§§ 6-10] Alphabet and Pronunciation 7 § β. i was probably a short open vowel like the i in English bit, as ik, /; itan, to eat; fisks, fish; bindan, to bind; arbi, heritage; bandi, a band. ī (written ei) was the vowel sound heard in NHG. sle, she. Cp. the beginning of § 5. Examples are: swein, swine, pig; beitan, to bite; gasteis, guests; manageí, multitude; áiþei, mother. § 7. ō was a long close vowel, strongly tinctured with the vowel sound heard in NHG. gut, good. Hence we occasionally find U written where we should etymologically expect ō, and vice versa, as supūda = supōđa, Mark ix. 50; ūhtēdun = ōhtēdun, Mark xi. 32. faíhō —. faíhu, Mark x. 23. Examples are: ōgan, to fear; ōgjan, to terrify; brōþar, brother; sōkjan, to seek; saísō, / sowed; haírtō, heart. § 8. u had the same sound as the vowel in English put, as ubils, evil; ufta, often; fugls. fowl, bird; sunus, son; bundans, bound; faíhu, cattle; sunu (ace. sing.), son. ū had the same sound as the u in NHG. gut, as ut, ūta, out; ūhtwō, early morn; brūþs, bride; hūs, house; þūsundí, thousand. § 9. iu was a falling diphthong (i. e. with the stress on the i), and pronounced like the ew in North. Engl. dial, pronunciation of new. It only occurs in stem-syllables (except in ūhtiugs, seasonable], as iupa, above; þiuda, people; driusan, to fall; trí\i,tree; kniu, knee. t§lO. As has already been pointed out in § 3, the digraph ai was used by Ulfilas without distinction in writing to represent three different sounds which were of threefold origin. Our means for determining the nature of these sounds are derived partly from a comparison of the Gothic forms in which they occur with the corresponding forms of the other Indo-Germanic languages, and partly from the Gothic spelling of Greek loan-words. The above remarks also hold good for the digraph au, § 11.