Old English Alphabet

Alphabets

Old English Written Records

Lecture 6

The first Old English written records are considered to be the runic inscriptions. To make these inscriptions people used the Runes/the Runic Alphabet – the first original Germanic Alphabet.

Runes/Runic Alphabet:

· appeared in the 3^rd – 4^th c. A.D.;

· it was also called Futhark (after the first 6 letters of this alphabet);

· the word “rune” meant “secret, mystery” and was used to denote magic inscriptions on objects made of wood, stone, metal;

· each symbol indicated a separate sound (one symbol = one sound);

· the symbols were angular due to the fact that they had to be carved on hard materials;

· the number of symbols: GB – 28-33; on the continent – 16-24).

See the copy of the alphabet (additional information)

Best known Runic Inscriptions:

1. Franks Casket – a box with 4 sides made of whale bone, each side contained a picture in the centre and runic inscriptions around the picture that told the story of the whale bone in alliterative verse.

2. Ruthwell Cross – was found near thevillage of Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, it is a 15 feet tall stone cross ornamented in all sides with runic inscriptions that are actually a passage from a religious poem “The Dream of the Rood”.

The Old English Alphabet was borrowed from Latin, but there were also some letters that were borrowed from the Runic Alphabet:

·? (“thorn”) = [q] and [ð]

·? (“wynn”) = [w]

·? (“mann”) = stood for OE word “man”

·? (“dæζ”) = stood for OE word “day”

Some new letters were introduced:

· ζ = [g] and [j];

· ð/þ/Đ/đ = [q] and [ð];

· æ = a ligature of [a] and [e];

· œ = a ligature of [o] and [e].

Rules of Reading:

They resemble the modern rules, with several exceptions though:

1. f = [v] --- 1. between vowels;

s = [z] 2. between a vowel and a voiced consonant ([r, m, n, l, d, etc.]).

ð/þ = [ð]

2. ζ – [j] – between and after front vowels ([e, i, æ]);

– [g] – initially and between back vowels ([a, o, u]).

3. cζ = [gg].

4. c = [k].

5. n = [ŋ] when fallowed by [k] or [g].

See also § 111-113 on p. 71-74 in “История английского языка” by Т.А. Расторгуева (copies).

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