Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Ixv. (192 1), No. 6 5 



so the old English writers took the symbol p (called "thorn") 

 from the runic alphabet to represent this sound. Further, 

 some of them used the symbol 5 for the other " th " sound as 

 in " breathe." 



That the intention of the early English writers was to spell 

 phonetically is sufficiently evident from an examination of 

 their writings : indeed, the writer Orm elaborated a perfect 

 phonetic system by which the pronunciation of the vowels 

 was completely indicated by the spelling. 



A very interesting example of early orthography is found 

 in the Old English song " Sumer is icumen in," which is 

 reproduced here for the benefit of those who are not familiar 

 with it : — 



SUMER IS ICUMEN IN. 



(About 1250.) 



Sumer is icumen in, 



Lhude sing cuccu ! 

 Groweth sed, and bloweth med, 



And springth the wude nu. 

 Sing cuccu ! 



Awe bleteth after lomb, 



Lhouth after calve cu ; 

 Bulluc sterteth, bucke verteth, 



Murie sing cuccu ! 



Cuccu, cuccu, wel singes thu, cuccu : 

 Ne swike thu naver nu. 

 Sing cuccu, nu, sing cuccu, 

 Sing cuccu, sing cuccu, nu ! 



(Lhude = loud; Awe = ewe; Lhouth = loweth ; Sterteth = 

 leaps; Swike = cease; Murie = merry.) 



Allowing for some change in the pronunciation of the 

 vowels, the spelling is much superior to what we have to-day. 



Chaucer's spelling was more nearly phonetic than 

 ours to-day. It is true that a great number of French 

 words were introduced into English in his time, and that the 

 French spelling was preserved, although it was not phonetic 

 from our point of view. It is interesting to note that Chaucer's 



