Hands-On: Alphabet and Pronunciation
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BritishLibrary CottonMS Julius - E VII toria della From: lingua inglese Hands-on: alphabet 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 <f> 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 <h> is pronounced as a glottal spirant /h/. Note 2: the word-final yogh <ȝ> is pronounced as a voiced velar stop /g/. Cotton MS Vitellius A XV - British Library halig god ‘holy God’ Note 1: the yogh <ȝ> is pronounced as an approximant /j/ 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: vowel length 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 thorn <þ> is pronounced as voiceless /θ/, even if it results in modern English /ð/. Note 2: in this example, the resemblance between thorn and wynn is very clear. Note 3: the word-final <s> is a ‘long <s>’. Cotton MS Vitellius A XV - British Library he selfa ‘he himself’ Note 1: the word-initial <s> is a ‘long <s>’. Note 2: the letter <f> 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 - Old English Orosius - British Library asia! affrica ‘Asia and Africa’ Note 1: the <s> in the first word is an ‘insular <s>’. Note 2: the symbol <! > after the dot is the abbreviation for ‘and’. Note 3: the symbol <! > is not separated from the following word <affrica>. 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 <s> in <eastan> is a ‘long <s>’. Note 2: the <s> in <suþan> is a ‘round <s>’. Note 3: the symbol <! > after the dot is the abbreviation for ‘and’. Note 4: the symbol <! > is not separated from the following word <eastan>. Note 5: the letter <ð> in <norðan> 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 <halgan> is pronounced as the spirant <ɣ>. Note 2: the letter <d> 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: <of> is not separated from <worulde>. Note 2: the macron over the letter <u> is not a mark of length, it is an abbreviation for a nasal (/m/ or /n/, here it is /m/). Note 3: the letter <f> 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 <d> and <e> in <worulde>. Cotton MS Julius E VII - Ælfric’s Lives of Saints - British Library Broðor ic þe secge ‘Brother, I say to you’ Note 1: <ic> is not separated from <þe>. Note 2: the <s> in <secge> is an ‘insular <s>’. Note 3: <c> in <ic> is normally assumed to be pronounced <ʧ>. Note 4: the sequence <cg> in <secge> is normally assumed to be pronounced <ʤ>. Note 5: the letter <ð> in <Broðor> 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: <c> in <ic> is normally assumed to be pronounced <ʧ>. Note 2: <ic> is not separated from <eom>. Note 3: the letter <ȝ> in <anginn> is (probably) pronounced <g> because <an> 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: <c> in <ic> is normally assumed to be pronounced <ʧ>. Note 2: <s> in <sendan> is a ‘long <s>’. Note 3: the letter <f> in <flod> is pronounced as the voiceless (labiodental fricative) /f/ because it occurs word-initially. Note 4: the letter <f> in <ofer> is pronounced as the voiced (labiodental fricative) /v/ because it occurs between two voiced sounds. Note 5: <ic> is not separated from <wille>. 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: <sc> in <hebræisce> is pronounced <ʃ>. Note 2: <s> in <asprang> is a ‘long <s>’. Note 3: the thorn with a stroke before <hebræisce> is an abbreviation for <þæt>. Note 4: the letter <f> in <lufode> is pronounced as the voiced (labiodental fricative) /v/ because it occurs between two voiced sounds. Note 5: the letter <f> in <folc> is pronounced as the voiceless (labiodental fricative) /f/ because it occurs word-initially. Note 6: <of> and <þam> are not separated; <þe> <god> <lufode> 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 <s> in <strangestan>are ‘long <s>’. Note 2: <s> in <seaxum> is an ‘insular <s>’. Note 3: the thorn with a stroke after <germanie> is an abbreviation for <þæt>. Note 4: the letter <f> in <folcum> 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 English alphabet 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.