Language/Old-english-ca-450-1100/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation
Hello Polyglots,
In today's lesson, you will learn how to write the different letters of the Old English alphabet, how to pronounce these letters whether it is through the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), or through a video about calligraphy.
You will also find at the end of this lesson a virtual keyboard to be able to type each special character of this language.
Finish this lesson and explore these related pages: Pronouns, Education.
Old English Phonology[edit | edit source]
Consonants[edit | edit source]
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Post-
alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | (n̥) n | (ŋ) | ||||
| Stop | p b | t d | k (ɡ) | ||||
| Affricate | tʃ (dʒ) | ||||||
| Fricative | f (v) | θ (ð) | s (z) | ʃ | (ç) | x ɣ | (h) |
| Approximant | (l̥) l | j | (w̥) w | ||||
| Trill | (r̥) r |
The above system is largely similar to that of Modern English, except that [ç, x, ɣ, l̥, n̥, r̥] (and [w̥] for most speakers) have generally been lost, while the voiced affricate and fricatives (now also including /ʒ/) have become independent phonemes, as has /ŋ/.
Vowels – monophthongs[edit | edit source]
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |
| Close | i iː | y yː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | ||
| Open | æ æː | ɑ ɑː | (ɒ) | |
Diphthongs[edit | edit source]
| First
element |
Short
(monomoraic) |
Long
(bimoraic) |
|---|---|---|
| Close | iy̯ | iːy̯ |
| Mid | eo̯ | eːo̯ |
| Open | æɑ̯ | æːɑ̯ |
Video - How to write Old English Letters (calligraphy)[edit | edit source]
English (Old) Online Virtual Keyboard[edit | edit source]
Sources[edit | edit source]