Middle English alphabet and pronunciation

	VOWELS	CONSONANTS
Single letters	Aa[Q], [R]* Ee [F], [F:]*, [q]** Ii[i], [J]* Oo[o], [o:]*, [L]* [V]close to n, m, v, w Uu[V], [H]* Yy[i], [J]* [j] before vowels at the beginning of words     * 1) in the stressed open syllable of a two-syllable word, eg. maken 2) before the cluster of a sonorant and a plosive (ld, nd, mb, etc.) 3) in words that in OE contained a long vowel, eg. hom < OE hām   ** in unstressed syllables	Bb [b] Cc[s] before front vowels [k] in all other positions Dd [d] Ff[f] [v] in an intervocalic position Gg[G] before front vowels [g] in all other positions Hh [h] Jj[G] Kk[k] Ll[l] Mm[m] Nn[n] Pp[p] Rr[r]resembles the Russian sound [p] Ss [s] [z] in an intervocalic position Tt[t] Vv[v] Ww[w] Xx[ks] Zz [z]   * In EME texts the following OE letters could still occur Þþ / Ðð: [T] [ð] in an intervocalic position
Digraphs	ai, ay [aI] au [aV] ee[e:], [F:] ei, ey [eI] ie [e:] oa [L] oi, oy [OI] oo [o:], [L] ou [H], [ OV ] ow [H], [ OV ]	ch, tch[C] dg[G] gh[ç] after front vowels [x] after back vowels ng[ng], [Ng] qu[kw] th[T] [ð] in an intervocalic position sh, sch, ssh[S] wh[hw]

The stress in native words falls on the first root syllables, while French borrowings retain their original stress-pattern: stress falls on the final or the pen-ultimate syllable of a loan.

Дата добавления: 2015-08-03