Changes in the alphabet

Middle English and Early Modern English spelling

Modern English version

LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings

of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,

we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!

Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,

from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,

awing the earls. Since erst he lay

friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:

for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,

till before him the folk, both far and near,

who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,

gave him gifts

For several decades after the Norman conquest the use of the English language was restricted to lower classes of the population: peasantry and common people of the towns. These people for the most part were illiterate, and English was used only in spoken communication. Under such circumstances the written form of English gradually came to the state of decline. All the writing during these years was done in the French language. French was the language of literature, learning and official documents. It is quite natural, therefore, that after its revival the development of written English was greatly influenced by French writing habits.

It has already been mentioned that the Anglo-Saxons used a modified variant of the Latin alphabet. In the ME period this alphabet underwent another reshaping. The OE letters (wynn), þ, ð (thorn) and Z (gyn) were withdrawn from the alphabet. «Wynn» () was replaced with the letter w. «Gyn» which was used in OE to denote several sounds was ousted by two letters: y (to denote the sound [j] and g (to denote the sound [g]), e.g.: OE lān Z > ME long; OE Z ēar > ME year. «Thorn» (þ,ð) was replaced with the digraph th: OE þæt > ME that; OE þorn > ME thorn.

The ligature æ was also withdrawn from the alphabet. It came out of use because the corresponding sounds [æ] and [æ:] disappeared in ME.

Other alphabetic changes were connected with the introduction of new letters. The English alphabet was replenished by the letters v, q, z, j, k.

The letter v was introduced to replace f in the words like lufu, steorfan, e.g.: OE lufu > ME love; OE steorfan > ME sterven. The letter f in lufu and steorfan stood for [v] which in OE was a positional variant of [f]. In ME the positional variant [v] developed into a separate sound thanks to French borrowings where the sound [v] could be found in any position (cf. victory, government).

The OE positional variant [z] also developed into a separate sound, but the letter z was used in ME to denote [z] in the newly borrowed words only, e.g.: Zephirus. In native words and OE borrowings [z] was still denoted by s, e.g.: chesen (choose), cheese (cheese).

The letter q was introduced to form the diagraph qu which replaced the OE cluster cw, (с) e.g.: OE cwēne > ME queen; OE cwicu > ME quike (quick).

The letter j entered the alphabet to denote [d Z ] in the words of French origin, e.g.: joy, judge, justice.

The letter k also returned to the alphabet and was implied instead of c to denote [k] before i, e, y, e.g.: OE cēpan > ME keepen (keep); OE cyning > ME king. The letter c in such a position came to denote [s] by analogy with the French habits, e.g.: OF certain > ME certayn; OE mys > ME mice.

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