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Middle English alphabet

Middel Englissh

Middle English — the language of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, written from roughly 1150 to 1500 CE — used a Latin alphabet that still kept some Old English letters (thorn þ, eth ð), added a new one (yogh ȝ), and was written in radically inconsistent spelling that varied by scribe, region, and decade.

All 27 letters

Aa
A
a
/a/
Bb
B
b
/b/
Cc
C
c
/k / s/
Dd
D
d
/d/
Ee
E
e
/e / ə/
Often a final schwa (silent in modern English).
Ff
F
f
/f/
Gg
G
g
/g / dʒ/
Hh
H
h
/h/
Ii
I
i
/i/
Also wrote "j" — "j" was a late-medieval variant.
Kk
K
k
/k/
Ll
L
l
/l/
Mm
M
m
/m/
Nn
N
n
/n/
Oo
O
o
/o/
Pp
P
p
/p/
Qq
Q
q
/k/
Always with u (qu).
Rr
R
r
/r/
Ss
S
s
/s / z/
Tt
T
t
/t/
Uu
U
u
/u/
Also wrote "v" — "v" was a late-medieval variant of u.
Ww
W (double-u)
w
/w/
New in Middle English — replaces Old English wynn (ƿ).
Xx
X
x
/ks/
Yy
Y
y
/i / j/
Zz
Z
z
/z/
Þþ
Thorn
þ / th
/θ / ð/
Survived from Old English; eventually approximated as "y" by printers ("ye olde").
Ȝȝ
Yogh
ȝ / gh
/j / x/
Wrote both a "y" sound and a back "ch" sound. Replaced by "y" or "gh" in modern spelling.
Ææ
Ash
æ
/æ/
Lingered from Old English in early Middle English; gone by Chaucer's time.

History

After the Norman Conquest in 1066, French scribes brought their conventions and slowly displaced the Anglo-Saxon ones. Wynn (ƿ) was replaced by "uu" then "w". Eth (ð) faded away. Thorn (þ) survived for centuries before being approximated as "y" by early printers. A new letter — yogh (ȝ) — was introduced by Anglo-Norman scribes for sounds spelled "y" or "gh" today. By Chaucer's time, the alphabet was nearly modern; by Caxton's printing press in 1476, it was almost there.

Things you might not know

  • Yogh (ȝ) wrote two different sounds: a "y" sound at the start of words (ȝe = ye) and a "gh" sound elsewhere (niȝt = night). Modern English still spells the latter "gh" even though it's silent.
  • Middle English spelling was wildly variable — a single Chaucer manuscript can spell "knight" as kniȝt, knyght, or knyhte on the same page.
  • The "silent gh" in modern English (night, light, knight, though) is a fossil of yogh's "ch" sound that stopped being pronounced around 1500.
  • The "-eth" verb ending (he runneth, she singeth) was still common in Middle English; it survived into Shakespeare's time.
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Languages written in Middle English

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Middle English Alphabet: Letters Including Þ, Ȝ, and Old Forms