This chart shows
some of the letters used in Old English and Middle English
that
have fallen out of use in Modern English. The letter ash
represented a vowel sound akin to the "a" in father,
as opposed to the vowel sound in bat or rate.
The letter eth
represented a consonant sound akin to the "th" in
thin, thigh, or with. The letter thorn,
on the other hand, represented the "th" sound in then
or thy.
The letter yogh
represented a Germanic, gargling sound in the back of throat
no longer used in Modern English, but surviving as an often
silent digraph <gh> in words like knight, caught,
and laugh. Finally, the letter wyn
represented the "w" sound in words like wonder
or way. When it fell out of use, it was replaced with
the modern <w>.
