Help:IPA/Old English

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Old English on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Old English in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here. Some keys are built on consensus more strongly than others; if the conventions of this key are already in wide use, any substantive change to it should be discussed on the talk page first as it would affect a large number of articles.

Throughout Wikipedia, the pronunciation of words is indicated by means of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The following tables list the IPA symbols used for Old English words and pronunciations. Please note that several of these symbols are used in ways that are specific to Wikipedia and differ from those used by dictionaries.

If the IPA symbols are not displayed properly by your browser, see the link below.

Key change

Consonants^[1]
IPA	Examples	Modern English approximation
b	bysig, lamb, habban	busy
ç	niht, tǣhte^[2]	hue
d	dōn, fæder, land, biddan	do
dʒ	sengan, ecg^[3]	edge
ð	ōþer, eorþe^[4]	other
f	fæder, ƿīf, offrian^[4]	father
ɡ	gōd, gnætt, geong^[3]	good
h	hēah, hǣlþ^[2]	heaven
j	geong, nægl, ƿeg, gēa, bysig^[3]	year
k	cyning, cnǣƿ, tusc, hnecca, axian^[3]^[5]	king
l	lufu, hǣlþ, nægl	leaf
ɫ	feallan, eald, ƿlite^[6]	peal
l̥	hlāf, hlehhan^[7]	whispered leaf
m	mōdor, magan, lamb	mother
n	nēah, cnēo, gnætt, land, habban, sunne	near
n̥	hnutu, hnecca^[7]	whispered near
ŋ	geong, drincan	young
p	pæþ	path
r	rǣdan, mōdor^[8]	read
rˠ	eorþe, steorra, ƿrang^[6]^[8]	ruff
r̥	hring^[7]^[8]	whispered read
s	sunne, missan, axian^[4]^[5]	sun
ʃ	sceadu, fisc^[3]	shadow
t	tīd, hƿæt, settan	stand
tʃ	cēace, ƿicce^[3]	cheese
v	ofer, lufu^[4]	over
ɣ	magan, lagu, dagum	Spanish fuego
w^[9]	ƿīf, cƿic, cnǣƿ	wife
ʍ	hƿā, hƿæt^[7]	what (some speakers)
x	hēah, þurh, hlehhan^[2]	loch (Scottish English)
z	bysiġ^[4]	busy
θ	þæt, pæþ, hǣlþ, siþþan^[4]	through

Vowels^[10]
IPA	Examples	Modern English approximation
ɑ	axian, sceadu, hnecca^[11]	cot (American English)
ɑː	ān, hlāf, hƿā	father
æ	æfter, fæder	cat
æː	ǣnig, hǣlþ	dad
e	ecg, fæder	similar to late
eː	ēþel	similar to made
i	ilca, cƿic, hālig	feet
iː	īsig, tīd	need
o	ofer, sceolde, heofon^[11]	thorn
oː	ōþer, mōdor	door
ø	^{[example needed]}^[12]	turn
øː	gemœ̄tan^[12]	blur
u	under, geong, lufu^[11]	root
uː	ūt	mood
y	scyld, yfel	French tu
yː	fȳr	German Dürer
Diphthongs
æɑ	eald	mouth (Cockney)
æːɑ	ēage, nēah	now (Cockney)
eo	eorþe, heofon	bed + rod
eːo	ēoƿu, dēor	snail (MLE)
iy	siex^[13]	feet + French tu
iːy	nīehst^[13]	need + French tu

Suprasegmentals
IPA	Examples	Explanation
ˈ	eorþe [ˈeorˠðe]	stress mark (placed right before the stressed syllable)

Notes change

↑ Old English had double consonants, which were pronounced longer than single consonants. Double consonants were written with double consonant letters. The double consonants in habban, missan can be translated in IPA with the length symbol ⟨ː⟩ or by doubling of the consonant symbol: [ˈhɑbːɑn], [ˈmisːɑn] or [ˈhɑbbɑn], [ˈmissɑn].
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 The phoneme /h/ had three allophones that diverged in the later language: it was pronounced [h] word-initially, [ç] when it was single and after a front vowel, and [x] otherwise.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 ^3.5 ⟨ċ ċġ sċ⟩, with a dot above, represent postalveolar /tʃ dʒ ʃ/ in modern renditions but not in the original manuscripts. ⟨ġ⟩ usually represents the palatal approximant /j/ but represents /dʒ/ after ⟨n⟩. /tʃ ʃ/ developed from /k sk/ by palatalization in Anglo-Frisian, but /dʒ j/ developed partly from Proto-Germanic Template:PIE and partly from the palatalization of /ɡ/. Here and in some modern texts, the palatal and postalveolar consonants are marked with a dot above the letter, but in old manuscripts they were written as ⟨c g sc⟩ and so were not distinguished from the velars [k ɡ ɣ] and the cluster [sk].
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 ^4.4 ^4.5 ⟨s f ð/þ⟩ represented voiceless fricatives [s f θ] at the beginning and the end of a word or when doubled in the middle but represented voiced fricatives [z v ð] when single, between voiced sounds.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 ⟨x⟩ represented the cluster /ks/, as Modern English still does.
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 /r/ and /l/ probably had velarised allophones [rˠ] and [ɫ] before a consonant (except at the boundary in a compound word) and in some words in which they were geminated. The initial clusters written ⟨ƿr⟩ and ⟨ƿl⟩ also represented those sounds, and the distinction was then phonemic.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 ^7.3 The sonorants /r l n w/ had voiceless versions [l̥ r̥ n̥ ʍ], which developed from the earlier consonant clusters /xl xr xn xw/.
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 The exact nature of the rhotic /r/ is unknown. It may have been a trill [r], a tap [ɾ] or, as in most dialects of Modern English, an approximant [ɹ] or [ɻ].
↑ The letter ⟨w⟩ did not exist in the Dark Ages, when Old English was spoken. Scribes used the borrowed Runic letter wynn, ⟨Ƿ ƿ⟩.
↑ Old English had a distinction between long and short vowels in stressed syllables. Long monophthongs are marked by placing the length symbol ⟨ː⟩ after the vowel symbol, and long diphthongs are marked by placing the length symbol after the first vowel symbol. In unstressed syllables, only three vowels /ɑ, e, u/ were distinguished, but /e, u/ were pronounced [i, o] in certain words.
↑ ^11.0 ^11.1 ^11.2 Sometimes after the palatalized consonants ⟨ċ ġ sċ⟩, ⟨eo⟩ represented /u/ or /o/ and ⟨ea⟩ represented /ɑ/.
↑ ^12.0 ^12.1 /ø øː/ occurred in Anglian dialects but merged with /e eː/ in all others.
↑ ^13.0 ^13.1 The diphthongs ⟨ie īe⟩ occurred in West Saxon and may have been pronounced /ie iːe/ or /iy iːy/.

[1] Old English had double consonants, which were pronounced longer than single consonants. Double consonants were written with double consonant letters. The double consonants in habban, missan can be translated in IPA with the length symbol ⟨ː⟩ or by doubling of the consonant symbol: [ˈhɑbːɑn], [ˈmisːɑn] or [ˈhɑbbɑn], [ˈmissɑn].

[aitch-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 The phoneme /h/ had three allophones that diverged in the later language: it was pronounced [h] word-initially, [ç] when it was single and after a front vowel, and [x] otherwise.

[palatalization-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 ^3.5 ⟨ċ ċġ sċ⟩, with a dot above, represent postalveolar /tʃ dʒ ʃ/ in modern renditions but not in the original manuscripts. ⟨ġ⟩ usually represents the palatal approximant /j/ but represents /dʒ/ after ⟨n⟩. /tʃ ʃ/ developed from /k sk/ by palatalization in Anglo-Frisian, but /dʒ j/ developed partly from Proto-Germanic Template:PIE and partly from the palatalization of /ɡ/. Here and in some modern texts, the palatal and postalveolar consonants are marked with a dot above the letter, but in old manuscripts they were written as ⟨c g sc⟩ and so were not distinguished from the velars [k ɡ ɣ] and the cluster [sk].

[voicing-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 ^4.4 ^4.5 ⟨s f ð/þ⟩ represented voiceless fricatives [s f θ] at the beginning and the end of a word or when doubled in the middle but represented voiced fricatives [z v ð] when single, between voiced sounds.

[x-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ⟨x⟩ represented the cluster /ks/, as Modern English still does.

[velarized-6] 6.0 ^6.1 /r/ and /l/ probably had velarised allophones [rˠ] and [ɫ] before a consonant (except at the boundary in a compound word) and in some words in which they were geminated. The initial clusters written ⟨ƿr⟩ and ⟨ƿl⟩ also represented those sounds, and the distinction was then phonemic.

[voiceless_sonorant-7] 7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 ^7.3 The sonorants /r l n w/ had voiceless versions [l̥ r̥ n̥ ʍ], which developed from the earlier consonant clusters /xl xr xn xw/.

[rhotic-8] 8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 The exact nature of the rhotic /r/ is unknown. It may have been a trill [r], a tap [ɾ] or, as in most dialects of Modern English, an approximant [ɹ] or [ɻ].

[wynn-9] The letter ⟨w⟩ did not exist in the Dark Ages, when Old English was spoken. Scribes used the borrowed Runic letter wynn, ⟨Ƿ ƿ⟩.

[10] Old English had a distinction between long and short vowels in stressed syllables. Long monophthongs are marked by placing the length symbol ⟨ː⟩ after the vowel symbol, and long diphthongs are marked by placing the length symbol after the first vowel symbol. In unstressed syllables, only three vowels /ɑ, e, u/ were distinguished, but /e, u/ were pronounced [i, o] in certain words.

[false_diphthongs-11] 11.0 ^11.1 ^11.2 Sometimes after the palatalized consonants ⟨ċ ġ sċ⟩, ⟨eo⟩ represented /u/ or /o/ and ⟨ea⟩ represented /ɑ/.

[œ-12] 12.0 ^12.1 /ø øː/ occurred in Anglian dialects but merged with /e eː/ in all others.

[close_diphthong-13] 13.0 ^13.1 The diphthongs ⟨ie īe⟩ occurred in West Saxon and may have been pronounced /ie iːe/ or /iy iːy/.

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Help:IPA/Old English

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