NiwEnglisc/Level I/Bokstæfung

This lesson is about the Niw Englisc alphabet. We will also take a look at word order and articles.

The Englisc Alphabet
The 32 letters in both Niw Englisc and English are shown above. Several letters once found in English are present, namely æ, ð, ȝ, œ, and þ, while ƕ was borrowed from Gothic. Another difference between German and English is the umlaut. The vowels a, o, and u can take an umlaut, becoming æ, œ, and y. The umlaut changes the sound of the vowel. For pronunciations of all the letters, go to the pronunciation guide. Notes:

In English, the word umlaut refers to the two dots found in German. The Englisc word Umhlud usually refers to one of the vowels æ, œ, and y.

In Niw Englisc, the vowels æ, œ, and y are even used when spelling; i.e., you make the sound of an œ (like the "u" in "turn") instead of saying "o umlaut". Common words used to clarify a given letter are Æhte (property), Œl (oil) and Yðe (wave). To say "umlaut" after the letter is an English custom used when spelling German words in English. If you have a German keyboard, then you can type æ, œ, and y as ä, ö, and ü, but if there is no way to type either, then they must be substituted with ae, oe, and y (or ue). This spelling is also used in some names, e.g. Goethe, or in crosswords. In most search engines and online dictionaries, a vowel with umlaut can be entered as either the simple vowel or in vowel-plus-e form. For example, if you wish to find Æhte you may enter any of the following three search strings: Æhte, Aehte, or even the incorrect Ahte.