

"Tyronian Note" is a common medieval abbreviation for "and." The letter looks like the number seven set low on the line.

A letter called "yogh" (the name is pronounced so that it rhymes with the Scottish word "loch") is pronounced like Modern English "y" or "g" depending upon the word in which it is found it is written like a cursive "z" or "g."Ī letter which looks like Modern English "p," called "wynn," is pronounced like Modern English "w." Informational note: In addition to thorn, eth, and ash, there were a few additional manuscript letters used in Old English that are unfamiliar to Modern English speakers. Æ and Æ (ash): This letter, called "ash," maybe familiar to you from old-fashioned spellings of words like "Encyclopædia.""Æ" in Old English is pronounced the same way as the "a"in the words "bat" or "cat."īelow you will find some Modern English words with the"th" sound replaced by "eth" or "thorn" andsome of the "a" sounds replaced with "ash." Thorn and eth are used interchangeably to represent bothvoiced and unvoiced "th" sounds (the sound at the beginning of"the" is voiced the sound at the end of "with" is unvoiced). The letter is called "eth,"pronounced so that it rhymes with the first syllable in the word "feather." Ð and Ð (eth): Old English scribes could also representthe "th" sound with the letter ð (the capital letter version lookslike a capital D with a short horizontal line cutting the vertical lineat the left side of the letter in half: Ð). Old English had two separate letters for the "th" sound. Þ and Þ (thorn): In Modern English we represent the sounds at the beginning of the word "the" and end of the word "with" with the digraph "th" ("digraph" is a technical term meaning two letters used to represent one sound). When you have downloaded and installed the font, you can simply return to this window.Ī few of the letters in Old English texts may be unfamiliarto you. To get this font, go to: King Alfred Font: Wessex. We have created Wessex, a font that will display the unusual Anglo-Saxon characters. Orthography Orthography Note: There are special characters in Old English that do not display properly on web browsers if you do not have a special font installed.
