Editing Middle English (section)

===Alphabet===
The basic [[Old English Latin alphabet]] consisted of 20 standard letters plus four additional letters: [[ash (letter)|ash]] {{angbr|æ}}, [[eth]] {{angbr|ð}}, [[thorn (letter)|thorn]] {{angbr|þ}}, and [[wynn]] {{angbr|ƿ}}. There was not yet a distinct ''j'', ''v'', or ''w'', and Old English scribes did not generally use ''k'', ''q'', or ''z''.

Ash was no longer required in Middle English, as the Old English vowel {{IPA|/æ/}} that it represented had [[#Phonology|merged into /a/]]. The symbol nonetheless came to be used as a [[typographic ligature|ligature]] for the digraph {{angle bracket|ae}} in many words of Greek or Latin origin, as did {{angbr|œ}} for {{angbr|oe}}.

Eth and thorn both represented {{IPA|/θ/}} or its [[allophone]] {{IPAslink|ð}} in Old English. Eth fell out of use during the 13th century and was replaced by thorn. Thorn mostly fell out of use during the 14th century and was replaced by [[th (digraph)|{{vr|th}}]]. Anachronistic usage of the scribal abbreviation [[File:EME ye.svg|10px]] ({{lang|enm|þe}}, "the") has led to the modern mispronunciation of ''thorn'' as {{angle bracket|[[y]]}} in this context; see ''[[ye olde]]''.<ref>''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary'', [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ye%5B2%5D ye<nowiki>[2]</nowiki>] retrieved February 1, 2009</ref>

Wynn, which represented the phoneme {{IPA|/w/}}, was replaced by {{angle bracket|[[w]]}} during the 13th century. Due to its similarity to the letter {{angle bracket|p}}, it is mostly represented by {{angle bracket|w}} in modern editions of Old and Middle English texts even when the manuscript has wynn.

Under Norman influence, the continental [[Carolingian minuscule]] replaced the [[insular script]] that had been used for Old English. However, because of the significant difference in appearance between the old [[insular G|insular ''g'']] and the [[Carolingian G|Carolingian ''g'']] (modern ''g''), the former continued in use as a separate letter, known as [[yogh]], written {{angbr|ȝ}}. This was adopted for use to represent a variety of sounds: {{IPA|[ɣ], [j], [dʒ], [x], [ç]}}, while the Carolingian ''g'' was normally used for [g]. Instances of yogh were eventually replaced by {{angbr|j}} or {{angbr|y}} and by {{angbr|gh}} in words like ''night'' and ''laugh''. In [[Middle Scots]], yogh became indistinguishable from cursive ''z'', and printers tended to use {{angle bracket|z}} when ''yogh'' was not available in their fonts; this led to new spellings (often giving rise to new pronunciations), as in [[Mackenzie (surname)|''McKenzie'']], where the {{angbr|z}} replaced a yogh, which had the pronunciation {{IPA|/j/}}.

Under continental influence{{Clarify|reason=What continental influence? See Talk.|date=February 2025}}, the letters {{vr|k}}, {{vr|q}}, and {{vr|z}}, which had not normally been used by Old English scribes, came to be commonly used in the writing of Middle English. Also, the newer Latin letter {{vr|w}} was introduced (replacing wynn). The distinct letter forms [[v|{{vr|v}}]] and [[u|{{vr|u}}]] came into use but were still used interchangeably; the same applies to [[j|{{vr|j}}]] and [[i|{{vr|i}}]].<ref name="Salmon">Salmon, V., (in) Lass, R. (ed.), ''The Cambridge History of the English Language'', Vol. III, CUP 2000, p. 39.</ref> (For example, spellings such as {{lang|enm|wijf}} and {{lang|enm|paradijs}} for "wife" and "paradise" can be found in Middle English.)

The consonantal {{vr|j}}/{{vr|i}} was sometimes used to transliterate the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] letter [[yodh]], representing the [[palatal approximant]] sound {{IPA|/j/}} (and transliterated in [[Greek language|Greek]] by [[iota]] and in Latin by {{vr|i}}); words like ''Jerusalem'', ''Joseph'', etc. would have originally followed the Latin pronunciation beginning with {{IPA|/j/}}, that is, the sound of {{vr|y}} in ''yes''. In some words, however, notably from [[Old French]], {{vr|j}}/{{vr|i}} was used for the [[affricate consonant]] {{IPA|/dʒ/}}, as in {{lang|fro|joie}} (modern "joy"), used in [[Wycliffe's Bible]].<ref name="j-oed">"J", ''Oxford English Dictionary,'' 2nd edition (1989)</ref><ref>"J" and "jay", ''Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1993)</ref> This was similar to the [[gemination|geminate sound]] {{IPA|[ddʒ]}}, which had been represented as {{vr|cg}} in Old English. By the time of Modern English, the sound came to be written as {{vr|j}}/{{vr|i}} at the start of words (like "joy"), and usually as {{vr|dg}} elsewhere (as in "bridge"). It could also be written, mainly in French loanwords, as {{vr|g}}, with the adoption of the [[hard and soft G|soft G]] convention (''age'', ''page'', etc.)