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Old English Orthography
 

Characteristics of Old English Orthography
 

  • Words were spelt as they were pronounced (“phonetic” spelling)

 

  • The "silent" letters in many Modern English words, such as the "k" in "knight", were pronounced in Old English (OE cniht)

 

  • Spelling was extremely variable

 

  • The spelling of a word would reflect differences in the phonetics of the writer's regional dialect
 

  • Idiosyncratic spelling choices varied from author to author

 

  • For example, the word "and" could be spelt either and or ond

 

  • Most present day students of Old English learn the language using normalised versions (no variant spellings)

 

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OLD ENGLISH ORTHOGRAPHY

  From Runes to Latin Alphabet

  Characteristics of OE Orthography

OLD ENGLISH

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