Alphabets

The Germans used three different alphabets that chronologically changed each other. Chronologically they are in the following order:

I) the runes( the II-IIId c.)

II) Ulfilas’s gothic alphabet(the IVc.)(he created a peculiar alphabet using Greek alphabet with addition some runic and Latin letters)

III) Latin alphabet(the third and the last)

OE Alphabet and Pronunciation

OE scribes used two kinds of letters: the runes and the letters of the Latin alphabet. The bulk of the OE manuscripts is written in the Latin script, though OE scribes made certain modifications to indicate OE sounds. Modern philologists distinguish between several scripts superseding one another. In the OE variety iand janduandvwere not distinguished; the letters k,q, x, wwere not used; the ligature œwas used which later was replaced by e. OE Alphabet looks in the following way:

OE Alphabet

a n[n], [ŋ]

æ o

B p

c[k] or [k’] r

d s[s] or [z]

E t

f[f] or [v]þð[ð] or θ[θ]

¯[g], [g’], [γ] or [j] u

h [x], [x’] or [h] w

I x

L y

OE writing was based on a phonetic principle: every letter indicated a separate sound. Though some OE letters indicated two or more sounds.

In reading the following rules should be observed:

I) letters f,s, þ, ð–become voiced fricatives: 1) between vowels

ofer [‘over] (over)

2) between a vowel and a voiced consonant

selfa [‘selva] (self)

in other cases they are voiceless fricatives

oft [oft] (often)

ðæt [θæt] (that)

II) the letter ¯:

1) before back vowels (i.e. o:, u:, a:) it stands for [g] - ¯ān [g] (go)

2) before and after front vowels (i.e. i:, e, æ) it stands for [j] - ¯ēar [j] (year)

3) between back vowels it stands for [γ] - da¯as [γ] ( days)

4) it stands for [g’] when preceded by c - sec¯an [gg}(say)

III) the letter h:

1) stands for [x] a)between a back vowel and a consonant

tāhte [x](taught)

b)initially before consonants

hē [x](he)

2) stands for [x’] next to front vowels

niht[x’](night)

IV) the letter nstands

1) for [n]in all positions, but if it is followed by [k]or [g]it indicates [ŋ]- sin¯an (sing)

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