Chapter II: Sounds

#Vowels and Diphthongs.#

6. The long vowels and diphthongs will in this book be designated by the macron (¯). Vowel length should in every case be associated by the student with each word learned: quantity alone sometimes distinguishes words meaning wholly different things: #fôr#, _he went_, #for#, _for_; #gôd#, _good_, #God#, _God_; #mân#, _crime_, #man#, _man_.

Long vowels and diphthongs:

â as in f_a_ther: #stân#, _a stone_.
æ: as in m_a_n (prolonged): #slæ:pan#, _to sleep_.
ê as in th_e_y: #hêr#, _here_.
î as in mach_i_ne: #mîn#, _mine_.
ô as in n_o_te (pure, not diphthongal): #bôc#, _book_.
û as in r_u_le: #tûn#, _town_.
y: as in German gr_ü_n, or English gr_ee_n (with lips rounded):[1]
#bry:d#, _bride_.

The diphthongs, long and short, have the stress upon the first vowel. The second vowel is obscured, and represents approximately the sound of _er_ in _sooner_, _faster_ (= _soon-uh_, _fast-uh_). The long diphthongs (æ: is not a diphthong proper) are êo, îe, and êa. The sound of êo is approximately reproduced in _mayor_ (= _mâ-uh_); that of îe in the dissyllabic pronunciation of _fear_ (= _fê-uh_). But êa = _æ:-uh_. This diphthong is hardly to be distinguished from _ea_ in _pear_, _bear_, etc., as pronounced in the southern section of the United States (= _bæ-uh_, _pæ-uh_).

7. The short sounds are nothing more than the long vowels and diphthongs shortened; but the student must at once rid himself of the idea that Modern English _red_, for example, is the shortened form of _reed_, or that _mat_ is the shortened form of _mate_. Pronounce these long sounds with increasing rapidity, and _reed_ will approach _rid_, while _mate_ will approach _met_. The Old English short vowel sounds are:

a as in _a_rtistic: #habban#, _to have_.
æ as in m_a_nkind: #dæg#, _day_.
e, [e,] as in l_e_t: #stelan#, _to steal_, #s[e,]ttan#, _to set_.
i as in s_i_t: #hit#, _it_.
o as in br_oa_d (but shorter): #God#, _God_.
[o,] as in n_o_t: #l[o,]mb#, _lamb_.
u as in f_u_ll: #sunu#, _son_.
y as in m_i_ller (with lips rounded)[1]: #gylden#, _golden_.

NOTE.--The symbol [e,] is known as _umlaut_-e (§ 58). It stands for
Germanic _a_, while e (without the cedilla) represents Germanic
_e_. The symbol [o,] is employed only before m and n. It, too,
represents Germanic _a_. But Alfred writes #manig# or #monig#,
_many_; #lamb# or #lomb#, _lamb_; #hand# or #hond#, _hand_, etc.
The cedilla is an etymological sign added by modern grammarians.

[Transcriber's Note:
The diacritic is not a cedilla (open to the left) but an ogonek (open
to the right).]

[Footnote 1: Vowels are said to be round, or rounded, when the
lip-opening is rounded; that is, when the lips are thrust out
and puckered as if preparing to pronounce _w_. Thus _o_ and _u_
are round vowels: add _-ing_ to each, and phonetically you have
added _-wing_. _E.g. go^{w}ing_, _su^{w}ing_.]

#Consonants.#

8. There is little difference between the values of Old English consonants and those of Modern English. The following distinctions, however, require notice:

The digraph #th# is represented in Old English texts by ð and þ, no consistent distinction being made between them. In the works of Alfred, ð (capital, Ð) is the more common: #ðâs#, _those_; #ðæt#, _that_; #bindeð#, _he binds_.

The consonant #c# had the hard sound of _k_, the latter symbol being rare in West Saxon: #cyning#, _king_; #cwên#, _queen_; #cûð#, _known_. When followed by a palatal vowel sound,--_e_, _i_, _æ_, _ea_, _eo_, long or short,--a vanishing _y_ sound was doubtless interposed (_cf._ dialectic _k^{y}ind_ for _kind_). In Modern English the combination has passed into _ch_: #cealc#, _chalk_; #cîdan#, _to chide_; #læ:ce#, _leech_; #cild#, _child_; #cêowan#, _to chew_. This change (_c_ > _ch_) is known as Palatalization. The letter g, pronounced as in Modern English _gun_, has also a palatal value before the palatal vowels (_cf._ dialectic _g^{y}irl_ for _girl_).

The combination #cg#, which frequently stands for #gg#, had probably the sound of _dge_ in Modern English _edge_: #ecg#, _edge_; #secgan#, _to say_; #brycg#, _bridge_. Initial #h# is sounded as in Modern English: #habban#, _to have_; #hâlga#, _saint_. When closing a syllable it has the sound of German _ch_: #slôh#, _he slew_; #hêah#, _high_; #ðurh#, _through_.

9. An important distinction is that between voiced (or sonant) and voiceless (or surd) consonants.[2] In Old English they are as follows:

VOICED. VOICELESS.

g h, c
d t
ð, þ (as in _th_ough) ð, þ (as in _th_in)
b p
f (= v) f
s (= z) s

It is evident, therefore, that ð (þ), f, and s have double values in Old English. If voiced, they are equivalent to _th_ (in _th_ough), _v_, and _z_. Otherwise, they are pronounced as _th_ (in _th_in), _f_ (in _f_in), and _s_ (in _s_in). The syllabic environment will usually compel the student to give these letters their proper values. When occurring between vowels, they are always voiced: #ôðer#, _other_; #ofer#, _over_; #rîsan#, _to rise_.

NOTE.--The general rule in Old English, as in Modern English, is,
that voiced consonants have a special affinity for other voiced
consonants, and voiceless for voiceless. This is the law of
Assimilation. Thus when _de_ is added to form the preterit of a
verb whose stem ends in a voiceless consonant, the d is unvoiced,
or assimilated, to t: #settan#, _to set_, #sette# (but #treddan#,
_to tread_, has #tredde#); #slæ:pan#, _to sleep_, #slæ:pte#;
#drencan#, _to drench_, #drencte#; #cyssan#, _to kiss_, #cyste#.
See § 126, Note 1.

[Footnote 2: A little practice will enable the student to see
the appropriateness of calling these consonants voiced and
voiceless. Try to pronounce a voiced consonant,--_d_ in _den_,
for example, but without the assistance of _en_,--and there will
be heard a gurgle, or _vocal_ murmur. But in _t_, of _ten_,
there is no sound at all, but only a feeling of tension in the
organs.]

#Syllables.#

10. A syllable is usually a vowel, either alone or in combination with consonants, uttered with a single impulse of stress; but certain consonants may form syllables: _oven_ (= _ov-n_), _battle_ (= _bæt-l_); (_cf._ also the vulgar pronunciation of _elm_).

A syllable may be (1) weak or strong, (2) open or closed, (3) long or short.

(1) A weak syllable receives a light stress. Its vowel sound is often different from that of the corresponding strong, or stressed, syllable. _Cf._ weak and strong _my_ in "I want my lárge hat" and "I want m[´y] hat."

(2) An open syllable ends in a vowel or diphthong: #dê-man#, _to deem_; #ðû#, _thou_; #sca-can#, _to shake_; #dæ-ges#, _by day_. A closed syllable ends in one or more consonants: #ðing#, _thing_; #gôd#, _good_; #glæd#, _glad_.

(3) A syllable is long (_a_) if it contains a long vowel or a long diphthong: #drî-fan#, _to drive_; #lû-can#, _to lock_; #slæ:-pan#, _to sleep_; #cêo-san#, _to choose_; (_b_) if its vowel or diphthong is followed by more than one consonant:[3] #cræft#, _strength_; #heard#, _hard_; #lib-ban#, _to live_; #feal-lan#, _to fall_. Otherwise, the syllable is short: #ðe#, _which_; #be-ran#, _to bear_; #ðæt#, _that_; #gie-fan#, _to give_.

NOTE 1.--A single consonant belongs to the following syllable:
#hâ-lig#, _holy_ (not #hâl-ig#); #wrî-tan#, _to write_; #fæ-der#,
_father_.

NOTE 2.--The student will notice that the syllable may be long and
the vowel short; but the vowel cannot be long and the syllable
short.

NOTE 3.--Old English short vowels, occurring in open syllables,
have regularly become long in Modern English: #we-fan#, _to
weave_; #e-tan#, _to eat_; #ma-cian#, _to make_; #na-cod#,
_naked_; #a-can#, _to ache_; #o-fer#, _over_. And Old English long
vowels, preceding two or more consonants, have generally been
shortened: #brêost#, _breast_; #hæ:lð#, _health_; #slæ:pte#,
_slept_; #læ:dde#, _led_.

[Footnote 3: Taken separately, every syllable ending in a single
consonant is long. It may be said, therefore, that all closed
syllables are long; but in the natural flow of language, the
single final consonant of a syllable so often blends with a
following initial vowel, the syllable thus becoming open and
short, that such syllables are not recognized as prevailingly
long. _Cf._ Modern English _at all_ (= _a-tall_).]

#Accentuation.#

11. The accent in Old English falls usually on the radical syllable, never on the inflectional ending: #bríngan#, _to bring_; #st[´â]nas#, _stones_; #bérende#, _bearing_; #[´î]delnes#, _idleness_; #fr[´ê]ondscipe#, _friendship_.

But in the case of compound nouns, adjectives, and adverbs the first member of the compound (unless it be ge- or be-) receives the stronger stress: #héofon-rîce#, _heaven-kingdom_; #ónd-giet#, _intelligence_; #sôð-fæst#, _truthful_; #gód-cund#, _divine_; #éall-unga#, _entirely_; #bl[´î]ðe-lîce#, _blithely_. But #be-h[´â]t#, _promise_; #ge-béd#, _prayer_; #ge-f[´ê]alîc#, _joyous_; #be-sóne#, _immediately_.

Compound verbs, however, have the stress on the radical syllable: #for-gíefan#, _to forgive_; #of-línnan#, _to cease_; #â-cn[´â]wan#, _to know_; #wið-stóndan#, _to withstand_; #on-sácan#, _to resist_.

NOTE.--The tendency of nouns to take the stress on the prefix,
while verbs retain it on the root, is exemplified in many Modern
English words: _préference_, _prefér_; _cóntract_ (noun),
_contráct_ (verb); _ábstinence_, _abstaín_; _pérfume_ (noun),
_perfúme_ (verb).