old English / Anglo-Saxon (Englisc)". Omniglot (omniglot.com). Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.