Chapter 3: Pronouncing Old English

Chapter 3: Pronouncing Old English



Old English is a "dead" language. No one, not even
the children of the most fanatical Anglo-Saxonists (although some of us are
working on it) grows up speaking Anglo-Saxon as a cradle tongue. But it is nevertheless
worth learning to pronounce the language, and not only so you can impress people
at cocktail parties. Reading Old English words and paradigms aloud can help
many students to memorize important information more easily. Also, Old English
poetry evolved as an oral medium: although the only poems we still know ae those
that happen to have been written down, scholars have deduced that the Anglo-Saxons
preferred to have their poetry presented orally. Finally, Old English poetry
is particularly beautiful when read aloud, as this passage
from the beginning of Beowulf perhaps demonstrates.



Note: if you are unable to hear the Old English sounds on your computer,
click here for help.



Vowels





There are many relatively complicated charts that explain the
pronunciation of Old English vowels, but the power of new information technology
has suggested to us a better way to learn how to pronounce Old English words:
simply click on the hyperlinks below to hear the word in Old English.

Most editors use macrons
(a horizontal bar over the top of a vowel) to indicate vowel length. A long
vowel is indicated by a macron. A short
vowel is one without a macron. Macrons to indicate vowel length do not appear
in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts.

short a is pronounced like the Modern English "o"
sound in "contact":manegum

long a is pronounced like the "a" sound in Modern
English "father: þam

æ is pronounced like the "a" sound in Modern
English "cat" or "bat": fæder

long æ is pronounced like the "a" sound in Modern
English "band":

long e is pronounced to rhyme with Modern English "way":
we

short i is pronounced like the "i" sound in Modern
English "his": his

long i is pronounced like the "i" sound in Modern English
"machine": rices

short o is pronounced like the "o" sound in Modern
English "pond": ond

long o is pronounced like the "o" sound in Modern
English "go":gedon

short u is pronounced like the "u" sound in Modern
English "bull": ungelæredum

long u is pronounced like the "oo" sound in Modern
English "school":sculan

short y is pronounced like the "i" sound in Modern
English "will": wylle

long y is pronounced like the "oo" sound in Modern
English "school," but with the lips slightly pursed: gecyþnisse



Diphthongs

Diphthongs are combinations of two vowels. Modern English
dipthongs include such combinations as the "ea" in "beast,"
the "ie" in "convenient," and the "ei" in
"weight." Explanations of pronunciation of Old English diphthongs
are notoriously confusing, so we will simply rely on demonstrating the pronunciation
of representative words.

short e a is pronounced thus healf.

long e a is pronounced thus þeawa.

short i e is pronounced thus ahielde.

long i e is pronounced thus stierde.

short e o is pronounced thus eorþan.

long e o is pronounced thus heofon.

Front vowels and back vowels: vowels can be classified by the different places in the mouth in which they are pronounced. For example, if you say “flee,” you will feel vibration in the front part of your mouth. This is an example of a front vowel. If you say “cut,” you will feel vibration in the back part of your mouth. This is an example of a back vowel. Front vowels in Old English include e and i. Back vowels include a, o and u. The difference between front vowels and back vowels is significant because the vowel that follows a g or a c in Old English determines how that consonant is pronounced (see below).

Consonants

Most Old English consonants are pronounced the same way
as their Modern English equivalents. We give the exceptions below.

c can be pronounced either as a hard "c"
sound, represented in Modern English by "k," or as the sound that
is represented in Modern English by "ch." If c precedes a
front vowel, it is pronounced
like "ch": ceosan
("chay-oh-san"). If c precedes a back
vowel, it is pronounced like "k": cyning ("koo-ning"). Some editors indicate the "ch"
pronunciation of c by putting a dot above the consonant.

g can also be pronounced two ways. Before front
vowels ("i" and "e") it is pronounced like the Modern
English "y" in the word "yes": gifu
("yee-fu") (this pronunciaton is called palatal
g). When g is used before other vowels it is pronounced the same
as Modern English "g" in "golden": goda ("go-da") (this pronunciation is called velar
g). Some editors indicate this voiced pronunciation of "g" by
putting a dot above the consonant.

h is never silent. It is pronounced with a bit
of a throat-clearing sound, like the "ch" at the end of Scottish "loch"
or German "Bach." H also is used in combination with the
semi-vowels (also called
liquids) "r," "l," and "w" in ways not familiar
in Modern English: hlaford, hronræd,
hwæt.
r is rolled or trilled, like the "r"
in British English or Russian.

sc is pronounced like Modern English "sh":
scip ("ship").