B

According to the Old English Dictionary:

THE sound of b is produced by the lips; hence it is called a labial con-sonant, 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

b interchanges with the other labials, f and p :-- 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. 2. 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 b = bh. This softer aspirated b generally occurs as a medial letter between two vowels; as,- -

O. Sax.		A. Sax.		Eng.
graban	=	grafan	=	engrave
klioban	=	cleófan	=	cleave
geðan	=	gifan	=	give

3. 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.

Related words: beorc. b