Pronunciation
2. The Icelandic alphabet was founded on the Latin, with the addition of þ and ð, and of the modified letters ę, ǫ, ø, which last is in this book written ö, ǫ̈.
Vowels
3. The vowel-letters had nearly the same values as in Old English. Long vowels were often marked by (´). In this book long vowels are regularly marked by (¯)1. The following are the elementary vowels and diphthongs, with examples, and key-words from English, French (F.), and German (G.):--
[Footnote 1: Note that the longs of ę, ö are written æ, œ, respectively.]
| a | as in | mann (G.) | halda (hold) |
| ā | " | father | rāð (advice) |
| e | " | été (F.) | gekk (went) |
| ē2 | . . . | lēt (let pret.) | |
| ę | " | men | męnn (men) |
[Footnote 2: Where no keyword is given for a long vowel, its sound is that of the corresponding short vowel lengthened.]
| æ | as in | there | sær (sea) |
| i | " | fini (F.) | mikill (great) |
| ī | . . . | lītill (little) | |
| o | " | beau (F.) | orð (word) |
| ō | . . . | tōk (look) | |
| ǫ | " | not | hǫnd (hand) |
| ö | " | peu (F.) | kömr (comes) |
| œ | . . . | fœra (bring) | |
| ǫ̈ | " | peur (F.) | gǫ̈ra (make) |
| u | " | sou (F.) | upp (up) |
| ū | . . . | hūs (house) | |
| y | " | tu (F.) | systir (sister) |
| ȳ | . . . | lȳsa (shine) | |
| au | " | haus (G.) | lauss (loose) |
| ei | = | ę + i | bein (bone) |
| ey | = | ę + y | leysa (loosen) |
4. The unaccented i in systir, etc. (which is generally written e in the MSS.) probably had the sound of y in pity, which is really between i and e. The unacc. u in fōru (they went), etc. (which is generally written o in the MSS.) probably had the sound of oo in good.
Note that several of the vowels go in pairs of close and open, thus: