s had the sound of z:—sēċan (seek), swā (so), wīs (wise), ā·rīsan (rise); not, of course, in combination with hard consonants, as in stān (stone), fæst (firm), rīċsian (rule), or when double, as in cyssan (kiss).
þ had the sound of our th (= dh) in then:—þū (thou), þing (thing), sōþ (true), hǣþen (heathen); except when in combination with hard consonants, where it had that of our th in thin, as in sēċþ (seeks). Note hæfþ (has) = hævdh.
w was fully pronounced wherever written:—wrītan (write), nīwe (new), sēow (sowed pret.).
STRESS.
The stress or accent is marked throughout in this book, whenever it is not on the first syllable of a word, by (·) preceding the letter on which the stress begins. Thus for·ġiefan is pronounced with the same stress as that of forgive, andswaru with that of answer.
PHONOLOGY.
VOWELS.
Different vowels are related to one another in various ways in O.E., the most important of which are mutation (German umlaut) and gradation (G. ablaut).