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": [link missing] |
| 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. |
| short i is pronounced like the "i" sound in Modern English "his": his |
| 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").