_A_ short or unaccented is sounded like _a_ in _man_. It is often found
in the final syllables of inflections, and generally appears in the radix
before a doubled consonant, or two different consonants.
The radical short _a_ can only stand before a single consonant, and _st_,
_sc_, when this single consonant and these double letters are followed
in the inflections by _a_, _o_, _u_ in nouns; _a_, _o_, _u_, _e_ in
adjectives; and _a_, _o_, _u_, and _ia_ in verbs.
Specially important are the remarks contained in the last paragraph
in the declension of words, for, monosyllables, ending in a single
consonant, in _st_, or _sc_, reject the _e_ from the short _æ_, and leave
the short _a_ alone, whenever, in declining, the consonant or consonants
happen to be followed by _a_, _o_, _u_ in nouns, and _a_, _o_, _u_, _e_
in adjectives.
It must be remembered, then, that a short _a_ cannot stand in a word.
1. When it ends in a single consonant, that is, when no inflection of
_a_, _o_, _u_ in nouns follow, as in _stæf_. 2. When in nouns a single
consonant is followed by _e_, as in _wæter_. 3. When the word has any
other double consonants than _st_, _sc_, even though followed by _a_,
_o_, _u_, as in _cræft_. 4. In contracted words, when _æ_ is not in the
last syllable, as in _æcer_.
When the _á_ is accented it is then _long_, and words containing this
long or accented _á_ are now represented by English terms with the
vowel sounded like _o_ in _no_ and in _bone_. Hám _home_, bán, _bone_,
án, _one_, stán, _stone_, have either the same or an analogous meaning
in English and Anglo-Saxon. Sometimes the accented or long _á_ is
represented in English by _oa_, as ác, _an oak_, gád, _a goad_, lám,
_lome_. Occasionally, _á_ becomes _oe_ in English, as dá, _a doe_, fá, _a
foe_, rá, _a roe_, but the _ae_ in these words has the sound of _o_ in
_no_. The same may be said of _oa_ in _boar_. Hence, it appears that the
Anglo-Saxon _á_ is represented by the modern English _o_, _oa_, and _oe_,
which have the sound of _o_ in _no_, or _bone_. The long _á_ is often
changed into _æ_, as _lár_, lore, _lǽran_, to teach.
_-A_, added to words, denotes _a person_, _an agent_, _an actor_,
hence,—All names ending in _a_ are masculine, and make the genitive in
_an_, as from _cum_, come (thou), _cuma_, a person who comes, or a guest,
is derived. Some words, denoting inanimate things, terminate in _a_, and
these words, having the same declension as those which signify _persons_
or _actors_, are also masculine. _A-_ is an inseparable prefix, denoting
negation, determination or opposition, as _from_, _out_, _away_. _A-_
does not always appear to alter the signification, but generally,
however, it adds some little force or intensity to the original meaning
of the word to which it is joined.
Anglo-Saxon words, containing the short or unaccented vowel _e_, are
often represented by modern English words of the same meaning, having
the sound of _e_ in _fed_, as _nett_, _bedd_, _webb_. Before a double
consonant, two different consonants, or one or two consonants when
followed by a long or final vowel, the short _e_ is most generally used.
Words containing the long or accented _é_ are very frequently represented
by English terms of the same meaning, and have the sound of _e_ in
_meet_. Long _é_ is used, as in _thé_, at the end of words, and before
the consonants _l_, _m_, _n_, _r_, _s_, _t_, _d_, _dh_, _c_, _g_ and _f_.
_-E_, in the ending of nouns, denotes a person, as _hyrde_, a shepherd,
from _hyrdan_, to guard. It is also used to form nouns denoting inanimate
objects, as _cyle_, cold, but these are mostly derived from verbs, and
hence are masculine; but, when they come from adjectives, they are
feminine. Final _e_ is the termination of derivative adjectives, and is
also the usual letter by which adjectives ending in a consonant become
adverbs.
Unaccented _i_ has the sound of _i_ in _fin_, as is evidenced by the
following Anglo-Saxon words which have the same meaning in English as in
Saxon:—_tin_, _dim_, _scip_, _wit_, _ribb_, _milc_, etc.
_I_ long has the sound of _i_ in _fine_, as in the cognate words, _tíne_,
_wín_, _díc_, _hwíl_.
The verbal termination _ian_, or with a consonant before the _i_—_cian_,
_gian_, _nian_, _sian_—is the most simple and universal. It is joined
to various parts of speech, but especially to nouns and pronouns. These
verbs almost always make the perfect tense in _ode_, and the perfect
participle in _od_. Verbs thus formed from adjectives are generally
neuter, but they become active by prefixing _ge_, as _lytl_, little,
_lytlian_, to become little, _gelytlian_, to diminish.
_I_ and _ie_ are often used for _g_, _ge_, _y_, and _e_.
Short _o_, in Anglo-Saxon, has probably the sound of _o_ in _for_, as
_corn_, _horn_, _loc_.
_O_, accented, was sounded in Saxon as _oo_ in _cook_, as proved by the
cognate words _cóc_, _bóc_, _gód_, _cól_, _fót_, etc.
Final _o_ is chiefly used to form the names of qualities from adjectives,
as _menigeo_, the many, multitude. Nouns ending in _o_ are feminine and
indeclinable, but they often end in _u_, and in that case have a regular
feminine declension.
A few nouns in final _o_ are neuter, and make the genitive in _ewes_, as
_ealo_, ale, genitive _ealewes_.
The unaccented _u_ in Anglo-Saxon had most probably the sound of _u_ in
_fun_, as testified to by _butt_, _dun_, _munc_, _up_, etc., which have
the same meaning in English as in Saxon.
Long _ú_ had the sound of _ou_, or _ow_, in _about_, _foul_, _house_,
_town_, as _fúl_, _hú_, _mús_, _nú_, _úre_, Saxon words which have the
same signification, as their English representatives most plainly show.
_Eo_ are sometimes used for _u_, as _sweord_, _swurd_, and _y_ for _ú_,
as _swytol_, _swútol_. In later times, _u_ was employed for _f_ and _v_,
as _luue_, _lufe_, _Dauid_, _David_.
Some few names ending in _u_ are masculine or neuter, but they are mostly
feminine, and form the names of qualities from adjectives.
Short _u_ or accented Anglo-Saxon _y_ had the _y_ sounded as in
_mystery_, _duty_, as _tynder_, _hyp_, _syn_, _mynster_, which are
represented by modern English words of like signification.
The long or accented _y_ had the sound of _y_ in _type_, _sky_, as will
be evident from the following cognate words: _lýs_, _fýr_, _hýd_, _brýd_,
and _lýf_.
Unaccented _i_ is often used for _y_, and long _i_ for _y_; as _lístan_,
_litel_, _minster_ for _lystan_, _lytel_, _mynster_, and _fír_, _bríd_,
_líf_, for _fýr_, _brýd_, _lýf_.