Bosworth Toller's

Anglo-Saxon

Dictionary online

æ
þ

B

Dictionary links
Grammar
B, THE sound of b is produced by the lips; hence it is called a labial consonant, and has the same sound in Anglo-Saxon as in English. In all languages, and especially in the dialects of cognate languages, the letters employing the same organs of utterance are continually interchanged. In Anglo-Saxon, therefore, we find that b interchanges with the other labials, f and
p
Show examples
  • Ic hæbbe I have, he hæfþ he hath. When words are transferred into modern English, b is sometimes represented by f or v :-- Beber or befor a beaver; Ober, ofer, over.
In comparing the Anglo-Saxon aspirated labial f with the corresponding letter in Old Saxon, the sister dialect, we find that the Old Saxons used a softer aspirated labial ƀ = bh. This softer aspirated ƀ generally occurs as a medial letter between two vowels; as, —
O. Sax.   A. Sax.   Eng. graƀan = grafan = engrave klioƀan = cleófan = cleave geƀan = gifan = give
The Runic letter ᛒ not only stands for the letter B, b, but also for the name of the letter in Anglo-Saxon beorc
the birch-tree.
Similar entries
v. beorc.
Entry information
Citation

Bosworth, Joseph. “B.” In An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online, edited by Thomas Northcote Toller, Christ Sean, and Ondřej Tichy. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2014. https://bosworthtoller.com/2811.

Checked: 0
Full form

Word-wheel

  • B,

Copyright

All the data provided here are free for any purpose. If you use the data for academic purposes, we ask that you kindly cite us as your source. In case you need a large portion of the dictionary data or you need it in a specific format, let us know through the contact form, we are happy to do custom database dumps for researchers.

How to cite

You can cite the entries of the online version of the dictionary, or you can cite the scanned pages of the original paper editions.

  • To cite the online version of the dictionary, click the icon right under the entry.
  • To cite the scanned paper version of the dictionary, click the "show/hide this scanned page" link under the entry, check the scan and use the citation information right above it.