ou, ow (uu); except before gh. Ex. flour (fluur); now (nuu). Rarely (aou), as in soule (saou·lə) from the A.S. sāwol.
ogh (aouh); with open short o as in E. not; the u being very slight, and perhaps sometimes almost neglected. It is also written ough, as noght, nought (naouht). The u, in fact, is the result of a peculiar pronunciation of the gh. Dr. Sweet clearly explains that, after e, i, the gh (h) was sounded like the G. ch in ich. 'This front gh was vocalized into consonantal y before a vowel, and then generally dropped, as in the plural hyë (hii·yə)[[24]]. The other gh had the sound of G. ch in auch = the G. ch in ach rounded. Hence it is always preceded either by (uu), as in ynough (inuu·h), plough (pluu·h), or by u forming the second element of a diphthong. This u is always written after a, as in taughte (tau·htə), laughter (lau·hter), while after o it is sometimes written, sometimes left to be inferred from the following gh.' See Sweet, Second Middle-English Primer, p. 5.
r is always strongly trilled; never reduced to a vocal murmur, as frequently in modern English.
s (s); as in sit (sit). But voiced to z (z) between two vowels, and finally, as in ryse (rii·zə), to rise, shoures (shuu·rez).
sh (sh), as in modern English, ssh (shsh); as in fresshe (fresh·shə).
u short; (y). The French sound, as in Iuge (jy·jə). Rarely (u), as in cut (kut), ful (ful); which are not French words.
u long; (yy). Not common; and only French. Ex. vertu (vertyy·); nature (natyy·rə).
v (v), as in modern English. But the MSS. very rarely use this symbol. The sound of v was awkwardly denoted by the use of u, followed by a vowel; as in loue (luv·ə), love. In the present edition, v is used throughout to denote the consonant.
we final; (wə), but often merely (u). Ex. arwes (ar·wez); bowe (bò·wə, bòu·ə); morwe (mor·u). So also blew (blee·u); newe (nee·wə).