Old English Alphabet

Letters of the Old English alphabet

Christianity brought with it the Latin alphabet, which was adapted to fit the sounds of Old English

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

A Æ B C D Ð E F G H I L M N O P R S T Þ U Ƿ X Y

Old English letters no longer in modern English*

*some are still used in other languages such as Icelandic

Æ æ

Ð ð

Þ þ

Ƿ ƿ

a letter called ‘ash’. It makes an ‘a’ sound as in ‘black’

this letter is called ‘eth’. It makes the ‘th’ sounds as in ‘thing’ or ‘that’ a letter called ‘thorn’. It makes the same sounds as the letter ‘eth’

this letter was called ‘wynn’. It makes the sound ‘w’


was a special symbol used for ‘and’. It is also known as the “Tironian nota”

Long and short vowels – approximate sounds

Suggested sounds are based on southern UK English (“Received Pronunciation”)

Short

æ as in modern English ‘cat

a as in modern English ‘broad’

e as in modern English ‘bed’

i as in modern English ‘sit’

o as in modern English ‘not’

u as in modern English ‘put’

y as in French ‘tu

Long

ǣ as in ‘there’

ā as in ‘father’

ē as in ‘bed’ but longer, like ‘bade’ ī as in ‘machine’

ō as in ‘not’ but longer, like ‘note’ ū as in NE ‘boot’

ȳ as in French ‘tu’ but longer

Long and short diphthongs

ea as in modern English ‘cat’ + neutral vowel

eo two short vowels together

ie as in ‘sit’ + neutral vowel

ēa = ǣ + a

ēo = ē + o

īe = ī + e

A ‘neutral vowel’ is the sound at the end of a word like ‘leader’