UNDERSTANDING OLD ENGLISH CONSONANTS

 Old English, or also known as “Anglo Saxon”, is þ/ð - are called "thorn" and "eth" respectively. They are
the oldest form of English. used interchangeably and represent the "th" sound of
 The original speakers of ‘English’ came from the modern English.
part of Europe that is now Germany and
Voiceless þ/ð
Denmark in the form of three tribes called the
Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. At the beginning or end of a word they have a voiceless
 This language was spoken in parts of England sound as in the modern English word "thin". This is also
and Scotland between the 5th and 12th the case if, within a word, they are placed between a
centuries. vowel and an unvoiced consonant.
 began to appear in writing during the early 8th
century Eg. ðæt = that, so that frið = peace Norðhymbre =
 The four main dialects were West Saxon, Northumbria
Mercian, Northumbrian, and Kentish. They also have a voiceless sound when doubled in a
SPELLING IN OLD ENGLISH word.

The base language of modern English is Anglo-Saxon, Eg. Oððe = or

the Germanic tongue of the tribesmen who populated Voiced þ/ð
the British Isles before 1066.
If placed between the beginning and the end of a word
Beowulf they have a voiced sound as in the Modern English word
 was recently translated by Heaney (2000) "thy". They also have a voiced sound if placed between
 One of the first written and most enduring two vowels or between a vowel and a voiced
works of literature from that period. We can consonant.
recognize words such as all (eallum), Eg. Cweðan = to say söðliċ = true
stood(stod), and house(husa)
f-This letter has a voiceless sound when it is positioned
SOUNDS IN OLD ENGLISH at the beginning and end of a word just as it does today.
SOME BASIC RULES: Eg. fōda = food hlāf = loaf
1. All letters are pronounced as Old English (OE) It is unvoiced if it comes between a vowel and a
was a phonetic language. Eg. wrītan = to write voiceless consonant.
2. The stress in pronunciation (the peak of
loudness) is always on the first syllable except Eg. æfter = after
when the prefix g or is present. When doubled (ff) it has an unvoiced sound.
3. The following consonants are pronounced in
the same way as they are today — d, h, k, 1, m, Eg. offrian = offer
n, p, r, t, x, z, w. Note that, r, has a trilled sound.
If placed between the beginning or end of a word it has
4. The letters j, q and v were not used in Old
the voiced "v" sound of modern English. This is also true
English (OE).
if placed between a vowel and a voiced consonant.
Voiced Consonant Sounds:b, d, g, j, l, m, n, ng,
r, sz, th, v, w, z. Eg. heofon = heaven hæfde = had
Voiceless Consonant Sounds: h, f, k, p, s, t
s - This letter has a voiceless sound when it is positioned
NOTES at the beginning and end of a word just as it does today.
Eg. seofon = seven hors = horse
 Long vowels were marked with macrons. These
were not written originally used in Old English It is unvoiced if it comes between a vowel and a
but are a more modern invention to distinguish voiceless consonant. Eg. läst trail, track When doubled
between long and short vowels. (ss) it has an unvoiced sound.
 MACRON: a symbol (ˉ) written or printed above Eg. blissian = to be happy
a vowel to show that it is pronounced with a
If placed between the beginning or end of a word it has
long sound
the voiced "z" sound of modern English. This is also true
 The alternate forms of g and w (yogh and
if placed between a vowel and a voiced consonant.
wynn/wen respectively) were based on the
Eg. risan = to rise ræsde = razed, attacked
letters used at the time of writing Old English.
Today they can be substituted for g and w in h - At the beginning of a word this letter has the same
modern writing of Old English sound as it does today Eg habban have hund hundred
When it occurs at the end of a word or any where
within a word it has the sound of "ch" as in the Scottish
pronunciation of "loch" or the German word Achtung.

Eg. eahta = eight bohte = bought feoh = fee

When placed at the beginning of a word and before the ā - as in the a in "father" or the a in "card"
letters a, o, u, æ, i, n, rit has the same sound as it does Eg. gār = spear āc = oak sāg = sink
today.
æ - as in the a in "cat" or the a in "wrap"
Eg. god = God gār = spear glæd = glad guma = man Eg. ðæt = that, so that æfter = after

gūð = battle grētan = greet ǣ - as in the a in "mad" or the a in "Jazz"

When placed within a word or at the end it has the "ch" Eg. rǣsde = razed, attacked dǣd = deed
sound of the Scottish pronunciation of the word loch.
e - as in the e in "met" or the e in "red"
Eg. daga = day fugol = bird sāg = sink Eg. feld = field helm = helmet

When placed next to the letters, e and i, it has a "yuh" ē -as in the a in fade or the a in cake
sound as in the letter, y, in the word yes. This sound is Eg. grētan = greet ēċe = eternal dēman = to judge
often represented by the letter, g or even g
i - as in the i in "hit" or the i in "tick"
Eg. ġēar = year onġēan = again blōdiġ = bloody Eg. riden = to ride riht = right findan = to find

In some words the combination, ng, has the "g" sound ī - as in the ea in "mead" or the ea in "easy"
that it does today as in the word, finger.
Eg. rīsan = to rise scīene = beautiful wīf = wife
Eg. lang = long leornung = learning
o -as in the o in "body" or the o in "pot"
In other words the combination, ng, had the same
Eg. god = god folc = people oft = often
sound as in the modern word, hinge. This sound is often
represented by the combination, ng ō -as in the o in "code" or the o in "go"
Eg. fōda = food gōd = good dōn = to do
Eg. lang = long enƃel =angel
u -as in the u in "put" or the u in "bull"
c -When placed at the beginning of a word and before
Eg. cuman = to come upp = up Jurh = through
the letters a, o, u, æ, I, n, r it has the same sound as the
letter, k, does today. ū - as in the oo in "loot" or the u in "dilute"
Eg. tūn = homestead tū = twice būtan = but
Eg. cynn = kind cyning = king cempa = warrior cēne=
keen, bold y-as in the French word "tu". Round your lips to
pronounce an o but express it as the i in hit.
When placed next to the letters, e and i, it has a "chuh"
Eg. cyning = king flyht = flight, flying
sound as in the modern word chin. This sound is often
represented by the letter, c or sometimes č. ȳ - as in the French word "vu". Round your lips to
pronounce an o but express it as the ea in mead
Eg. ċild = child ċiriċe = church dreċċan = oppress,
Eg. lȳtel = little brȳd = bride fȳr = fire
afflict

The combination, cg, may represent the modern "g"

The Vocabulary of Old English
sound when it occurs within a word or it may represent
the "dg" sound within the modern word edge. 1. General characteristics
 The Thesaurus of Old English(TOE), with which
Eg. frocge = frog ecg = edge secgan = to say
you will be working, contains almost 34,000
brycg = bridge different word forms, whereas a modern desk
dictionary might contain 80,000
sc -This combination of letters almost always has the
 Much of the vocabulary of Mod. E. derives from
"sh" sound as in the modern word ship.
OE. This applies particularly to our core
Eg. scōh = shoe sculan = must, should vocabulary: common words in everyday use for
fundamental concepts. Examples include the
scīene = beautiful natural world, people, the body and other basic
One well used exception to this rule is where it has the concepts such as food, drink; heaven, hell;
"sk" sound as in the modern word ask. friend, neighbour; love, good, evil; hot, cold;
after, over, under.
Eg. āscian = to ask 2. Compounds
 New words are often formed in Mod. E. by
combining two existing words to form a
VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS compound, as in aircraft, motorwayand
raincoat. This practice is even more
FRONT VOWELS: front mouth (æ, e, i, y)
characteristic of OE, where a high
BACK VOWELS: back mouth (a, u, o) æ/ Æ- ash proportion of the vocabulary, particularly
the vocabulary of poetry, comprises
a - as in the u in "bud" or the first a in "aha"
compounds.
Eg. daga = day ac = but lang = long
 3. Prefixes and Suffixes ex. Alfred praised Wulfstan.
 Prefixes tend to affect meaning, for
Alfred rewarded the warriors.
instance by reversing or intensifying the
application of the original word (e.g.
excusable, inexcusable; sound, unsound).
 Suffixes are used to change one type of
word into another: for instance, to create a
noun from a verb (e.g. sing, singer), or an
adverb from an adjective (e.g.sad, sadly)] The genitive is the case of possession and signifies a
4. Metathesis specific relationship between two words. It can be used
 The transposition of sounds within a both subjectively — Þæs cyninges þegen seah þone
word is known as ‘metathesis’, and it stan - the king’s thane saw the stone.
affects a small but distinctive group of and objectively — Hie hierdon þara cyninga cyning -
Mod. E words derived from OE. They heard the king of kings.
5. Survival
 Many of the surviving OE words occur The dative is the case of the indirect object. It may be
very rarely, or only in specialized called the to or for case. An indirect object is a word
contexts. These are marked in TOE by which is not the direct recipient of an action, but is still
four superscript flags, g, o, p, q. affected by the verb.
 g - indicates words which occur only as
translations of foreign words, usually
Latin. Such translations are sometimes
written in a manuscript and sometimes
gender
occur in bilingual wordlists or glossaries.
 o - indicates words which occur very  The gender of Old English nouns, unlike that of
rarely, often only once. Modern English, depends partly on meaning
 p - indicates words which occur only in and partly on form, or ending.
poetry.  No very comprehensive rules, therefore, can be
 q - they occur in a manuscript which is given; but the gender of every noun should be
difficult to read or has been altered in learned with its meaning.
some way  Gender will be indicated in the vocabularies by
the different gender forms of the definite
CASE, GENDER, AND NUMBER/ VERBS
article,
CASE o sē for the masculine,
o sēo for the feminine,
 A case is a grammatical category whose value
o ðæt for the neuter:
reflects the grammatical function.
 All nouns ending in –dōm, -hād, -scipe, or –ere
 Old English nouns were not only divided into
are masculine (cf. Modern English wisdom,
strong and weak, but also had five distinct
childhood, friendship, worker). Masculine, also,
visible cases.
are nouns ending in –a.
Five cases of Old English  Those ending in –nes or –ung are feminine (cf.
Modern English goodness, and gerundial forms
(a) The nominative, as in Modern English, is the
in –ing: see-ing is believing).
case of the subject of a finite verb.
verbs
(b) The genitive (the possessive case of Modern
English) is the case of the possessor or source. It  Old English verbs were also divided into strong
may be called the of case. (irregular) and weak (regular) ones.
 As with some verbs in Present Day English,
(c) The dative is the case of the indirect object. It
strong verbs changed their root vowel when
may be called the to or for case.
forming the past tense.
o The accusative (the objective case of Modern  In contrast, regular (or weak) forms only add an
English) is the case of the direct object. <-ed> to the root, for instance play-played, ask-
asked and earn-earned.\
o The instrumental, which rarely differs from the
dative in form, is the of the means or the irregular verbs
method. It may be called the with or by case.  Irregular verbs are verbs which are conjugated
The nominative, as in Modern English, is the case of the differently than most verbs in the language. The
subject of a finite verb. A subject is the person, place, four Old English irregular verbs are:
thing, or idea that is doing or being something. o beon = to be
o willan= to wish
The Accusative is the direct object case, used to o don = to do
indicate the receiver of an action. o gan = to go