BritishLibrary

Cotton MS Julius E VII - CottonJulius MS VII E toria della

From: From: lingua inglese

Hands-on: and pronunciation

10/03/2021 Cotton MS Vitellius A XV - British Library

fæder ‘father’ Cotton MS Vitellius A XV - British Library

lifde ‘lived’

Note: the letter is pronounced as the voiced (labiodental fricative) /v/ because it occurs between two voiced sounds (the consonant /d/ and the vowel /e/) Cotton MS Vitellius A XV - British Library

hring ‘ring’

Note 1: the letter is pronounced as a glottal spirant /h/. Note 2: the word-final <ȝ> is pronounced as a voiced velar stop //. Cotton MS Vitellius A XV - British Library

halig god ‘holy God’

Note 1: the yogh <ȝ> is pronounced as an approximant // because it is word-final an preceded by /i/. Note 2: the yogh <ȝ> in <ȝod> is pronounced as a voiced velar stop /g/ because it is word-initial and followed by a back vowel. Note 3: is not marked. <ȝod> may be short (= God) or long (= good). Here it is short (= God), there is no capital. Cotton MS Vitellius A XV - British Library

þær wæs ‘there was’

Note 1: the word-initial <þ> is pronounced as voiceless /θ/, even if it results in modern English /ð/. Note 2: in this example, the resemblance between thorn and is very clear. Note 3: the word-final is a ‘long ’. Cotton MS Vitellius A XV - British Library

he selfa ‘he himself’

Note 1: the word-initial is a ‘long ’. Note 2: the letter in ‘selfa’ is pronounced as the voiced (labiodental fricative) /v/ because it occurs between two voiced sounds (the voiced consonant /l/ and the vowel /a/). Cotton MS Tiberius B I - Orosius - British Library

asia! affrica ‘Asia and Africa’

Note 1: the in the first word is an ‘insular ’. Note 2: the symbol after the dot is the abbreviation for ‘and’. Note 3: the symbol is not separated from the following word . Cotton MS Julius E VII - Ælfric’s Lives of Saints - British Library

norðan! eastan … suþan ‘to the North and the East […] to the South’

Note 1: the in is a ‘long ’. Note 2: the in is a ‘round ’. Note 3: the symbol after the dot is the abbreviation for ‘and’. Note 4: the symbol is not separated from the following word . Note 5: the letter <ð> in is pronounced as the voiced (interdental fricative) /ð/ because it occurs between two voiced sounds. Note 6: the thorn in <þe> is pronounced as the voiced (interdental fricative) /ð/ because it occurs between two voiced sounds. Cotton MS Julius E VII - Ælfric’s Lives of Saints - British Library

halgan benedicte ‘(Holy=)Saint Benedict’

Note 1: the yogh <ȝ> in is pronounced as the spirant <ɣ>. Note 2: the letter is very short and does not rise above the line. Note 3: the proper name is not capitalized. Cotton MS Julius E VII - Ælfric’s Lives of Saints - British Library

of worulde to heofonū ‘from the world to the heavens’

Note 1: is not separated from . Note 2: the macron over the letter is not a mark of length, it is an abbreviation for a nasal (/m/ or /n/, here it is /m/). Note 3: the letter is pronounced as the voiced (labiodental fricative) /v/ because it occurs between two voiced sounds. Note 4: there are traces of an erasure (i.e. a correction) between and in . Cotton MS Julius E VII - Ælfric’s Lives of Saints - British Library

Broðor ic þe secge ‘Brother, I say to you’

Note 1: is not separated from <þe>. Note 2: the in is an ‘insular ’. Note 3: in is normally assumed to be pronounced <ʧ>. Note 4: the sequence in is normally assumed to be pronounced <ʤ>. Note 5: the letter <ð> in is pronounced as the voiced (interdental fricative) /ð/ because it occurs between two voiced sounds. Note 6: the thorn in <þe> is pronounced as voiceless /θ/ because it is word- initial. Cotton MS Julius E VII - Ælfric’s Lives of Saints - British Library

Ic eom anginn ‘I am the beginning’

Note 1: in is normally assumed to be pronounced <ʧ>. Note 2: is not separated from . Note 3: the letter <ȝ> in is (probably) pronounced because is a prefix, therefore <ȝ> here counts as word-initial. Royal MS 7 C XII - Ælfric’s Catholic Homilies - British Library

Ic wille sendan flod over ealne mddaneard ‘I want to send a flood over all the earth’

Note 1: in is normally assumed to be pronounced <ʧ>. Note 2: in is a ‘long ’. Note 3: the letter in <flod> is pronounced as the voiceless (labiodental fricative) /f/ because it occurs word-initially. Note 4: the letter in is pronounced as the voiced (labiodental fricative) /v/ because it occurs between two voiced sounds. Note 5: is not separated from . Royal MS 7 C XII - Ælfric’s Catholic Homilies - British Library

of þam asprang þ[æt] hebræisce folc þe god lufode ‘from him originated the Jewish people, whom God loved’

Note 1: in is pronounced <ʃ>. Note 2: in is a ‘long ’. Note 3: the thorn with a stroke before is an abbreviation for <þæt>. Note 4: the letter in is pronounced as the voiced (labiodental fricative) /v/ because it occurs between two voiced sounds. Note 5: the letter in is pronounced as the voiceless (labiodental fricative) /f/ because it occurs word-initially. Note 6: and <þam> are not separated; <þe> are not separated. Note 7: vowel length is not marked. <ȝod> may be short (= God) or long (= good). Here it is short (= God), there is no capital. Note 8: <ȝ> in <ȝod> is pronounced /g/ because it is word-initial and followed by a back vowel. Note 9: thorn in <þam> and <þe> are both pronounced as voiceless /θ/ because they are word-initial. MS Kk.3.18 - Old English Bede - CambridgeUniversity Library

Comon hi of þrim folcum ðam strangestan germanie þ[æt] of seaxum! of angle ! of geatū ‘They came from the three strongest peoples of Germany, namely from the Saxons, the Angles and the Jutes’

Note 1: the two in are ‘long ’. Note 2: in is an ‘insular ’. Note 3: the thorn with a stroke after is an abbreviation for <þæt>. Note 4: the letter in is pronounced as the voiceless (labiodental fricative) /f/ because it occurs word-initially. Note 5: <ȝ> in <ȝermanie> and <ȝeatū > are both pronounced /j/ because they are word-initial and followed by a front vowel. Note 6: eth in <ðam> is pronounced as voiceless /θ/ because it is word-initial. Note 7: thorn in <þrim> is pronounced as voiceless /θ/ because it is word- initial. Old and pronunciation are treated in: Baker, Peter S. Introduction to Old English, chap. 2 or Mitchell, Bruce & Fred C. Robinson. A Guide to Old English, chap. 2.

For practice, you can find digitized manuscripts on the following websites:

https://ebeowulf.uky.edu/ebeo4.0/CD/main.html

MEDIEVALFLEMING https://medievalfleming.wordpress.com/2015/08/28/free-fully-digitized-manuscripts- containing-old-english/ Free, Fully Digitized Manuscripts Containing Old English