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’