The Spelling
of the Gawain-Poet
However chaotic the spelling may look, the spelling variations
in the Gawain-Poet's works tend to follow a few systematic
patterns which can generally be explained by those with a lot of
training in Middle English. A matter of debate concerns when divergent
spellings are likely to result from acceptable variations within
the poet's own repertoire and when they are likely to be the result
of spellings introduced by the copyist. For the reader, it is more
important to learn the likely pronunciations of the spellings in
the manuscript, whatever their origin.
Learning the basic spelling-sound correspondences below will get
you through the majority of the text. It is vital that you
learn these rules. They will allow you to recognise words that are
the same in Modern English with different spellings. If you don't
learn these rules, you will spend all your time flipping back to
the glossary!
Vowels
The pronunciation of the basic vowels as they are spelt in Middle
English correspond closely to the pronunciation of the vowel spellings
in other major European languages like French, Spanish, and German.
In the guide below, letters in angular brackets (like <a>)
refer to the spelling only, not the pronunciation.
Simple Vowels
<a, aa> |
The sound in French or Spanish la,
a bit like the vowel in English father. |
<e> |
In stressed syllables, the sound varies between
that of bet and that of great. Pronounce
whichever comes naturally, and it will be right about 90%
of the time. Double <ee> is generally the vowel in great. |
<e> |
In unstressed syllables, the sound has been
reduced to something like the sound of 'uh'. We have this
in Modern English, as we can see from the pronunciation of
the vowels in 'greater' (with stress on the first syllable).
Many words end in final -e, which comes from diverse
origins (and remains in many of our modern spellings). Generally,
the sound was not pronounced, but occasionally it was for
rhythmic reasons. |
<i> |
Generally the sound of <i> in him,
except in words where the <i> is pronounced like in
wife today. In these cases, pronounce the <i>
like in machine. |
<o> |
The basic sound is something like the vowel
in hot, pronounced with a British accent (that is,
not the same as the pronunciation of <a> above. But
there are some important exceptions given below. |
<o> |
If the Modern English equivalent is pronounced
with the vowel in stone or root, pronounce
it like the vowel in stone in Middle English. Double
<oo> is generally the vowel in stone. |
<o> |
If the Modern English equivalent is pronounced
with the vowel in monk or love or come,
the Middle English pronunciation was like the vowel in Modern
look. |
<u> |
Pronounced like the vowel in Modern English
look. This sound is also spelt <ou> and <aw>. |
<y> |
This spelling is interchangeable with <i>
(same pronunciation). Note, however, that it can also be a
consonant, as in yes. |
Diphthongs (Combination Vowels)
<ai, ay> |
The sound in Modern English aisle. |
<au, a3> |
The sound in Modern English house. |
<ei, ey> |
The sound in Modern English aisle. |
There are a few other combinations, but their pronunciations do
not differ so significantly from that of Modern English that they
will give you much trouble.
Consonants
Most consonants are pronounced as in Modern English, but there
are a few noteworthy points:
- The letter <3> occurs very frequently in the manuscript
and refers to several sounds. In some cases it refers to an s
or z sound, and the editors have always printed this
as <z>. The following points should be kept in mind when
reading these letters.
- <z> can refer to the s sound, as in berdlez
'beardless'. This is especially true in the combination <ts>.
In this spelling, the <t> is not pronounced. It is a
leftover from earlier French spellings such as fitz
'son', Modern French fils (the l is silent).
Thus the name FitzWilliam means 'son of William'.
- <3> is pronounced like the <y> in Modern English
yes at the beginnings of words and in the word a3ayn
'again'. It also has something like this pronunciation at
the end of a word after the vowels <e> or <i>
(examples: de3e 'die', hy3e 'high' -- the
final vowel is silent). This sound is also spelt <y>
in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
- <3> is pronounced like the <ch> in Scottish
loch or German Bach when it appears before
t or at the end of a word after <a>, <o>,
or <u> (examples: ri3t 'right', þu3t
'thought', þa3 'though').
- <3> after <a>, <o>, <u>, or <l>
and followed by <e> is pronounced as a w. Examples
are fol3e 'follow' and sa3e 'saw'.
- The letters <þ> and <th> are used interchangeably.
They may refer to the sound in thin or the sound in this.
- The sound of <wh> (in words like 'where', 'which') has
a breath before it (pronounced like hw) in some dialects
of Modern English. This is the pronunciation in Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight. The sound is also spelt <w> and
<qu> in the poem.
- The sound of Modern English <sh> is spelt <sch>,
and occasionally <ch> in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
(examples are schaped 'shaped', cheldez 'shields',
Englych 'English').
- At the beginnings of words the sound of v may be spelt
<u> (uyage 'voyage', for example). The sound may
also be represented by w (as in schowen 'shove').
The spelling <v> at the beginning of a word represents the
vowel u (as in vse 'use').
- Double <gg> represents the sound in Modern English bridge.
In some cases, words with this sound have developed a y-like
sound in Modern English, as in segge 'say'. Try both
pronunciations if you don't recognise the word.
There are certainly other intricacies to the spelling, but, as
stated above, learning these will get you through most of the spellings
in the text. Make sure you learn all this well before you go on
to the next section.
Last
Update:
10 August, 2004
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