Phonology
The root syllable length in Old Swedish could be short (VC), long (V:C, VC:) or overlong (V:C:). During the Late Old Swedish period the short root syllables (VC) were lengthened and the overlong root syllables (V:C:) were shortened, so modern Swedish only has the combinations V:C and VC:. Unlike in modern Swedish, a short vowel in Old Swedish did not entail a long consonant.
There were eight vowels in Early Old Swedish: /iː, yː, uː, oː, eː, aː, øː, ɛː/. A vowel shift (stora vokaldansen) occurred during the Late Old Swedish period, which had the following effects:
- became (blā → blå, blue)
- became (bōk → bok, book)
- became (hūs → hus, house)
The consonant sounds were largely the same as in modern Swedish, with the notable exceptions of /ð/ and /θ/, which do not exist in modern Swedish.
Read more about this topic: Old Swedish