Editing Old Norse (section)

=== Relationship to modern Scandinavian languages ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Development of Old Norse vowels to the modern Scandinavian languages
! Old Norse !! Modern<br />Icelandic !! Modern<br />Faroese !! Modern<br />Swedish<ref name="helfenstein">Helfenstein, James (1870). ''A Comparative Grammar of the Teutonic Languages: Being at the Same Time a Historical Grammar of the English Language''. London: MacMillan and Co.</ref> !! Modern<br />Danish<ref name="helfenstein" /> !! Examples<ref group="n">[[Bokmål]] Norwegian – Norwegianization of written Danish; [[Nynorsk]] Norwegian – Standardised written Norwegian based on Norwegian dialects; No = same in both forms of Norwegian.</ref>
|-
! {{IPA|a}} {{angbr|a}}
| {{IPA|a(ː)}}<ref group="n" name="vowel-length">Vowel length in the modern Scandinavian languages does not stem from Old Norse vowel length. In all of the modern languages, Old Norse vowel length was lost, and vowel length became allophonically determined by syllable structure, with long vowels occurring when followed by zero or one consonants (and some clusters, e.g. in Icelandic, most clusters of obstruent to [[obstruent]] + {{IPA|[r]}}, {{IPA|[j]}} or {{IPA|[v]}}, such as {{IPA|[pr]}}, {{IPA|[tj]}}, {{IPA|[kv]}} etc.); short vowels occurred when followed by most consonant clusters, including [[Digraph (orthography)#Homogeneous_digraph|double consonants]]. Often, pairs of short and long vowels became differentiated in quality before the loss of vowel length and thus did not end up merging; e.g. Old Norse {{IPA|/a aː i iː/}} became Icelandic {{IPA|/a au ɪ i/}}, all of which can occur allophonically short or long. In the mainland Scandinavian languages, double consonants were reduced to single consonants, making the new vowel length phonemic.</ref> || {{IPA|a/ɛaː}};<ref group="n" name="vowel-length" /><br/> {{IPA|ɛ}} {{angbr|a}} (+ng,nk) || {{IPA|a/ɑː}}<ref group="n" name="vowel-length" /> {{angbr|a}};<br /> {{IPA|ɔ/oː}} {{angbr|å}} (+ld,rd,ng) || {{angbr|a}};<br /> {{IPA|ɔ/ɔː}} {{angbr|å}} (+rd) || ON ''[[wikt:land|land]]'' "land": Ic/Fa/Sw/Da/No ''[[wikt:land|land]]'';<br /> ON ''[[wikt:dagr|dagr]]'' "day": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:dagur|dagur]]'', Sw/Da/No ''[[wikt:dag|dag]]'';<br />ON ''[[wikt:harðr|harðr]]'' "hard": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:harður|harður]]'', Sw/Da ''[[wikt:hård|hård]]'', No ''[[wikt:hard|hard]]'';<br />ON ''[[wikt:langr|langr]]'' "long": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:langur|langur]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:lång|lång]]'', Da/No ''[[wikt:lang|lang]]''
|-
! {{IPA|ja}} {{angbr|ja}}
| {{IPA|ja(ː)}} || {{IPA|ja/jɛaː}} || {{IPA|(j)ɛ(ː)}} {{angbr|(j)ä}} || {{IPA|jɛ:}} {{angbr|jæ}};<br /> {{IPA|jæ:}} {{angbr|je}} (+r) || ON ''[[wikt:hjalpa|hjalpa]]'' "to help": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:hjálpa|hjálpa]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:hjälpa|hjälpa]]'', Da ''[[wikt:hjælpe|hjælpe]]'', No ''[[wikt:hjelpe|hjelpe]]'', NN ''[[wikt:hjelpa|hjelpa]]'';<br />ON ''[[wikt:hjarta|hjarta]]'' "heart": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:hjarta|hjarta]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:hjärta|hjärta]]'', Da/NB ''[[wikt:hjerte|hjerte]]'', NN ''[[wikt:hjarta|hjarta]]''/''[[wikt:hjarte|hjarte]]''
|-
! {{IPA|aː}} {{angbr|á}}
| {{IPA|au(ː)}} || {{IPA|ɔ/ɔaː}} || {{IPA|ɔ/oː}} {{angbr|å}} || {{IPA|ɔ/ɒ:}} {{angbr|å}} || ON ''[[wikt:láta|láta]]'' "to let": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:láta|láta]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:låta|låta]]'', Da ''[[wikt:lade|lade]]'', No ''[[wikt:la|la]]''
|-
! {{IPA|ɛː}} {{angbr|æ}}
| {{IPA|ai(ː)}} || {{IPA|a/ɛaː}} || rowspan=3| {{IPA|ɛ(ː)}} {{angbr|ä}} || || ON ''[[wikt:mæla|mæla]]'' "to speak": Ic/Fa/NN ''[[wikt:mæla|mæla]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:mäla|mäla]]'', No ''[[wikt:mæle|mæle]]'';<br /> ON ''[[wikt:sæll|sæll]]'' "happy": Ic ''[[wikt:sæll|sæll]]'', Fa ''[[wikt:sælur|sælur]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:säll|säll]]'', Da/No ''[[wikt:sæl|sæl]]''
|-
! {{IPA|e}} {{angbr|e}}
| {{IPA|ɛ(ː)}} || {{IPA|ɛ/eː}} || || ON ''[[wikt:menn|menn]]'' "men": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:menn|menn]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:män|män]]'', Da ''[[wikt:mænd|mænd]]'', No ''[[wikt:menn|menn]]'';<br />ON ''[[wikt:bera|bera]]'' "to bear": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:bera|bera]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:bära|bära]]'', Da/NB ''[[wikt:bære|bære]]'', NN ''[[wikt:bera|bera]]''/''[[wikt:bere|bere]]'';<br />ON ''[[wikt:vegr|vegr]]'' "way": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:vegur|vegur]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:väg|väg]]'', Da ''[[wikt:vej|vej]]'', No ''[[wikt:veg/vei|veg/vei]]''
|-
! {{IPA|eː}} {{angbr|é}}
| {{IPA|jɛ(ː)}} || {{IPA|a/ɛaː}} {{angbr|æ}} || || ON ''[[wikt:kné|kné]]'' "knee": Ic ''[[wikt:hné|hné]]'', Fa/Da ''[[wikt:knæ|knæ]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:knä|knä]]'', No ''[[wikt:kne|kne]]''
|-
! {{IPA|i}} {{angbr|i}}
| {{IPA|ɪ(ː)}} || {{IPA|ɪ/iː}} || rowspan=2|{{IPA|ɪ/iː}} {{angbr|i}} || {{IPA|e}} {{angbr|i}}/<br />{{IPA|eː}} {{angbr|e}} || ON ''[[wikt:kinn|kinn]]'' "cheek": Ic/Fa/No ''[[wikt:kinn|kinn]]'', Sw/Da ''[[wikt:kind|kind]]''
|-
! {{IPA|iː}} {{angbr|í}}
| {{IPA|i(ː)}} || {{IPA|ʊɪ(ː)}}<br />{{IPA|ʊt͡ʃː}} {{angbr|íggj}}<ref group="n" name="no-consonant">When not followed by a consonant.</ref> || {{angbr|i}} || ON ''[[wikt:tíð|tíð]]'' "time": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:tíð|tíð]]'', Sw/Da/No ''[[wikt:tid|tid]]''
|-
! {{IPA|ɔ}} {{angbr|ǫ}}
| {{IPA|ø}} > {{IPA|œ(ː)}} {{angbr|ö}} || {{IPA|œ/øː}} {{angbr|ø}}<br /> {{IPA|ɔ/oː}} {{angbr|o}} <ref group="n" name="nasal consonant">When followed by a nasal consonant.</ref> || {{angbr|a}}; <br /> {{angbr|o}};<ref group="n" name="swedish-hook-o">{{angbr|o}} or (before {{IPA|/r/}}) {{angbr|ø}} in some isolated words, but the tendency was to restore {{angbr|a}}.</ref> <br />{{angbr|ø}} (+r);<ref group="n" name="swedish-hook-o" /> <br />{{angbr|å}} (+ld,rd,ng) || || ON ''[[wikt:hǫnd|hǫnd]]'' "hand": Ic ''[[wikt:hönd|hönd]]'', Fa ''[[wikt:hond|hond]]'', Sw/NN ''[[wikt:hand|hand]]'', Da/NB ''[[wikt:hånd|hånd]]''; <br />ON ''[[wikt:nǫs|nǫs]]'' "nose": Ic ''[[wikt:nös|nös]]'', Fa ''[[wikt:nøs|nøs]]'', Sw/NN ''[[wikt:nos|nos]]'', Da ''[[wikt:næse|næse]]'', NB ''[[wikt:nese|nese]]'', NN ''[[wikt:nase|nase]]''; <br />ON ''[[wikt:ǫrn|ǫrn]]'' "eagle": Ic/Sw ''[[wikt:örn|örn]]'', Fa/Da/No ''[[wikt:ørn|ørn]]''; <br />ON ''[[wikt:sǫngr|sǫngr]]'' "song": Ic ''[[wikt:söngur|söngur]]'', Fa ''[[wikt:songur|songur]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:sång|sång]]'', Da/NB ''[[wikt:sang|sang]]'', NN ''[[wikt:song|song]]''
|-
! {{IPA|jɔ}} {{angbr|jǫ}}
| {{IPA|jø}} > {{IPA|jœ(ː)}} {{angbr|jö}} || {{IPA|jœ/jøː}} {{angbr|jø}} || {{IPA|(j)œ/(j)øː}} {{angbr|(j)ö}} || || ON ''[[wikt:skjǫldr|skjǫldr]]'' "shield": Ic ''[[wikt:skjöldur|skjöldur]]'', Fa ''[[wikt:skjøldur|skjøldur]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:sköld|sköld]]'', Da/No ''[[wikt:skjold|skjold]]''; <br />ON ''[[wikt:bjǫrn|bjǫrn]]'' "bear": Ic/Sw ''[[wikt:björn|björn]]'', Fa/Da/NN ''[[wikt:bjørn|bjørn]]''
|-
! {{IPA|ɔː}} {{angbr|ǫ́}}
| {{IPA|aː}} > {{IPA|au(ː)}} {{angbr|á}} || {{IPA|ɔ/ɔaː}} {{angbr|á}}, {{IPA|œ/ɔuː}} {{angbr|ó}} || {{IPA|ɔ/oː}} {{angbr|å}} || {{angbr|å}} || ON ''[[wikt:tá|tá]]'' (*''[[wikt:tǫ́|tǫ́]]'') "toe": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:tá|tá]]'', Sw/Da/No ''[[wikt:tå|tå]]''<!--; <br />Fa ''[[wikt:nátt|nátt]]'' {{IPA|[nɔʰtː]}}-->
|-
! {{IPA|o}} {{angbr|o}}
| {{IPA|ɔ(ː)}} || {{IPA|ɔ/oː}} || {{IPA|ɔ/oː}} {{angbr|o}} || || ON ''[[wikt:morginn|morginn]]/[[wikt:morgunn|morgunn]]'' "morning": Ic ''[[wikt:morgunn|morgunn]]'', Fa ''[[wikt:morgun|morgun]]'', Sw/NN ''[[wikt:morgon|morgon]]'', Da/NB ''[[wikt:morgen|morgen]]''
|-
! {{IPA|oː}} {{angbr|ó}}
| {{IPA|ou(ː)}} || {{IPA|œ/ɔuː}}<br />{{IPA|ɛkv}} {{angbr|ógv}}<ref group="n" name="no-consonant"/> || {{IPA|ʊ/uː}} {{angbr|o}} || {{angbr|o}} || ON ''[[wikt:bók|bók]]'' "book": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:bók|bók]]'', Sw/No ''[[wikt:bok|bok]]'', Da ''[[wikt:bog|bog]]''
|-
! {{IPA|u}} {{angbr|u}}
| {{IPA|ʏ(ː)}} || {{IPA|ʊ/uː}} || rowspan=2|{{IPA|ɵ/ʉː}} {{angbr|u}} || || ON ''[[wikt:fullr|fullr]]'' "full": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:fullur|fullur]]'', Sw/Da/No ''[[wikt:full|full]]''
|-
! {{IPA|uː}} {{angbr|ú}}
| {{IPA|u(ː)}} || {{IPA|ʏ/ʉuː}}<br />{{IPA|ɪkv}} {{angbr|úgv}}<ref group="n" name="no-consonant"/> || {{angbr|u}} || ON ''[[wikt:hús|hús]]'' "house": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:hús|hús]]'', Sw/Da/No ''[[wikt:hus|hus]]''
|-
! {{IPA|joː}} {{angbr|jó}}
| {{IPA|jou(ː)}} || {{IPA|jœ/jɔuː}}<br />{{IPA|(j)ɛkv}} {{angbr|(j)ógv}}<ref group="n" name="no-consonant"/> || rowspan=2|{{IPA|jɵ/jʉː}} {{angbr|ju}} || rowspan=2|{{angbr|y}} || ON ''[[wikt:bjóða|bjóða]]'' "to offer, command": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:bjóða|bjóða]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:bjuda|bjuda]]'', Da/No ''[[wikt:byde|byde]]'', NN ''[[wikt:byda|byda]]'', No ''[[wikt:by|by]]''
|-
! {{IPA|juː}} {{angbr|jú}}
| {{IPA|ju(ː)}} || {{IPA|jʏ/jʉuː}}<br />{{IPA|(j)ɪkv}} {{angbr|(j)úgv}}<ref group="n" name="no-consonant"/> || ON ''[[wikt:djúpr|djúpr]]'' "deep": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:djúpur|djúpur]]'', Sw/No ''[[wikt:djup|djup]]'', Da ''[[wikt:dyb|dyb]]'', NB ''[[wikt:dyp|dyp]]''
|-
! {{IPA|ø}} {{angbr|ø}}
| {{IPA|ø}} > {{IPA|œ(ː)}} {{angbr|ö}} || rowspan=2|{{IPA|œ/øː}} {{angbr|ø}} || rowspan=2| {{IPA|œ/øː}} {{angbr|ö}} || || ON ''[[wikt:gøra|gøra]]'' "to prepare": Sw ''[[wikt:göra|göra]]''
|-
! {{IPA|øː}} {{angbr|œ}}
| {{IPA|ɛː}} > {{IPA|ai(ː)}} {{angbr|æ}} || {{angbr|ø}} || ON ''[[wikt:grœnn|grœnn]]'' "green": Ic ''[[wikt:grænn|grænn]]'', Fa ''[[wikt:grønur|grønur]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:grön|grön]]'', Da/NN ''[[wikt:grøn|grøn]]'', No ''[[wikt:grønn|grønn]]''
|-
! {{IPA|y}} {{angbr|y}}
| {{IPA|ɪ(ː)}} || {{IPA|ɪ/iː}} || {{angbr|ö}};<br />{{angbr|y}}<ref group="n">When un-umlauted {{IPA|*/u/}} is still present elsewhere in the paradigm.</ref>  || || ON ''[[wikt:dyrr|dyrr]]'' "door": Ic/Fa ''[[wikt:dyr|dyr]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:dörr|dörr]]'', Da/No ''[[wikt:dør|dør]]''<br />ON ''[[wikt:fylla|fylla]]'' "to fill": Ic/Fa/NN/Sw ''[[wikt:fylla|fylla]]'', Da ''[[wikt:fylde|fylde]]'', No ''[[wikt:fylle|fylle]]''
|-
! {{IPA|yː}} {{angbr|ý}}
| {{IPA|i(ː)}} || {{IPA|ʊɪ(ː)}}<br />{{IPA|ʊt͡ʃː}} {{angbr|ýggj}}<ref group="n" name="no-consonant"/> || {{IPA|ʏ/yː}} {{angbr|y}} || {{angbr|y}} || ON ''[[wikt:dýrr|dýrr]]'' "dear": Ic ''[[wikt:dýr|dýr]]'', Fa ''[[wikt:dýrur|dýrur]]'', Sw/Da/No ''[[wikt:dyr|dyr]]''
|-
! {{IPA|ɛi}} {{angbr|ei}}
| {{IPA|ei(ː)}} || {{IPA|aɪ(ː)}}<br />{{IPA|at͡ʃː}} {{angbr|eiggj}}<ref group="n" name="no-consonant"/> || {{IPA|e(ː)}} {{angbr|e}} || {{angbr|e}} || ON ''[[wikt:steinn|steinn]]'' "stone": Ic ''[[wikt:steinn|steinn]]'', Fa ''[[wikt:steinur|steinur]]'', Sw/Da/NB ''[[wikt:sten|sten]]'', No ''[[wikt:stein|stein]]''
|-
! {{IPA|œy}}<ref name="FromOldNordic" /> {{angbr|ey}}
| {{IPA|ei(ː)}} || {{IPA|ɔɪ(ː)}} {{angbr|oy}}<br />{{IPA|ɔt͡ʃː}} {{angbr|oyggj}}<ref group="n" name="no-consonant"/> || rowspan=2|{{IPA|œ/øː}} {{angbr|ö}} || rowspan=2|{{angbr|ø}} || ON ''[[wikt:ey|ey]]'' "island": Ic ''[[wikt:ey|ey]]'', Fa ''[[wikt:oyggj|oyggj]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:ö|ö]]'', Da ''[[wikt:ø|ø]]'', No ''[[wikt:øy|øy]]''
|-
! {{IPA|ɔu}} {{angbr|au}}
| {{IPA|øy(ː)}} || {{IPA|ɛ/ɛɪː}} {{angbr|ey}}<br />{{IPA|ɛt͡ʃː}} {{angbr|eyggj}}<ref group="n" name="no-consonant"/> || ON ''[[wikt:draumr|draumr]]'' "dream": Ic ''[[wikt:draumur|draumur]]'', Fa ''[[wikt:dreymur|dreymur]]'', Sw ''[[wikt:dröm|dröm]]'', Da/NB ''[[wikt:drøm|drøm]]'', NN ''[[wikt:draum|draum]]''
|}

{{reflist|group="n"}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Pronunciation of vowels in various Scandinavian languages
! Spelling !! Old Norse !! Modern<br />Icelandic !! Modern<br />Faroese !! Modern<br />Swedish !! Modern<br />Norwegian
|-
! {{angbr|a}}
| {{IPA|a}} || {{IPA|a(ː)}} || {{IPA|a/ɛaː}} || {{IPA|a/ɑː}} || {{IPA|ɑ(ː)}}
|-
! {{angbr|á}}
| {{IPA|aː}} || {{IPA|au(ː)}} || {{IPA|ɔ/ɔaː}} || colspan="2 | –
|-
! {{angbr|ä}}
| colspan="3" rowspan="2" | – || {{IPA|ɛ/ɛː}} || –
|-
! {{angbr|å}}
| colspan="2 | {{IPA|ɔ/oː}}
|-
! {{angbr|æ}}
| {{IPA|ɛː}} || {{IPA|ai(ː)}} || {{IPA|a/ɛaː}} || – || {{IPA|æ(ː)}}, {{IPA|ɛ/eː}}
|-
! {{angbr|e}}
| {{IPA|e}} || {{IPA|ɛ(ː)}} || {{IPA|ɛ/eː}} || {{IPA|e/eː}} || {{IPA|ɛ/eː}}, {{IPA|ə}}, {{IPA|æ(ː)}}
|-
! {{angbr|é}}
| {{IPA|eː}} || {{IPA|jɛ(ː)}} || colspan="3 | –
|-
! {{angbr|i}}
| {{IPA|i}} || {{IPA|ɪ(ː)}} || colspan="3 | {{IPA|ɪ/iː}}
|-
! {{angbr|í}}
| {{IPA|iː}} || {{IPA|i(ː)}} || {{IPA|ʊɪ(ː)}} || colspan="2 | –
|-
! {{angbr|o}}
| {{IPA|o}} || {{IPA|ɔ(ː)}} || {{IPA|ɔ/oː}} || {{IPA|ʊ/uː}}, {{IPA|ɔ/oː}} || {{IPA|uː}}, {{IPA|ɔ/oː}}
|-
! {{angbr|ó}}
| {{IPA|oː}} || {{IPA|ou(ː)}} || {{IPA|œ/ɔuː}} || colspan="2 | –
|-
! {{angbr|ǫ}}
| {{IPA|ɔ}} || colspan="4" rowspan="2" | –
|-
! {{angbr|ǫ́}}
| {{IPA|ɔː}}
|-
! {{angbr|ö}}
| – || ø > œ(ː) || – || œ/øː || –
|-
! {{angbr|ø}}
| {{IPA|ø}} || – || {{IPA|œ/øː}} || – || {{IPA|œ/øː}}
|-
! {{angbr|œ}}
| {{IPA|øː}}|| colspan="4" | –
|-
! {{angbr|u}}
| {{IPA|u}} || {{IPA|ʏ(ː)}} || {{IPA|ʊ/uː}} || {{IPA|ɵ/ʉː}} || {{IPA|ʉ(ː)}}
|-
! {{angbr|ú}}
| {{IPA|uː}} || {{IPA|u(ː)}} || {{IPA|ʏ/ʉuː}} || colspan="2" | –
|-
! {{angbr|y}}
| {{IPA|y}} || {{IPA|ɪ(ː)}} || {{IPA|ɪ/iː}} || colspan="2" | {{IPA|ʏ/yː}}
|-
! {{angbr|ý}}
| {{IPA|yː}} || {{IPA|i(ː)}} || {{IPA|ʊɪ(ː)}} || colspan="2" | –
|-
! {{angbr|ei}}
| {{IPA|ɛi}} || {{IPA|ei(ː)}} || {{IPA|aɪ(ː)}} || – || {{IPA|æɪ}}
|-
! {{angbr|ey}}
| {{IPA|œy}}<ref name="FromOldNordic" /> || {{IPA|ei(ː)}} || {{IPA|ɛ/ɛɪː}} || colspan="2" | –
|-
! {{angbr|oy}}
| colspan="2" | – || {{IPA|ɔɪ(ː)}} || colspan="2" | –
|-
! {{angbr|øy}}
| colspan="4" | – || {{IPA|œʏ}}
|-
! {{angbr|au}}
| {{IPA|ɔu}} || {{IPA|øy(ː)}} || colspan="2" | – || {{IPA|æʉ}}
|}