1

Old English – Seminar 3

Old English Orthography, Spelling, Pronunciation and Stress

1. Orthography.

The most common method of writing during the OE period was on parchment

and using a form of the Roman alphabet. The Runic alphabet (which the Anglo-

Saxons had brought with them across the North-Sea) was used for inscriptions and

dedicatory formulae rather than for purposes of communication. Present-day

conventions of word-division, paragraphs, etc. were unknown to the Anglo-Saxons;

their own conventions also differed from scribe to scribe.

No manuscripts survive before the coming of Augustine in 597, but there is

evidence that the usage of the Roman Alphabet in Anglo-Saxon England owed its

origins to Christianity; further evidence: manuscripts were first written in a version of

the half-uncial script brought to England by Irish missionaries. The minuscule script

with clear, simple, rounded letter shapes, can be seen at its best in the Latin text of the

Lindisfarne Gospels of the early 8th

century. The script was to be developed into what

is known as the insular script, a pointed and cursive version of the half-uncial, and

this was to remain the predominant style of handwriting until the 11th

century when

letter forms from the continental “caroline minuscule” began to appear; the insular

form disappeared by the end of the 12th

century.

It is not so surprising that the letters of the alphabet and the style should be so

dependent upon the arrival and spread of Christianity; throughout the Anglo-Saxon

period, the teaching, and to a considerable extent, the practice of writing was

predominantly a property of the church. From the time of Alfred onwards, the scribes

in the king’s secretariat were clerics, not laymen.

The alphabet used by the Anglo-Saxons was much the same as that used

today; some letter shapes were rather different than those of later scripts. For instance,

s most usually appeared in long form rather like ʃ.

ʒ (yogh)was used in insular script instead of g (of caroline origin); in later

periods these two were often distinguished so that they represented different sounds.

There are differences:

j, v were not used were not used, the phoneme /j/ usually being

represented by g, and v normally being spelled with f (e.g. hlafas);

w was not used, instead the Anglo-Saxon borrowed the runic letter ƿ

(wynn);

three other letters were rarely used in OE manuscripts although they

had their normal usage in Anglo-Saxon Latin manuscripts: q, x, z: s

between vowels and voiced sounds was voiced – pronounced, /z/ - (e.g.

risan), in all other positions it was voiceless – pronounced /s/.

The pairs f and v, s and z, were merely variants (allophones) in OE and not

sounds of different significance (phonemes).

Anglo-Saxon had, as well as runic ƿ “wynn”, three further letters of their own:

æ (ash), þ (thorn), ð (eth). “Ash” was an Anglo-Saxon adaptation for Latin ‘ae’,

whereas “thorn”, like “wynn”, is borrowed from the runic alphabet; the origin of “eth”

is not certain.

2

The histories of þ and ð are more complex; they were in principle

interchangeable with one another, whatever the generality of their usage or the habits

of individual scribes; nevertheless, up to the time of Alfred ð was the most frequent

choice; thenceforth þ was more and more used, but it was mainly restricted to initial

position. Orthographic usage was reasonably stable during the OE period.

After about 800, the OE alphabet settled down into a pattern which remained

unchanged until the time of the Conquest, when the Norman French influence and the

conventions of the caroline script, of which the Anglo-Saxons were aware from their

Latin manuscripts, started to make their appearance felt.

Yet, even if the alphabet was fixed, spellings varied to a much greater extent

than they do today, albeit to a lesser extent than in Middle English; standardization of

the spelling simply did not exist for much of the time. Remember that the concept of

‘correct’ spelling is a modern one; for the Anglo-Saxon scribe it would not

necessarily have been ‘incorrect’ to spell a word one way in one line and another way

in the next.

Æthelwold, Dunstan, Oswald (Benedictine revival) set upon a vigorous

programme of teaching and instruction and a regularization of the language; for the

first time in England, a standard written language (e.g. Ælfric has a highly regular

spelling system and orthography). The standard spelling they established was founded

upon the speech of Winchester and the surrounding areas.

2. Spelling and pronunciation.

The English spelling was based on an alphabetic and phonemic writing system

first represented by the runes (run-stæfas), a script developed by ancient Germanic

peoples from both Latin and Greek alphabets, originally containing 24 letters. It was

read from right to left.

The Latin alphabet was introduced by Christian missionaries from Ireland

(boc-stæfas). The Roman alphabet in its Italic form had to render certain sounds that

did not exist in Latin: w : ƿ (wynn / wen), θ : þ (thorn), ae: æ (ash).

k, q, z, v were rarely used. z and v (the fricatives in general: labial, dental,

alveolar) were not distinguished at the phonemic level by the characteristic of voicing

(z and s, v and f, etc. were in complementary distribution). The fricative sound was

always voiceless at the beginning and at the end of the word and always voiced in

word-middle position, especially intervocally. One and the same letter could be used

to render a variety of pronunciation which represented certain positional variants.

c: [k] in coc [o] = back vowel velar c

[k’, č] in cild [i] = front vowel

ʒ: [ɣ] in ʒos ; aʒan [o, a] = back vowels laringo-velar fricative

[ɣ’] in ʒiefan; dæʒ [i, æ] = front vowels palatalized glide

[g] in sinʒan after a nasal

[g’] in senʒan palatalized affricate

þ and ð were used in free variation to render [θ] or [ð]

Actually, there is a great deal of fluctuation in spelling, especially between

dialects and at different periods of time and mainly as regards vowels. This is obvious

in the evolution of OE and in the ME dialects:

North a: hame ([heim] today)

Non-North o: home

The consonants also varied. In southern dialects, initial f was voiced to v:

3

OE fæt ‘cask, barrel’ > SME vat

The present indicative plural form of verbs varied regionally:

OE -að > ME South: -eth

North replaced by –es

EMidl: - en

After the Norman Conquest, the literary activity in England was restricted to

copying the already existing manuscripts. The new scribes gradually introduced the

spelling conventions familiar to them from rendering French sounds to render the

sounds of the English language.

Between 1100 and 1300 no dialect achieved a high enough prestige and there

were no general spelling conventions. Early ME texts do differ a lot. In the beginning,

the French loan words were written using the French spelling conventions, while the

native words retained their original Anglo-Saxon spelling norm. In time, the new

spelling was transferred to English words containing similar sounds.

The French influence was earliest in the South, from where it spread to

practically the whole English speaking area. By the end of the 2nd

half of the 14th

century, all present conventions already existed. This is why Chaucer can be read

relatively easily.

The Irish handwriting, characterized by the rounded shape of the letters, was

replaced by the angular Carolingian style, which started to cause confusion when too

many letters consisting of several “minims” were used: u, n, m, i, w without any dots.

Some letters were eliminated: ƿ (wynn) [w] u, uu (double u), w. Because the æ

(ash) sound disappeared (> a; > e > ea) by a process of retraction, the letter was no

longer in use.

e.g. tæ……> techen > teach > [i]

hæ…...> helen > heal > [i]

(Eth) ð was abandoned. þ (thorn) survived in ME as long as a manuscript

tradition existed, together with the diagraph th (t=dental; h=fricative a dental

fricative)

There occurred few changes in pronunciation, but the spelling changed a lot.

1) OE [u:] ů ME ou, ow OE hus > ME hous(e)/hows(e)

2) OE [u] u ME o in an environment of m, n, v, i, w for purely graphical

reasons OE cuman > ME comen

3) OE [i], [i:] ME i, y (y was considered more beautiful)

OE ridan > ME ridden/ryden

In the course of time y was restricted to final position:

4) OE [ʃ] sc ME sch, ssh, ssi, sh Apparently Norman French did not have a

[ʃ] sound in its spelling inventory OE scip > ME sship, schip, ssip, ship

5) OE [tʃ] c (only in the environment of front vowels) ME ch

OE cild > ME child

6) OE h ME gh. French did not have a [x, ç] sound. (g = velar; h= fricative

velar fricative) OE riht, þohte > ME right,

thoughte

4

While the OE length of vowels was not rendered in spelling, in ME the scribes

were very careful to specify it. This is how we came to be aware of the changes that

took place in the length of vowels.

PRACTICE

1. Read out loud the following sentences and translate them into Present Day

English (PDE):

(1) Is his þegn her giet?

(2) His linen socc feoll ofer bord in þæt wæter and scranc.

(3) Hwær is his cyþþ and cynn?

(4) His hring is gold his disc glæs and his belt leðer.

(5) Se fisc swam under þæt scip and over þone sciellfisc.

(6) His cicen ran from his horswege ofer his pæð and in his geard.

(7) Se horn sang hulde. Hlysten we!

(8) Se cniht is on þære brycge.

(9) Seo cwen went fram þære cirice.

(10) He siteþon þære bence.

(11) God is god.

(12) Þis treow is æsc. Hwæt is þæt treow?

(13) He wolde don wiccecræft and he began swa to donne.

(14) Fuhton ge manlice?

2. Write each of the Old English words from the list below in an appropriate

blank to show whether the italicized fricative is voiced or voiceless. Bear in mind

two points: (1) the voiced fricatives [v, ð, z] occur between voiced sounds, and the

voiceless fricatives [f, θ, s] occur elsewhere; (2) voiced sounds include all liquids and

nasals as well as all vowels and voiced stops and fricatives.

OLD ENGLISH SPELLING f þ ð s 2 2 2

SOUND [f] [v] [θ] [ð] [s] [z]

________ _______ ________ ________ _______ _______

________ _______ ________ ________ _______ _______

________ _______ ________ ________ _______ _______

________ _______ ________ ________ _______ _______

sǣ ‘sea’

brōðor ‘brother’

wīf ‘woman’

hræfn ‘raven’

missenlīc ‘various’

flota ‘ship’

ċeaster ‘city’

leoð ‘song’

weorþe ‘worthy’

ofer ‘over’

rīsan ‘to rise’

æþele ‘noble’

lyft ‘air’

yrhðo ‘slackness’

offrian ‘to offer’

bōsm ‘bosom’

oððe ‘or’

wæs ‘was’

þeġn ‘thane’

efne ‘even’

nosu ‘nose’

blīþe ‘joyous’

heofon ‘heaven’

hæslen ‘of hazel’

5

3. Part of the initial strangeness of a page of Old English is due simply to the

differences in conventions of spelling between the older period and the present

one. We can see that the pronunciation of a large number of Old English words

is close to that of their Modern English descendants and sometimes exactly the

same. In the following list of words the phonetic symbols of the Old English

vowels are provided. Supply the phonetic symbols for the consonants, say the

words aloud, and deduce the Modern English forms.

OE Spelling OE Pronunciation Modern Spelling

bæð

æfter

scip

ecg

drifen

biter

weġ

stenċ

ofer

bliss

feðer

fisc

blæc

scield

seġl

fæst

wið

bæc

hwæþer

heftiġ

norð

leġd

arċebiscop

goldfinċ

æsc-grǣġ

[ _æ _ ]

[æ _ ɛ _ ]

[ _ ı _ ]

[ɛ _ ]

[ _ ı _ ɛ _ ]

[ _ ı _ ɛ _ ]

[ _ ɛ _ ]

[ _ ɛ _ ]

[ ɔ _ ɛ _ ]

[ _ ı _ ]

[ _ ɛ _ ɛ _ ]

[ _ ı _ ]

[ _æ _ ]

[ _ ıǝ _ ]

[ _ ɛ _ ]

[ _æ _ ]

[ _ ı _ ]

[ _æ _ ]

[ _æ _ ɛ _ ]

[ _ ɛ _ ı _ ]

[ _ ɔ _ ]

[ _ ɛ _ ]

[ ɑ _ ɛ _ ı _ ɔ _ ]

[_ ɔ _ ı _ ]

[æ _ æ: _ ]

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

The stress pattern of Old English is easy to learn because it follows the Germanic

pattern of primary stress on the first syllable of the word. Secondary, tertiary, and

6

weak stresses almost take care of themselves when one understands that the prevailing

stress contour of Old English is a descending contour. (This contrasts with the

prevailing pattern of alternating stress in Modern English, a result of the high

proportion of Romance vocabulary.) For word stress, two rules are useful:

Rule 1. The heaviest stress of a word occurs on the first syllable, except for verbal

prefixes (ġe-, be-, ā-, on-, wið-, for-, under-, ofer-, ymb-, etc.).

/ x / x x / x

Examples: dohtor ‘daughter’, hlude ‘loudly’, be-settan ‘surround’

Rule 2. Secondary stress occurs on the second element of compounds.

/ \ / x \ / \ x

Examples: eorð-weġ ‘earthly way’, ıren-heard ‘iron-hard’, fea-lufu ‘love of money’

In phrases and sentences, nouns and adjectives are more heavily stressed than verbs

and adverbs, which in turn are more heavily stressed than pronouns, articles,

prepositions, and conjunctions. The stress on verbs and adverbs varies in strength,

depending on their position in the sentence.

4. Mark the pattern of stress in the following words, using / for main stress, \ for

secondary stress, and x for weak stress. Prefixes and elements of compound

words are set apart by hyphens. Remember that prefixes of verbs are weakly

stressed; nouns and adjectives with prefixes are stressed like compounds, with

full stress on the prefix and secondary stress on the second element. The first

word has been marked as an example.

/ x \

wundor-deað ‘wondrous death’

land ‘land’

healdan ‘to hold’

wæter ‘water’

brōðer ‘brother’

be-cuman ‘to come’

wið-standan ‘to withstand’

ā-hebban ‘to lift up’

ġe-drincan ‘to drink up’

sǣ-strand ‘sea shore’

hring-net ‘coat of mail’

hord-burh ‘treasure-city’

wīd-cūþ ‘widely known’

on-findan ‘to discover’

on-weald ‘dominion’

for-grindan ‘to grind to pieces’

for-heard ‘very hard’

ðurh-crēopan ‘to creep through’

ðurh-hefiġ ‘very heavy’

ymb-gān ‘to go round’

ymb-hwyrft ‘rotation’

līf-dagas ‘life-days’

swan-rād ‘swan-road’, ‘sea’

lēod-sceaða ‘people’s enemy’

gūð-weriġ ‘weary with fighting’

leorning-cniht ‘disciple’