Editing Mercian dialect (section)

==Alphabet==
Modern Old English orthography adds additional diacritics above certain letters to show specific phonological features. These distinctions largely were not shown in Old English. Such diacritics include macrons for vowel length and overdots for palatalization. Sound approximations from various European languages have been given, but it is best to learn by the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] transcriptions for more precise pronunciation.
*''a'' for /ɑ/; General American English ''c'''o'''t'' 
*''ā'' for /ɑː/; Norwegian ''t'''a'''''
*''b'' for /b/; English '''''b'''oy''
*''c'' for /k/; English '''''c'''old''
*''ċ'' for /tʃ/; English '''''ch'''eese''
*''d'' for /d/; English '''''d'''i'''d'''
*e for /e/; Spanish ''m'''e'''''
*''ē'' for /eː/; German ''S'''ee'''''
*''f'' for /f/; English '''''f'''un''; realised as [v] between voiced sounds (English ''thri'''v'''e)''
*''g'' for /g/; realised as [ɣ] (Dutch '''''g'''etrouw)''
*''ġ'' for /j/; English '''''y'''es''
*''ġġ'' or ''ċġ'' for /dʒ/; English ''we'''dge'''''
*''h'' for /h/; realised as [h] (English '''''h'''unt'') syllable-initially, as [x] after back vowels (German ''Na'''ch'''t''), and as [ç] after front vowels (German ''Si'''ch'''t''); ''h'' also represented devoicing before certain voiced consonants
*i for /i/; Spanish ''m'''í'''''
*ī for /iː/; English ''thr'''ee'''''
*''k'' for /k/; English '''''k'''ind''; ''k'' was used rarely
*''l'' for /l/; English '''''l'''ight''
*''m'' for /m/; English '''''m'''o'''m'''''
*''n'' for /n/; English '''''n'''i'''n'''e''; realized as [ŋ] before ''c'' or ''g'' (English ''thi'''n'''k'')
*''o'' for /o/; Spanish ''y'''o'''''
*''ō'' for /oː/; German ''fr'''oh'''''
*''p'' for /p/; English '''''p'''i'''p'''''
*''r'' for /r/; likely [r] (a "rolled" ''r''), which is present in Scottish English
*''s'' for /s/; English '''''s'''it''; voiced to [z] when between voiced sounds (English ''wi'''s'''e'')
*''sċ'' for /ʃ/; English '''''sh'''ip''
*''t'' for /t/; English '''''t'''ar'''t'''''
*''u'' for /u/; Spanish ''t'''ú'''''
*''ū'' for /u/; German ''H'''u'''t''
*''x'' for /ks/; English ''fo'''x'''''
*''y'' for /y/; equivalent to /i/ with rounded lips; Finnish ''m'''y'''kkä''
*''ȳ'' for /yː/; equivalent to /iː/ with rounded lips; German ''fr'''üh'''''
*''ƿ'' for /w/; often replaced by modern ''w''; English '''''w'''in''
*''ð'' for /θ/, which realised as [θ] (English '''''th'''ink'') or [ð] (English ''fea'''th'''er'') depending upon position; interchangeable with ''þ''
*''þ'' for /θ/, which realised as [θ] (English '''''th'''ink'') or [ð] (English ''fea'''th'''er'') depending upon position; interchangeable with ''ð''
*''æ'' for /æ/; English ''b'''a'''t''
*''ǣ'' for /æː/; Finnish '''''ää'''ni''
*''œ'' for /ø/; Hungarian ''j'''ö'''vő''
*''œ̄'' for /øː/; German ''sch'''ö'''n'' or Hungarian ''jöv'''ő'''''