| Sounds |
Environments |
Examples |
| a ~ ea |
When back vowel follows (or once followed) in next syllable. |
gatu ~ ġeatu ‘gates’;
gladian ~ gleadian ‘gladden’. |
| a ~ o |
Before m and n. |
maniġ ~ moniġ ‘many’. |
| e ~ eo |
When back vowel follows (or once followed) in next syllable. |
medo ~ meodo ‘mead’;
werod ~ weorod ‘troop’. |
| e ~ y |
Late; between s and l. |
self ~ sylf ‘self’;
sellan ~ syllan ‘give’. |
| ea ~ a |
Mercian and Northumbrian; before l + consonant. |
ealdor ~ aldor ‘life’;
healdan ~ haldan ‘hold’. |
| ea/ēa ~ e/ē |
Late; before c, g and h or after ċ,
sc and ġ. |
sceal ~ scel ‘must’;
seah ~ seh ‘saw’. |
| eo/ēo ~ io/īo |
Frequent in a variety of texts. |
Bēowulf ~ Bīowulf. |
| eo ~ u/o |
Late; between w and r. |
weorðan ~ wurðan ‘become’;
weorold ~ woruld ‘world’. |
| eo/i ~ u |
Late; after w when next syllable contains a back vowel; w may be lost. |
sweostor ~ swustor ‘sister’;
cwicu ~ cucu ‘alive’. |
| i ~ eo/io |
When back vowel follows (or once followed) in next syllable. |
clipian ~ cleopian ‘call’;
ġewritu ~ ġewriotu ‘writings’ |
| i ~ y |
Late; near labial consonants (b, m, p, w) and
r. |
clipian ~ clypian ‘call’;
miċel ~ myċel ‘large’. |
| ie/īe ~ i/ī, y/ȳ |
Late and widespread. |
nīed ~ nȳd/nīd ‘necessity’;
iernan ~ irnan/yrnan ‘run’. |
| ie/īe, i/ī, y/ȳ ~ eo/ēo, io/īo |
Non-West Saxon; when ie/īe, i/ī, y/ȳ is from i-mutation of
eo/īo, io/īo. |
þīestru ~ þēostru ‘darkness’;
āfierran ~ āfeorran ‘remove’. |
| ie/īe, i/ī, y/ȳ ~ e/ē |
Kentish; when ie/īe, i/ī, y/ȳ is from i-mutation of
ea/ēa. |
hliehhan ~ hlehhan ‘laugh’;
hīeran ~ hēran ‘hear’. |
| Sounds |
Environments |
Examples |
| -an ~ -a |
Late; weak noun and adjective ending. |
mōnan ~ mōna genitive singular ‘of the moon’. |
| -iġ ~ -ī |
Adjective ending. |
maniġ ~ manī ‘many’. |
| -ness ~ -niss/-nyss |
Feminine suffix. |
ēadiġness ~ ēadiġniss ~
ēadiġnyss
‘prosperity’. |
| -od- ~ -ad- |
Past and past participle of second-class weak verbs. |
wunode ~ wunade ‘dwelled, remained with’. |
| -on ~ -an/-un |
Late; plural verb ending. |
writon ~ writan ‘wrote’;
wǣron ~ wǣrun ‘were’. |
| -u ~ -o |
Feminine nominative singular and neuter nominative plural. |
scipu ~ scipo ‘ships’. |
| -um ~ -on/-un |
Late; dative ending. |
sīðum ~ sīðon ‘times’;
ārum ~ ārun ‘oars’. |
| Sounds |
Environments |
Examples |
| doubling |
Before l or r. |
miċle ~ miċċle ‘large’;
nǣdre ~ nǣddre ‘serpent’. |
| undoubling |
At the ends of words; after consonants; in unaccented syllables. |
mann ~ man ‘man’;
ġeornness ~ ġeorness ‘zeal’;
gyldenne ~ gyldene ‘golden’. |
| fn ~ mn/mm |
Late. |
stefn ~ stemn ‘voice’;
hrefnas ~ hremmas ‘ravens’. |
| g ~ h |
At the ends of words. |
sorg ~ sorh ‘sorrow’;
burg ~ burh ‘city’ |
| ġ ~ i/iġ |
Late; after front vowels. |
dæġ ~ dæi ‘day’;
þeġn ~ þeiġn ‘thegn’ |
| ġeo ~ iu |
At the beginnings of words. |
ġeong ~ iung ‘young’;
ġeogoð ~ iugoð ‘youth’ |
| r |
Undergoes metathesis in syllables ending in n or s. |
irnan ~ rinnan ‘run’;
forst ~ frost ‘frost’. |
| sc ~ x |
When sc is pronounced [sk] |
ascian ~ axian ‘ask’;
fiscas ~ fixas ‘fishes’. |
| sco/scu ~ sceo |
At the beginnings of words. |
sculan ~ sceolan ‘must’;
scort ~ sceort ‘short’. |