Old English/Se Inweorpan

Alphabet & Pronunciation

The Old English alphabet has a few differences that of Modern English. It did not have the letters q, z, j, x, and v (k and x are used but rarely). It also had three letters not used in Modern English æ (Ash), þ (Thorn), and Ð/ð (Eth).

Pronunciation

Because the language has been dead for 900 years, we cannot be completely sure how the letters were pronounced. However, the pronunciation has been reconstructed with reasonable accuracy.

Letter	Pronunciation	IPA symbol
A a	ah-ha	ɑ
Ā ā	Father	ɑː
Æ æ	Bat	æ
Ǣ ǣ	Has	æː
B b	Bat	b
D d	Dog	d
E e	Pay*	e
Ē ē	Made	eː
I i	See*	i
Ī ī	MachIne	iː
L l	Luck	l
M m	Make	m
N n	Not	n
O o*	Ohio	o
Ō ō	Show	oː
P p	put	p
R r	Root	ɹ
T t	Tow	t
U u	Shoot*	u
Ū ū	Smooth	uː
W w	was	w
Y y	German Über
Ȳ ȳ	Ü held longer
Eo eo		eo
Ēo ēo		eːo
Ea ea		æɑ
Ēa ēa		æːɑ

*Alternate Pronunciation of Vowels

Letter	Pronunciation	Ipa symbol
E e	Set	ɛ
I i	Bit	ɪ
U u	Put	ʊ

S, F, & þ/ð

S, F , and þ/ð can be voiced or unvoiced.

Unvoiced

S, F, and þ/ð are unvoiced at the beginning or end of a word of when next to an unvoiced sound.

Voiced

S, F, and þ/ð are voiced when between two voiced sounds.

Reading (Lines 1-11 of Beowulf)

Hwæt! wē Gār-Dena in geār-dagum

þēod-cyninga þrym gefrunon,

hū þā æðelingas ellen fremedon.

Oft Scyld Scēfing sceaðena þrēatum,

monegum mægðum meodo-setla oftēah.

Egsode eorl, syððan ǣrest wearð

fēa-sceaft funden; hē þæs frōfre gebād:

wēox under wolcnum, weorð-myndum ðāh,

ôð þæt him æghwylc þāra ymb-sittendra

ofer hron-rāde hȳran scolde,

gomban gyldan: þæt wæs gōd cyning!
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