proto-germanic, from about a.d. 0 to the start of the viking age
| F | ᚠ | H | ᚺ | T | ᛏ |
| U | ᚢ | N | ᚾ | B | ᛒ |
| Þ | ᚦ | I | ᛁ | E | ᛖ |
| A | ᚨ | J | ᛃ | M | ᛗ |
| R | ᚱ | Æ | ᛇ | L | ᛚ |
| K | ᚲ | P | ᛈ | Ŋ | ᛜ |
| G | ᚷ | Z | ᛉ | D | ᛞ |
| W | ᚹ | S | ᛊ | O | ᛟ |
usage: phonemic.
old norse, from about a.d. 700 to 1200. long-staff first, short-staff second.
| F | ᚠ ᚠ | H | ᚼ ᚽ | T | ᛏ ᛐ |
| U | ᚢ ᚢ | N | ᚾ ᚿ | B | ᛒ ᛓ |
| Þ | ᚦ ᚦ | I | ᛁ ᛁ | M | ᛘ ᛙ |
| Ą | ᚬ ᚭ | A | ᛅ ᛆ | L | ᛚ ᛚ |
| R | ᚱ ᚱ | S | ᛋ ᛌ | ʀ₂ | ᛦ ᛧ |
| K | ᚴ ᚴ | ᛫ | ᛬ | ||
usage: complex, especially with vowels.
old norse had nine vowel qualities: /i, y, u, e, ø, o, æ, a, ɔ (=‘ǫ’)/, in short, long, and nasal varieties. of these, all rounded vowels except ǫ (=/y, u, ø, o/) and their long and nasal varieties and also the consonant /v/ are written with the U-rune ᚢ. the i-rune ᛁ is used for /i, e, j/ and their long and nasal varieties, except any /e, æ/ arising from i-umlaut, which is written with one of the A-like runes. the two A-like runes ᚬ and ᛅ both spell /a, ɔ, e~æ/ (a long /e/ created by umlaut becomes /æ/). A ᛅ represents /a, ɔ, e~æ/ both short and long and short nasal, and Ą ᚬ represents them when long and nasal, or historically so.
as for the consonants: voicing distinctions are more or less lost in writing. geminates aren't represented in writing. the R and R2 runes ᚱ ᛦ both stand for /r/, but R2 ᛦ stands for an /r/ that was historically /z/ in proto-germanic (typically grammatical endings, cf. where english cognates have /s~z/). rune-writers didn't have perfect spelling.
an example: bluetooth’s stone:
ᚼᛅᚱᛅᛚᛏᚱ ᛬ ᚴᚢᚾᚢᚴᛦ ᛬ ᛒᛅᚦ ᛬ ᚴᛅᚢᚱᚢᛅ
ᚴᚢᛒᛚ ᛬ ᚦᛅᚢᛋᛁ ᛬ ᛅᚠᛏ ᛬ ᚴᚢᚱᛘ ᚠᛅᚦᚢᚱ ᛋᛁᚾ
ᛅᚢᚴ ᛅᚠᛏ ᛬ ᚦᚭᚢᚱᚢᛁ ᛬ ᛘᚢᚦᚢᚱ ᛬ ᛋᛁᚾᛅ ᛬ ᛋᛅ
ᚼᛅᚱᛅᛚᛏᚱ ᛬ ᛁᛅᛋ ᛬ ᛋᚭᛦ ᛫ ᚢᛅᚾ ᛫ ᛏᛅᚾᛘᛅᚢᚱᚴ
ᛅᛚᛅ ᛫ ᛅᚢᚴ ᛫ ᚾᚢᚱᚢᛁᛅᚴ
᛫ ᛅᚢᚴ ᛫ ᛏᛅᚾᛁ ᛫ ᚴᛅᚱᚦᛁ ᛫ ᚴᚱᛁᛋᛏᚾᚭ
Fictional example:
ᛊᛁᚷᚨ᛫ᛖᚹᛟᛏᚨᛗᛒᚨ᛬ᛊᚨᚦ᛫ᚷᛟᚷᛟᛚ
ᛋᛁᚴᛅ᛫ᛁᚢᛏᚬᛘᛒᛅ᛬ᛋᛅᚦ᛫ᚴᚢᚴᚢᛚ
ᛌᛁᚴᛆ᛫ᛁᚢᚢᛐᚭᛙᛓᛆ᛬ᛌᛆᚦ᛫ᚴᚢᚴᚢᛚ
index | 2018-10-19