Pronunciation

The Pronunciation of Old English

It is obvious that we cannot have direct, first-hand knowledge of the pronunciation of a language which no-one speaks any more. What we can do, however, is to make some deductions based on four sources of information:

the pre-history of the language, of which a surprisingly great deal is recoverable by comparison with other languages more or less closely related to OE (these include Old Saxon, Old High German, Old Norse and more distantly Gothic and the North West Germanic language recorded in the earliest runic inscriptions).
the subsequent history of the language, which can show the range of sounds which were likely to be distinguished in previous periods, something of their qualities and the kinds of changes they underwent.
OE words recorded in other languages.
foreign words recorded in OE texts in OE spelling rather than the original.

While there is not room here for a discussion of this vast topic (aspects of which are still hotly debated in learned circles) suffice it to say that the brief guide that follows is an attempt at a concise and middle-of-the-road description of an imagined 'typical' OE speech taking no account of regional accents or changes through time.

Orthography. The letters regularly used in printed and edited texts of OE are as follows:

a æ b c d ð e f g h i l m n o p r s t þ u w x y

and the following are rarely used:

k z

Notes on the use of the now obsolete letters æ, ð, þ; will be found below. Printed texts conventionally mark long vowels and the first element of long diphthongs with a macron ( ¯ ); due to the restrictons of HTML an acute accent is used in place of a macron on this web document. For the same reasons a long æ will be represented with an underline (æ). Often the symbol 7 is used for 'and', based on a similar symbol so used in OE manuscripts.

Punctuation in original texts was variable, some early examples showing virtually none at all, while later ones developed a system of points similar to that in use today. Editors generally follow their own instincts as to the use of the full stop (marking the end of a sentence) versus the semi-colon (marking the end of a clause within a larger sense-unit) and the punctuation of printed editions varies accordingly. There are grounds for believing that the rigidity of the modern system would be totally alien to the Anglo-Saxon reader, especially where verse is concerned, and that the flexible punctuation used by scribes was helpful in indicating the greater range of interpretations possible.

Anglo-Saxon scribes do not seem to have marked long vowels with a macron, but some certainly used an accute accent ( ´ ) to mark the vowels of some words - perhaps an indication of metrical stress rather than length. Following late Roman practice, a macron was often used over a final -u to denote a missing 'm' e.g. the ending -um (stanú = stanum) or other nasal such as -ne, while a 'barred thorn' was an abbreviation for þæt, occasionally þa

Stress When pronouncing an OE word, the stress (i.e. the peak of loudness) is usually on the first syllable, e.g. Alfred, Edgar, London all have the same stress now as in OE; consider also how Paris differs in English and French mouths: the French give each syllable equal weight (pa-ri) whereas English speakers have re-modelled it on their own normal pattern (par-is).

The main exception to this rule of initial stress is in the matter of a few prefixes, such as the ubiquitous ge-, which never bear the stress so that gewitt 'knowledge, understanding, wit' is ye-wit.

Consonants Generally, the consonants of OE are pronounced much as in NE and the following can be given their normal NE pronunciation:- Anglo-Saxon scribes do not seem to have marked long vowels with a macron, but some certainly used an acute accent (´) to mark the vowels of some words - perhaps an indication of metrical stress rather than length. Following late Roman practice, a macron was often used over a final -u to denote a missing 'm' e.g. the ending -um (stanú = stanum) or other nasal such as -ne, while a 'barred thorn' þ was an abbreviation for þæet, occasionally þa.

b d l m n p r t w

and the following may also have their NE values:

k x z

(The letters j, q, v were not used in OE - j is merely a variant of i and v of u; the sound of q was spelt cw e.g. cwic 'quick, alive' cweorn 'quern' cwén 'queen'. But see above for printed versions of manuscript letterforms.)

Certain consonants behave differently according to their position and the sounds next to them in the word. The terms 'initial' (at the beginning of a word) and 'final' (at its end) describe positions at the "edges" of a word, while 'medial' means 'in the middle'. The concept of 'voice' plays an important part in determining pronunciation, in as much as some consonants may represent both voiced and voiceless sounds. A 'voiced' sound is one pronounced while the breath passes over and reverberates on the vocal chords, while a 'voiceless' sound lacks that feature. If this sounds complicated, practise the contrast by pronouncing the words 'ether' (with a voiceless 'th') and 'either' (with a voiced equivalent). There are other pairs of words distinguished by voicing, e.g. sip:zip; fan:van; thigh:thy (voiceless example first in each case).

f initially and finally is voiceless (like our 'f'): feoh 'fee', líf 'life'; medially, it is usually voiced ('v'): seofon 'seven' hæfde 'had', except where it comes next to a voiceless consonant: æfter 'after'. Doubled (ff) it always has the voiceless sound: offrian 'offer'.

s parallel to the above, is initially and finally voiceless('s'): seofon 'seven', læs 'less' medially voiced ('z'): dysig 'dozy, foolish' ræsde 'razed, attacked' though again voiceless when next to a voiceless consonant: hæsp 'hasp'. Doubled (ss) it is voiceless: press '(clothes) press'. A further notable feature is the combination sc which usually has the sound we spell 'sh' e.g. scip 'ship', æsc 'ash', físcere 'fisher(man)'; there are a few cases where the pronunciation 'sk' applies, e.g. ascian 'ask'.

þ / ð are no longer used in English (though they were passed into Icelandic where they remain in use); they are both used to write the sounds we express with 'th'. Initially and finally they are voiceless (as in 'thin'): þorn 'thorn', bæþ 'bath', medially voiced (as in 'thine'): láðan 'loathe', láþde 'loathed' except when next to a voiceless consonant: gicða 'hiccup'. Again, doubled, they are voiceless: smiþþe 'smithy'. (The letter Þ, þ is called "thorn" and Ð, ð "barred d" or "eth". They are generally interchangeable - and are so used throughout this course - although some writers seem to have preferred one form over the other.)

h initially is much as we use it: heorte 'heart', habban 'have'. Medially and finally, and when doubled, its pronunciation resembles the 'ch' in Scottish 'loch': bohte 'bought', scóh 'shoe', hlehhan 'laugh'; this medial 'h' often survives as the silent 'gh' of NE, e.g. niht 'night', flyht 'flight', áhte 'ought', etc.. Initially, before consonants, h is used to indicate a 'softer', breathier pronunciation:
- hn- a soft breathing before the 'n': hnutu 'nut'
- hr- a soft breathing before the 'r': hring 'ring'
- hl- a voiceless 'l' like Welsh 'll': hláf 'loaf'
- hw- a voiceless 'w' like Scots 'wh': hwær 'where?'

g has at least three different values:
- initially before the vowels o, a, u, æ and the consonants r, l, n it has the same value as in NE: gold 'gold', gatu 'gates', guma 'man', gædrian 'gather', grétan 'greet', glaæs 'glass', gnæt 'gnat'.
- medially and finally it has a pronunciation similar to the voiced equivalent of 'ch' of Scottish 'loch': sagu 'saying', fág 'hostile'; in its final position it is often softened to its voiceless variant, so that alternative spellings occur: fág / fáh 'hostile', stág / stáh 'climbed'.
- in the combinations ge-, gi-, -ig it is pronounced closer to a NE 'y': géar 'year', gield 'yield', blódig 'bloody'. (The spelling gy- is often a late variant of gie- e.g. gyfan = giefan with this sound. Otherwise it has the normal 'g' of NE e.g. gyldan 'gild'.)
- -ng represents the two consonants in 'linger', not as in 'sing' or 'singe'; therefore the cluster -ng consists of two separate consonants and syllables containing it behave accordingly (in terms of 'heavy syllables' - see section 9.4)

c somewhat similarly to g above, has several values:
- initially before the vowels o, a, u, æ and the consonants r, l, n it has the same value as NE 'k': corn 'corn', calu 'bald', culfre 'culver', cætt 'cat', cráwa 'crow, clif 'cliff', cnéow 'knee'.
- in the groups ci-, ce-, -ic it is pronounced much as in NE 'ch': cinn 'chin', céacbán 'cheekbone', cirice 'church'; there are a few cases where the 'k' sound occurs: áscian 'ask', céne 'keen, sharp, eager'.
- cg may represent the NE 'g' sound when it occurs medially: frocge 'frog'; it may also represent the sound we represent with 'j/dg': brycg 'bridge', hrycg 'ridge, back'.

Consonants spelt double are longer variants of the single: þone is never confused with þonne in OE spelling. There are some unfamiliar consonant clusters in OE, some of which have been examined above; generally, every letter is pronounced though sc and cg need special consideration:

cn	k + n	cniht	youth, knight
fn	f + n	fnæst	blast, wind
gn	g + n	gnagan	gnaw
hn	soft breathing + n (see above)	hneaw	mean, miserly
hr	soft breathing + r (see above)	hraðor	rather, sooner
hl	voiceless l (see above)	hlinc	rising ground
hw	voiceless w (see above)	hwettan	whet, sharpen
wl	w + l	wlenco	pride
wr	w + r	writan	write

Vowels

The vowels of OE are the hardest to determine, and have changed the most since the OE period. They can be divided into 'pure' vowels and diphthongs, both of which have long and short forms. The following is a guide to the approximate pronunciations, bearing in mind that no two dialects have exactly the same arrangement of vowels even if their consonants are identical.

Pure Vowels

a	as in	'bud' (southern)	á	as in	'bard'
æ		'bat'	æ		'bad'
e		'bed'	é		'bade'
i		'bid'	í		'bead'
o		'body'	ó		'board' (no 'r')
u		'bull'	ú		'booed'
y		Fr. 'su'	ý		Fr. 'sur'

The short a is a shorter form of the vowel in cart, which is closer to the southern English pronunciation of cut or to the first 'a' of 'aha!'. The two y sounds can be reproduced in English by pronouncing the corresponding i sound and rounding the lips at the same time.
-í- is often spelt -ig- in later documents, reflecting the 'y' pronunciation of 'g', e.g. bigleofa = bíleofa 'food'; -i- followed by another vowel tends to insert a 'y' sound, which can also be spelt with -g- e.g. lufi(g)end 'affectionate, loving'.

Diphthongs

These are vowels which glide from one position to another without a break, so that there is only one peak of loudness. They are conventionally spelt with two vowel letters in OE orthography, although there is still debate as to what sounds are actually being represented: apparently, those with second element a are glides towards the back and bottom of the mouth, and those with o towards the top and front. For students' purposes, the following will serve as a starting point:

ea begins with the sound of e and glides towards the back of the mouth, giving a sound not unlike that in 'bared, Baird'; éa is similar but beginning with the vowel é.

eo begins with the sound of e and glides towards the front (perhaps with lip rounding?) to give a sound approximating to that in 'loud' (though higher in the mouth); likewise éo begins from é. ie begins with the sound of i and glides back to give a sound roughly like that in 'beard'; íe likewise from í.