THE OLD ENGLISH CONSONANT "S"

/s/

SOURCE: Germanic */s/

OE /s/ had two different realizations, or allophones, depending upon its phonetic environment.

1. Voiceless alveolar fricative--initially or in the vicinity of voicless phonemes. Example: sæ "sea."

REFLEX: ME /s/

2. Voiced alveolar fricative--when surrounded by voiced phonemes. Example: risan "rise."

REFLEX: ME /z/

SPELLING: s

SOUND