Masculine (stone):
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nom | stān | stānas |
| acc | stān | stānas |
| gen | stānes | stāna |
| dat | stāne | stānum |
Neuter short (ship):
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nom | scip | scipu |
| acc | scip | scipu |
| gen | scipes | scipa |
| dat | scipe | scipum |
Neuter long (word):
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nom | word | word |
| acc | word | word |
| gen | wordes | worda |
| dat | worde | wordum |
Feminine short (gift):
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nom | ġiefu [v] | ġiefa |
| acc | ġiefe | ġiefa |
| gen | ġiefe | ġiefa |
| dat | ġiefe | ġiefum |
| bed | bɛd | bed |
| blód | blo:d | blood |
| God | gɔd | God |
| land | land | land |
| nim | nɪm | take |
| ramm | ram | ram |
| be | bɛ | by |
| nan | nan | none/no |
| tíd | ti:d | time |
| in | ɪn | in |
| on | ɔn | on |
| up | ʊp | up |
| bin | bɪn | bin |
| swift | swɪft | swift |
| gold | gold | gold |
| grim | grɪm | grim |
| song | sɔŋg | song |
| corn | kɔrn | corn |
| lamb | lamb | lamb |
| wind | wɪnd | wind |
| þus | θʊs | thus |
| far | far | far |
| eft | ɛft | again/back |
| self | sɛlf | self |
| fyr | fyr | fire |
| sweord | swɛɔrd | sword |
| cræft | kræft | craft |
| léof | lɛɔf | dear (sir) |
| fréo | frɛɔ | free |
| hé | he: | he |
| him | hɪm | him |
| niht | nɪçt | night |
| hand | hand | hand |
| þurh | θʊrx | through |
| ic | ɪtʃ | I |
| cwæþ | kwæ&theta | said |
| cild | tʃɪld | child |
| gad | gad | goad |
| græg | græj | gray |
| cniht | knɪçt | boy/servant |
| betst | bɛtst | best |
| fisc | fɪʃ | fish |
| scip | ʃɪp | ship |
| ecg | ɛdʒ | edge |
| bricg | brɪdʒ | bridge |
| secg | sɛdʒ | man |
The following consonants are straightforward:
| p [p] | t [t] | k [k] |
| b [b] | d [d] | |
| m [m] | n [n] | |
| l [l] | r [r] | |
| x [ks] | ||
Fricatives each have two allophones:
| f [f/v] |
| s [s/z] |
| þ [θ/ð] |
| ð [θ/ð] |
The voiceless allophone appears initially, finally, and adjacent to a voiceless consonant. The voiced allophone appears between two vowels, or between a vowel and a voiced consonant.
The 'h' sounds has three allophones:
| h [h/ç/x] |
The [h] sound appears initially, [ç] after a front vowel, and [x] after a back vowel.
The sounds 'c' and 'g' have two allophones:
| c [tʃ/k] | g [j/g] |
The first allophone appears: (a) before a front vowel; and (b) at the end of a word, after a front vowel. The second allophone appears before a back vowel or a consonant.
Some special combinations:
| cn [kn] |
| gn [gn] |
| sc [ʃ] |
| cg [dʒ] |
Old English texts contain seven letters which denote vowels. There is evidence that each of these represents two distinct phonemes, one 'short' and one 'long':
| majuscule | minuscule | short | long |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | A | a or ɑ | ɑ: |
| e | E | ɛ or e | e: |
| i | I | ɪ or i | i: |
| o | O | ɔ or o | o: |
| u | U | ʊ or u | u: |
| y | Y | y | y: |
| æ | Æ | æ | æ: |
Note that there are two different proposed pronunciations for some of the short vowels.
The evidence for phonemic status of vowel length involves the existence of minimal pairs involving homographs like:
| written | short reflex | long reflex |
|---|---|---|
| ham | ham | home |
| is | is | ice |
| rod | rod | rood (i.e. cross) |
Because one reading of each homograph underwent a vowel change during the Great Vowel Shift, it is believed that these words were not homophones in Old English. In addition, we can use evidence of vowel shift in Modern English to identify long vowels in Old English.
In modern versions of Old English texts, long vowels are often marked with a macron: ā, ē, ī etc. The original Old English texts often use different glyphs: (a) 'i' without a dot; (b) 'y' with a dot; (c) a version of 'E' that looks a bit like 'C'; (d) sometimes a version of 'a' without the curly bit on top.
There are three digraphs/diphthongs, each of which can be either short or long:
| digraph | sound |
|---|---|
| eo | eo or eʊ |
| ea | æɑ |
| ie | ɪ |
Note that the digraph 'ie' was probably not pronounced as a diphthong. Long diphthongs/digraphs are conventionally designated by placing a macron above the first letter in the digraph.
Note also that the short vowels 'a', 'æ' and 'ea' are closely related - they evolved out of a single Proto-Germanic vowel 'a' (by phonological conditioning), and evolved back into a single Middle English vowel 'a'. This is important to know to understand certain inflectional paradigms, e.g. 'dæg' vs 'dagas'; 'geat' vs 'gatu'.
eel bee fee flee free knee beech beef been beep beer beet bleed bleep breech breed breeze cheek cheep cheer cheese deed deem deep deer feed feel freeze
A * is used when the pronunciations is not /i:/. Generally pronounced /ɛ:/ before the Great Vowel Shift, which rose to /e:/ then /i:/.
each ear earl* earn* earth* ease east eat eave flea beach bead beak beam bean bear* beard beast beat bleach bleak bleat breach bread* breadth* break* bream breast* breath* breathe cease dead* deaf* deal dean dear dearth* death* dread* dream fear feast feat freak gear gleam glean grease great* head* heal health* heap hear heard* hearse* heart* hearth* heat heath heave jeans leach lead[*] leaf league leak lean leap learn* lease least leave leaves mead meal mean means meant* meat
Others:
feather* heather* heaven* jealous* leather* leaven* meadow* measure*
The long/stressed vowels of Old/Middle English:
| front | back | |
|---|---|---|
| i: | u: | |
| e: | o: | |
| ɛ: | ɔ: | |
| a: |
Typical orthography for these was as follows:
| i: | y,i | mine,sight |
| u: | ou,u | house |
| e: | ee,e,e_e | sheep, me, mete |
| o: | oo,o | boot |
| ɛ: | ea,e | break, beak |
| ɔ: | oa | loaf |
| a: | aa,a | name |
The Great Vowel Shift involved everything moving up a slot:
