TopofchapterContents2.1.

Quickstart
2.1.1.Vowelsanddiphthongs2.1.2.Consonants2.1.3.Sermonette
2.2.Moreaboutvowels
2.2.1.Shorta,andea2.2.2.Imutation2.2.3.Silenteandoforu
2.3.Moreaboutcandg2.4.Syllablelength2.5.Accentuation2.6.Onlinepronunciationpractice2.7.
SummaryAllnotes

2Pronunciation
2.1.Quickstart
NooneknowsexactlyhowOldEnglishsounded,fornonativespeakerssurvivetoinformus.Rather,
linguistshavepainstakinglyreconstructedthepronunciationofthelanguagefromvariouskindsof
evidence:whatweknowofLatinpronunciation(sincetheAngloSaxonsadaptedtheLatinalphabet
towritetheirownlanguage),comparisonswithotherGermaniclanguagesandwithlaterstagesof
English,andtheaccentuationandquantityofsyllablesinOldEnglishpoetry.Webelievethatour
reconstructionofOldEnglishpronunciationisreasonablyaccuratebutsomeaspectsofthesubject
remaincontroversial,anditislikelythatwewillneverattaincertaintyaboutthem.ThegreatestOld
Englishscholarintheworldtodaymightverywellhavedifficultybeingunderstoodonthestreetsof
KingAlfred'sWinchester.
Despitetheuncertainties,youshouldlearnOldEnglishpronunciationandgetintothehabitofreading
textsaloudtoyourself.DoingsowillgiveyouaclearerideaoftherelationshipbetweenOldand
ModernEnglishandamoreaccurateunderstandingofOldEnglishmeter,andwillalsoenhancethe
pleasureoflearningthelanguage.

2.1.1.Vowelsanddiphthongs
OldEnglishhadsixsimplevowels,spelleda,,i,o,uandy,andprobablyaseventh,spelledie.It
alsohadtwodiphthongs(twopartvowels),eaandeo.Eachofthesesoundscameinshortandlong
versions.Longvowelsarealwaysmarkedwithmacrons(e.g.)inmoderneditionsforstudents,and
alsoinsomescholarlyeditions.However,vowelsareneversomarkedinOldEnglishmanuscripts.
WhenwespeakofvowellengthinOldEnglish,wearespeakingofduration,thatis,howlongittakes
topronounceavowel.Thisfactcantripupthemodernstudent,forwhenwespeakof"length"in
ModernEnglish,weareactuallyspeakingofdifferencesinthequalityofavowel.Ifyoulisten
carefullywhenyousaysit(with"short"i)andsite(with"long"),you'llnoticethatthevowelsare
quitedifferent:the"short"versionhasasimplevowel[], [Thisbookfrequentlyusessymbolsfrom
theInternationalPhoneticAlphabet(IPA)forconvenienceofreference,thoughitalsogivesexamples
whereverpossible.ForatableoftheIPAsymbolsrelevanttothestudyofOldEnglish,seeAppendix
B.]whilethe"long"versionisadiphthong,startingwithasoundliketheuinbutandendingwitha
soundliketheiinsit[].Thesameistrueofotherlong/shortpairsinModernEnglish:theyare
alwaysqualitativelydifferent.Wedogivesomevowelsalongerdurationthanothers(listento
yourselfasyoupronouncebeatandbead),butthisdifferenceindurationisneversignificant:thatis,it
doesnotmakeadifferenceinthemeaningofaword.Rather,wepronouncesomevowelslongand
othersshortbecauseoftheinfluenceofnearbysounds.
Vowellength(thatis,duration)issignificantinOldEnglishbecauseitdoesmakeadifferenceinthe
meaningsofwords.Forexample,OldEnglishismeans'is'whilesmeans'ice',acmeans'but'while
cmeans'oak',andemeans'and'whilemeans'you'(plural).Thesignificanceoflengthmeans
thatthemacronsthatappearinthetextsyouwillbereadingarenotthereonlyasguidesto

pronunciation,butalsotohelpyoudecidewhatwordsmean.Ifyouabsentmindedlyreadm
'kinsman'asm'may',youwillneverfigureoutthemeaningofthesentenceyouarereading.
Simplevowels
Thefollowinglistofvowelsdealswithqualityonlyyoumayassumethattheshortandlongvowels
soundalikeexceptforadifferenceinduration.ThelistcitesanumberofModernEnglishwordsfor
comparison:thesearefromtheMidAtlanticdialectofAmericanEnglishandmaynotbevalidfor
speakersofBritishEnglishorotherAmericandialects.
a ispronounced[],asinModernEnglishfather.Examples:macian'make',bt'boat'.
ispronounced[],asinModernEnglishcat.Bc'back',rdan'read'.
ispronounced[e],asinModernEnglishfatethatis,itisliketheeofacontinentalEuropean
e language,notlikethe"long"or"short"eofModernEnglish(actually[i]or[]).Helpan'help',
fdan'feed'.
ispronounced[i],asinModernEnglishfeetthatis,itisliketheiofacontinentalEuropean
i language,notlikethe"long"or"short"iofModernEnglish(actually[]or[]).Sittan'sit',lf
'life'.
o ispronounced[o],asinModernEnglishboat.God'God',gd'good'.
ispronounced[u],asinModernEnglishtoolitisneverpronounced[]asinModernEnglishbut.
u
Full'full',fl'foul'.
ispronounced[y],liketheinGermanberorFe,orliketheuinFrenchtuordur.Makeitby
y positioningthetongueasyoudotosayfeetwhileroundingthelipsasyoudotosaytool.Cyning
'king',brd'bride'.
whichappearsmainlyinearlyWestSaxon,isdifficulttointerpret.Itwasprobablyapproximately
ie [],liketheiofModernEnglishsit.InlateWestSaxon,wordsthatcontainedthisvowelarerarely
spelledwithie,butratherwithiory.Ieldesta'eldest',heran'hear'.
Manygrammarstellyoutopronounceshorteas[],liketheeinModernEnglishset,shortias
[],liketheiofModernEnglishsit,andshortuas[],liketheuofModernEnglishpull.You
cangetawaywiththesepronunciations,thoughtheyprobablydonotrepresenttheOldEnglish
vowelsaccurately.
Inunaccentedsyllables,wherefewvowelsoundsweredistinguished,vowelswereprobably
pronouncedlessdistinctlythaninaccentedsyllables.InlateOldEnglish(ca.1000andlater),frequent
spellingconfusionshowsthatbythenthelanguagewasbeginningtoapproachtheMiddleEnglish
situationinwhichallvowelsinunaccentedsyllableswerepronounced[](aneutralschwa,likethea
inChina).ButunaccentedvowelsweredistinguishedinOldEnglish,anditisimportanttopronounce
them,forvowelqualityoftenistheonlythingthatdistinguishesoneendingfromanother.For
example,dativesingularcyningeandgenitivepluralcyninga,genitivesingularcyningesand
nominativepluralcyningasaredistinguishedonlybyvowelquality.
Diphthongs
OldEnglishhastwodigraphs(pairsofletters)thatarecommonlyinterpretedasdiphthongs:eaand
eo. [Adigraphioappearsprimarilyinearlytexts,andforthestudent'spurposesisbesttakenasa
variantofeo.]Botheaandeocanrepresentshortorlongsounds,equivalentinlengthtotheshortand
longvowels.Beyondthisgenerallyagreedfact,thereiscontroversyaboutwhatsoundthesedigraphs
represent.Herewepresentthemostwidelyacceptedview.
eo

represents[eo]or[e],adiphthongthatstartedwith[e]andglidedtoaroundedsound,[o]or[].
Examples:eorl'freeman'(ModernEnglishchurl),dop'deep'.

ea

represents[],adiphthongthatstartedwith[]andglidedto[](asinfather).Feallan'fall',
rad'red'.

Somegrammarbookssaythatthespellingiealsorepresentsadiphthong,butthisbookinterpretsitas
asimplevowel.
PerhapsthemostcommonerrorstudentsmakewhentryingtopronounceOldEnglishdiphthongsisto
breakthemintotwosyllablesforexample,topronounceBowulfasathreesyllablewordwhenin
factithasonlytwosyllables.Rememberthatthereisasmoothtransitionbetweenthetwovowelsofa
diphthong,andthisisastrueoftheunfamiliardiphthongsofOldEnglishasitisofthefamiliarones
ofModernEnglish(likethoseofsiteandsound).

2.1.2.Consonants
MostOldEnglishconsonantsarepronouncedasinModernEnglish,andmostofthedifferencesfrom
ModernEnglisharestraightforward:
1. OldEnglishscribeswrotetheletters("thorn")and("eth")interchangeablytorepresent[]
and[],thesoundsspelledthinModernEnglish.Examples:ing'thing',bror'brother'.
2. Therearenosilentconsonants.OldEnglishcniht(whichcomestoModernEnglishasknight)
actuallybeginswith[k].Similarlyhlf(ModernEnglishloaf)andhring(ring)beginwith[h],
gnt(gnat)with[],andwran(writhe)with[w].SomeOldEnglishconsonantcombinations
maybedifficulttopronouncebecausetheyarenotinModernEnglish.Ifyoufindthistobeso,
justdoyourbest.
3. Theconsonantsspelledf,sand/arepronouncedasvoiced[v],[z]and[](asinthen)when
theyfallbetweenvowelsorothervoicedsounds.Forexample,thefofheofon'heaven',hfde
'had'andwulfas'wolves'isvoiced.Soarethesofosan'choose'andtheoffeer'feather'.
4. Thesesameconsonantswerepronouncedasunvoiced[f],[s],and[](asinthin)whenthey
cameatthebeginningorendofawordoradjacenttoatleastoneunvoicedsound.Sofis
unvoicedinful'full',crft'craft'andwulf'wolf'.Similarlysisunvoicedinsettan'set',frost
'frost',andwulfas'wolves',and/isunvoicedint'that'andstreng'strength'.
5. Whenwrittendouble,consonantsmustbepronounceddouble,orheldlonger.Wepronounce
consonantslonginModernEnglishphraseslike"biggun"and"hattrick,"thoughneverwithin
words.InOldEnglish,wile'hewill'mustbedistinguishedfromwille'Iwill',andfreme'do'
(imperative)fromfremme'Ido'.
6. Thisbooksometimesprintscwithadot()andsometimeswithout.Undottedcispronounced
[k]dottedispronounced[],likethechinModernEnglishchin.Thisletterisnever
pronounced[s]inOldEnglish.Ithasaspecialfunctioninthecombinationsc(seeitem10
below).
7. Theletterg,likec,issometimesprintedwithadotandsometimeswithout.Dotlessgis
pronounced[],asingood,whenitcomesatthebeginningofawordorsyllable.Between
voicedsoundsdotlessgispronounced[],avoicedvelarspirant. [Practicemakingthis
sound:Raisethebackofyourtonguetothevelum(thesoftpalate)asyoudowhenpronouncing
ak.Insteadofastop,though,pronounceaspirant,somewhatlikethechofGermanNacht,but
voiced.Ifyouaresureyoucannotpronouncethe[],pronounceit[w]instead.]Thissound
became[w]inMiddleEnglish,soEnglishnolongerhasit.Dottedisusuallypronounced[j],
asinModernEnglishyes,butwhenitfollowsannitispronounced[],asinModernEnglish
angel.
8. Thecombinationcgispronounced[],likethedgeofModernEnglishsedge.Examples:hrycg
'ridge,back',brycg'bridge',ecg'edge'.
9. OldEnglishhispronounced[h],asinModernEnglish,atthebeginningsofsyllables,but
elsewhereitispronouncedapproximatelylikeGermanchinNachtorichthatis,asavelar[x]
orpalatal[]unvoicedspirant(pronouncedwiththetongueagainstthevelum[softpalate]or,
afterfrontvowels,againstthehardpalate).Examples:nah'near',niht'night',ah'though',

dweorh'dwarf'.
10. Thecombinationscisusuallypronounced[],likeModernEnglishsh:scip'ship',sc'ash
(wood)',wscan'wish'.Butwithinaword,ifscoccursbeforeabackvowel(a,o,u),orifit
occursafterabackvowelattheendofaword,itispronounced[sk]:ascian'ask'(wherescwas
formerlyfollowedbyabackvowel),tsc'tusk'.Whenscwaspronounced[sk]itsometimes
underwentmetathesis(thesoundsgotreversedto[ks])andwaswrittenx:axianforascian,tux
fortusc.Sometimesscispronounced[]inoneformofawordand[sk]or[ks]inanother:fisc
'fish',fiscas/fixas'fishes'.

2.1.3.Sermonette
WhenstudentsofOldEnglishgowrongintranslating,itisoftenbecausetheyhavedoneasloppyjob
oflookingupwordsinadictionaryorglossary.Remember,whenyoulookupwords,thatvowel
lengthissignificant,andsoisthedoublingofconsonants.Biddan'ask,pray'andbdan'await,
experience'arecompletelydifferentwords,butsomestudentsmessuptheirtranslationsbecausethey
lookatthemasequivalent.Don'tfallintothistrap!
Onarelatedpoint,youwillnoticeasyougoalongthatthespellingofOldEnglishissomewhat
variable.Scribesatthattimelackedourmodernobsessionwithconsistency.Ratherthaninsistingthat
awordalwaysbespelledthesameway,theyappliedasetofrulesforrenderingthesoundsoftheir
languageinwriting,andtheserulessometimesallowedthemtogetthejobdoneinmorethanone
way.Further,scribessometimesmixedupthedialectsofOldEnglish,writing(forexample)Mercian
ostru'darkness'insteadofWestSaxonestru.Theseminorinconsistenciessometimeslead
studentstobelievethatanythinggoesinOldEnglishspelling,andthisbeliefleadsthemintoerror.
ItisnottruethatanythinggoesinOldEnglishspelling.Thoughyouwillhavetogetusedtofrequent
variations,suchasie/i/yandiungforeong'young',youwon'toftenseeconfusionofandea,or
indeedofmostvowels,orofsingleanddoubleconsonants,orofoneconsonantwithanother.Fora
listofspellingvariantsthatyouwillfrequentlysee,consultAppendixA.
GetintothehabitofrecognizingthedistinctionsthatareimportantinOldEnglishanddoingan
accuratejoboflookingupwords,andyouwillavoidalotoffrustration.

2.2Moreaboutvowels
2.2.1.Shorta,andea
Theshortsoundsspelleda,andeaareallderivedfromthesamevowel(spelledainmostother
Germaniclanguages).Thesplitofonevowelintotwovowelsandadiphthong,whichoccurredbefore
theperiodofourwrittentexts,wasconditionedbythesoundsthatsurroundeditintheword(the
detailsarecomplexandcontroversial:seeLass1994,pp.4153).Theeffectsofthissplitwerenot
longlastingbytheMiddleEnglishperioda,andeahadcoalescedintoonevowel,spelleda.
Thereasonitisimportantforyoutoknowabouttherelationshipofa,andeaisthatthesesounds
varywithinparadigms.Iforeaoccursinashortsyllableandabackvowel(a,o,u)follows,the
oreabecomesa.Addthepluralendingastod'day'andyougetdagasaddpluralutoeat'gate'
andyougetgatu.

2.2.2.Imutation
Imutation [GermanlinguistscallitUmlaut.BecauseofthegreatinfluenceofGermanlinguisticsat
thetimewhenthehistoricalevolutionoftheGermaniclanguageswasbeingworkedout,youwill
occasionallyseethistermeveningrammarswritteninEnglish.]isashiftinthequalityofavowelso

thatitispronouncedwiththetonguehigherandfartherforwardthanusualclosertoitspositionwhen
youpronouncethevowel[i](asinfeet).Thecorrespondencesbetweennormalandmutatedvowels
areshownintable2.1.Noticethattheimutationofaproducesadifferentresultdependingon
whetheranasalconsonant(morn)follows.
Table2.1.imutation
short
long
unmutated mutated unmutated mutated
a

an/am
en/em

e
i
ea
ie(i,y)
a
e(,)
eo
ie(i,y)
o
e(,)
o
e

u
y

ImutationaroseinprehistoricOldEnglishwhen[i]or[j]followedinthenextsyllable.Itisa
subspeciesofacommontypeofsoundchangecalled"vowelharmony,"inwhichoneofapair
ofneighboringvowelsbecomesmoreliketheother.
Thevowels,and/arenotsubjecttoimutation.
The/thatarosebyimutationofa/aando/ooccursmainlyinearlyWestSaxontextsi
andyoccurinlatertexts(seeabove).
TheresultsofimutationaresometimesdifferentindialectsotherthanWestSaxon.Inthese
dialects,theimutationofa/awasnormally/,andimutationdidnotaffecto/oin
Kentish,theimutationof/was/.YouwillsometimesmeetwiththesespellingsinWest
Saxontexts(seeAppendixA).
TheeffectsofimutationarestillevidentinModernEnglish.Thevowelsofsuchathematicpluralsas
men(singularman),lice(louse)andteeth(tooth)exhibitimutation,asdoesthecomparativeadjective
elder(old)andimutationaccountsformostoftheverbsthatbothchangetheirvowelsandadda
pasttenseending(e.g.sell/sold,buy/bought,inwhichthepresenthasimutationbutthepastdoes
not).
AllofthesecategoriesofModernEnglishwordsexhibitingimutationwerealreadypresentinOld
English.Imutationalsoappearsinsomeformsofcertainnounsofrelationship,somecomparative
adverbs,andmanyverbforms.Examples:thenominativepluralofmann'man'ismennthe
nominativepluralofls'louse'islsthecomparativeofeald'old'isieldrathecomparativeofthe
adverbfeorisfierthethirdpersonsingularofthestrongverbosan'choose'isest.
SomeModernEnglishwordswhichwestillperceiveasbeingderivedfromotherwordshave
mutatedvowels:forexample,lengthfromlong,feedfromfood,healfromwhole.Thesewords
andmanymorewerepresentinOldEnglish:lengufromlang,fdanfromfda,hlanfrom
hl.

2.2.3.Silenteoforu
When,orsc(pronounced[])occursbeforeabackvowel,itissometimesfollowedbyane,which
probablyshouldnotbepronounced,butmerelyindicatesthattheshouldbepronounced[],the[j]
or[],andthesc[].Forexample,youwillseesean'seek'aswellassan,einea'of
agreements'aswellaseina,andsceolon'must'(plural)aswellassculon.

Noticethatsceolonhasointhefirstsyllablewhilesculonhasu.Thesetwospellingsdonotindicate
differentpronunciationsrather,theOldEnglishspellingsystemappears(forunknownreasons)to
haveprohibitedthelettersequenceeu,andscribessometimeswroteeoinsteadtoavoidit.Other
wordsthatarespelledwithobutpronounced[u]aree'formerly',eong'young',eogu'youth'and
el'Yule'.Fortheseyoumayalsoencounterthespellingsi,iung,iugu,ilandIl.

2.3.Moreaboutcandg
ThedotsthatweprintovercandgarenotinthemanuscriptsthatpreservetheOldEnglishlanguage
forusrather,modernscholarshavesuppliedthem.Further,therelationshipbetweenOldEnglish
pronunciationandModernEnglishoutcomeisnotalwaysstraightforward,asyoucanseefrom
ModernEnglishseek,whichcomesfromOldEnglishsan.Sowhataretherulesforthe
pronunciationofOldEnglishcandg?Weprintdotsovercandgwhentheycomeinthese
environments:
Beforethefrontvowelsiandieandthediphthongseaandeo.
BeforeyinlateWestSaxon,butonlyinwordswhereitwasspelledieinearlyWestSaxon.
Attheendofasyllable,weprintfollowinganyfrontvowel(,e,i),unlessabackvowel(a,
o,u)immediatelyfollows.Thesameistrueof,butonlyafteri
Inafewwordswheregisnotdescendedfromanolder[]or[],asisusuallythecase,but
ratherfrom[j]:era'ofyore',eoc'yoke',eogu'youth',el'Yule',emor'unhappy',
eong'young'internally,insmaan'ponder',froan'setfree'andafewotherwords.
Otherwise,wegenerallyprintplaincandg.
Cwaspronounced[k]incamb'comb',c'key',cne'keen,brave',bacan'bake',bc'book'.Itwas
pronounced[]ineaf'chaff',dan'chide',ierran(lateWestSaxonyrran)'turn',i'I'.
Gwaspronounced[]ingd'good',gld'glad'.Itwaspronounced[](thevoicedvelarspirant)in
dagas'days',sorga'sorrows',sgan'descend'.Itwaspronounced[j]iniestrand'yesterday',sleen
'slain',m'may',sel'sail'(noun),selode'sailed'.Itwaspronounced[]inenel'angel',sene'I
singe'.
AssoonasyoustarttoreadOldEnglishtextsyouwillnoticethattheserulesapplywellenoughatthe
beginningsofsyllables,butdon'talwaysseemtoworkelsewhere.Forexample,thecinsan'seek'
hasadoteventhoughitcomesbeforeabackvowel,andthecinmacian'make'lacksadoteven
thoughitcomesbeforeafrontvowel.Suchanomaliesarisefromthefactthatthechangesthat
producedthesoundsspelledandtookplacelongbeforethetimeofourwrittentexts,andthe
soundsthatproducedthosechangesoftendisappearedlaterasaresultofthesimplificationof
unaccentedsyllablesthatischaracteristicofOldEnglish. [Wecantellwhatthesesoundswere
becausetheyareoftenpreservedunchangedinrelatedlanguages.Forexample,inOldSaxontheword
thatappearsinOldEnglishassanisskian,andinGothicitissokjanthesoundthatproducedi
mutationandchanged[sk]to[]isstillpresentinthoselanguages.]Thisfactisinconvenientfor
studentsofOldEnglish,foritmeansthatyoucannotbecertainhowtopronouncesomewordsunless
youknowtheirprehistory.
Oftenitisenoughtoknowaboutthegrammarofawordtodecidehowtopronounceit.Inclass1
weakverbs,therootsyllablehadformerlybeenfollowedby[i],whicheitherdisappearedorcameto
bespellede,or[j],whichusuallydisappearedsocandgshouldgenerallybedottedattheendsof
thosesyllables.Examples:senan'singe',senan'causetosink',san'seek',ean'increase',bean
'bend'.Inclass2weakverbs,therootsyllablehadformerlybeenfollowedbyabackvowel,even
thoughthatvoweloftendisappearedsocandgattheendsofthoserootsyllablesshouldnotbe
dotted.Examples:macian'make',bgian'dwell',swgian'fallsilent'.

Whenthevowelofanysyllablehasundergoneimutation,thatisasignthat[i]or[j]oncefollowed,
andsocorgattheendofsuchasyllableshouldbedotted.Athematicnounslikeman/men,which
changetheirvowels,dosoasaresultofimutationsothepluralofbc'book'isb,andthepluralof
burg'stronghold'isbyr.

2.4.Syllablelength
Thelengthofasyllable(sometimescalleditsweight)isimportantinbothOldEnglishgrammarand
meter.Alongsyllablehasalongvowelorlongdiphthong,oritendswithatleastoneconsonant.
Theseonesyllablewordsarelong:s'sea',ft'container',blind'blind',dd'deed',hng'hung'.A
shortsyllablemusthaveashortvowelordiphthongandmustnotendwithaconsonant.The
demonstrativepronounseisashortsyllable.
Whenasingleconsonantfallsbetweentwosyllables,itbelongstothesecond.Addanendingtoft
'container',forexamplefte,andthetnolongerbelongstothefirstsyllable,butrathertothe
second:fte,inwhichthefirstsyllableisnowshortratherthanlong.Addanendingtodd'deed'
(dde),andthefirstsyllableisstilllongbecauseitcontainsalongvowel.
Twoshortsyllablesmaycountasonelongone,soatwosyllablewordlikereed'hall'behaveslikea
wordwithonelongsyllable.Butwhenatwosyllablewordbeginswithalongsyllableforexample,
hafod'head'thesecondsyllablecountsasshort,evenifaconsonantendsit.Ifyouponderthislong
enough,itmaystarttomakesomesense.

2.5.Accentuation
AllOldEnglishwordsareaccentedonthefirstsyllable,exceptthatwordsbeginningwiththeprefix
eareaccentedonthesecondsyllable,andverbsbeginningwithprefixesareaccentedonthenext
syllableaftertheprefix.Itmayseemodd,butitisafactthatnounsandadjectiveswithprefixes
(excepte)areaccentedontheprefixes.Theverbforworan'perish'isaccentedonthesecond
syllableanounderivedfromit,frwyrd'destruction',isaccentedontheprefix.
WordsborrowedfromLatinareaccentedonthefirstsyllable,despiteLatinrulesofaccentuation.So
paradsus'paradise'isaccentedonthefirstsyllable(pradsus)insteadofonthepenultimate
(paradsus),asinLatin.

2.6.Onlinepronunciationpractice
Youwillfindpronunciationexercisesatwww.engl.virginia.edu/OE.AudioalsoaccompaniestheOld
EnglishAerobicstexts"TheFallofAdamandEve,"TheWanderer,andseveralexercises.

2.7.Summary
Table2.2presentstheOldEnglishpronunciationrulesinsummaryform.Makeacopyofitandkeep
itbyyoursideasyoupracticereadingaloud.
Table2.2.OldEnglishpronunciation
Spelling
Pronunciation
a
[]asinModernEnglishfather

[]asinModernEnglishcat
e
[e]asinModernEnglishfate

ea
eo
i
ie
o
u
y

cg
f
g

h
s
sc
/

[]adiphthong,startingwith[]andendingwith[]
[eo]or[e]adiphthong,startingwith[e]andending
with[o]or[]
[i]asinModernEnglishfeet
[]asinModernEnglishsit
[o]asinModernEnglishboat
[u]asinModernEnglishfool
[y]asinGermanberorFe,Frenchtuordur
[k]asinModernEnglishcow
[]asinModernEnglishchew
[]likethedgeinModernEnglishedge
[f]asinModernEnglishfoxbetweenvoicedsounds[v]
[]asinModernEnglishgoodbetweenvoicedsounds
[],avoicedvelarspirant
[j]asinModernEnglishyesaftern[]asinangel
withinwordsorfinally,[x]or[]likeGermanch
[s]asinModernEnglishsinbetweenvoicedsounds[z]
[]usuallyasinModernEnglishshowoccasionally[sk]
[]asinModernEnglishthinbetweenvoicedsounds,[]asinthen

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