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Vowel graphs & digraphs
(Summary of the most important spelling rules)

1. OE <> [] was substituted in ME by <a> by ANC (Anglo-Norman convention). <>
appeared for the last time in 1258, in the !"#$%& (%$)*+*$,+.

Old English PdE
<fder> <father>
<mni!> <many>
<"t> <that>
<ws> <was>

**<Many/any>: The spelling of the PdE word <any> (OE <#ni!>) is due to analogy with
<many> (OE <mni!>).

2. By ANC, ME long open !" [$:] is represented by means of the digraph <ea> or by means of
<e + consonant +e>.

Old English PdE
<s#> <sea>
<r#dan> <read>
<!%ar> <year>
<"#r> <there>

3. By ANC, ME long close e! " [e:] is represented by means of the digraph <ee>.

Old English PdE
<s%on> <see>
<m%tan> <meet>

4. By ANC, ME long close ! [o:] came to be represented by means of the digraph <oo>.

Old English PdE
<t&> <too>
<g&d> <good>



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5. By ANC, ME long open [':] came to be represented by means of the digraph <oa> or by
means of <o + consonant + e>.

Old English PdE
<r(d> <road>
<hl(f> <loaf>
<st(n> <stone>
<h(m> <home>

6. In ME by ANC, [i] began to be represented by means of the letter <i> when it was in mid-
word position and by <y> in word final position. Only if the word is of classical origin could
ME [i] be represented by means of <i> in word final position. e.g. <thy>, <fail>, <poisoned>.

7. In ME, by ANC, diacritic <-e> was used to indicate that the vowel of the previous syllable
was long: <stone>, <there>.

8. Law of Minims: In ME, because of the Law of Minims, when [u] was followed by the
downstroke letters <m>, <n>, <u>, <v>, or preceded by <w>, it came to be represented by
means of the letter <o>. There was no change in pronunciation: <wonder>, <son>, <love>.

Old English PdE
<lufian> <love>
<sum> <some>
<sunu> <son>
<wundor> <wonder>

9. By ANC OE long ! [u:] came to be represented by means of <ou> in mid -word position
and by means of <ow> in word final position. But there were exceptions such as <town>,
<down>.

Old English PdE
<)t> <out>
<h)s> <house>
<t)n> <town>
<d)n> <down>





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Consonant graphs & digraphs

1. In OE, the letters thorn <"> and eth <*> represented the interdental fricatives, voiced
and voiceless. By ANC these fricatives came to be represented by means of the letters <th> in
ME: <thus>, <that>, <there>, <the>, <this>, <with>, <thou>, <think>.

2. By ANC, the velar and palatal fricatives (/+/ and //) were represented by means of <gh>, as
can be observed in <high>, <fight>, <nought>, etc. The only exception to the rule is the word
<ghost>, in which there was no fricative. The initial <gh> spelling in this word occurred
because of William Caxton, who introduced the printing press in England in 1476. He had
lived in Flanders for many years and was probably influenced by the Flemish spelling <gheest>.

3. Words that in OE where written with <hw> in word initial position are written in PdE with
<wh-> in word initial position by ANC: <why>, <while>.

Old English PdE
<hw,> <why>
<hw,le> <while>
<hwt> <what>

4. In ME, by ANC, the voiceless palatal affricate /t-/ was represented by means of the letters
<ch>: <much> (OE <my.el>).

5. By ANC, the voiced labiodental fricative [v] came to be represented by means of the letter
<v> (in OE it was represented by <f>): <never> (OE <n#fre>), <love> (OE <lufian>).

6. In ME by ANC <l> in final position was represented by <ll> in monosyllabic words: <still>,
<all>, <will>. In polysyllabic words in word-final position it was represented by means of <l>.

7. In OE, the diagraph <sc> could represent two different sounds: /-/ and /sk/. The first one is
normally found when <sc> is followed by a front or palatal vowel /, e, i/. The second one will
typically occur when followed by a back or velar vowel /a, o, u/. In ME, by ANC, /-/ came to
be represented by means of the letters <sh> and /sk/ is represented nowadays by means of the
letters <sk>, <sc>.
e.g. ME <skilfulle>, <skelton>



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8. OE [k] was represented by means of the letter <c> in word initial position when followed
by a back vowel. In PdE it is represented by means of the letter <k> in word initial position
when followed by a front vowel by ANC and by means of the letters <ck> in final position or
in mid-word position (as part of the word root), and by means of <k> in word final position
preceded by a consonant, also by ANC i. e. <hercian>, which is PE <hark>

9. The letter <c> in words such as <place> indicating that the sibilant is voiceless, not voiced,
it is due to French influence by ANC.

10. <Listen>: Though the PdE pronunciation of the word came from the OE <hlysnan>, we
have inherited the written form from OE <hlystan>. When [t] is preceded by an [s] (as in
<listen>) or other consonant, [t] is not pronounced, as in <Christmas>, <whistle>, <castle> and
<Saint Paul>.