A
a · /ɑ/
Old English Alphabet
The Old English alphabet was used to write English from roughly the 7th to 12th centuries. It includes letters such as ash, eth, thorn, and wynn.
31 letter forms · c. 7th–12th centuries CE
A with macron
ā · /ɑː/
Ash
æ · /æ/
Historically an ae ligature, used as a distinct vowel letter in Old English
Ash with macron
ǣ · /æː/
B
b · /b/
C
c · /k ~ tʃ/
Usually k; pronounced like ch in some contexts
D
d · /d/
Eth
ð · /θ ~ ð/
Used for th sounds and often interchangeable with thorn
E
e · /e/
E with macron
ē · /eː/
F
f · /f ~ v/
Could sound like v between voiced sounds
G
g · /ɡ ~ j ~ ɣ/
Could represent g, y, or a fricative, depending on context
H
h · /h ~ x ~ ç/
Usually h initially; a fricative after some vowels
I
i · /i/
I with macron
ī · /iː/
L
l · /l/
M
m · /m/
N
n · /n/
O
o · /o/
O with macron
ō · /oː/
P
p · /p/
R
r · /r/
S
s · /s ~ z/
Could sound like z between voiced sounds
T
t · /t/
Thorn
þ · /θ ~ ð/
Used for th sounds and often interchangeable with eth
U
u · /u/
U with macron
ū · /uː/
Wynn
w · /w/
Represents w and is often printed as w in modern editions
X
x · /ks/
Y
y · /y/
Represented a front rounded vowel, unlike Modern English y
Y with macron
ȳ · /yː/
History
Early Old English was also written in Anglo-Saxon runes. The Latin script became dominant after Christianity spread through England from the 7th century, while ash, eth, thorn, and the runic letter wynn were used for sounds not represented conveniently by the basic Latin alphabet.
Old English spelling was never completely uniform. Modern editions often replace wynn with w and add macrons or dots, as in ā, ċ, and ġ, to help readers; those marks were not a consistent part of the medieval alphabet.
Sources
Letter forms follow Unicode; sound values reflect standard descriptions of Old English phonology.
- The Unicode Consortium, Latin script charts
- Peter S. Baker, Introduction to Old English, 3rd edition (2012)