palatalization. Sound approximations from various European languages have been given, but it is best to learn by the International Phonetic Alphabet transcriptions for more precise pronunciation. a for /ɑ/; General American English cot ā for /ɑː/; Norwegian ta b for /b/; English boy c for /k/; English cold ċ for /tʃ/; English cheese d for /d/; English dead e for /e/; Spanish me ē for /eː/; German See f for /f/; English fun; realised as [v] between voiced sounds (English thrive) g for /g/; realised as [ɣ] (Dutch getrouw) ġ for /j/; English yes ġġ or ċġ for /dʒ/; English wedge h for /h/; realised as [h] (English hunt) syllable-initially, as [x] after back vowels (German Nacht), and as [ç] after front vowels (German Sicht); h also represented devoicing before certain voiced consonants i for /i/; Spanish mí ī for /iː/; English three k for /k/; English kind; k was used rarely l for /l/; English light m for /m/; English mom n for /n/; English sin; realized as [ŋ] before c or g (English think) o for /o/; Spanish yo ō for /oː/; German froh p for /p/; English pip r for /r/; likely [r] (a "rolled" r), which is present in Scottish English s for /s/; English sit; voiced to [z] when between voiced sounds (English wise) sċ for /ʃ/; English ship t for /t/; English tart u for /u/; Spanish tú ū for /u/; English through x for /ks/; English fox y for /y/; equivalent to /i/ with rounded lips; Finnish mykkä ȳ for /yː/; equivalent to /iː/ with rounded lips; German früh ƿ for /w/; often replaced by modern w; English win ð for /θ/, which realised as [θ] (English think) or [ð] (English feather) depending upon position; interchangeable with þ þ for /θ/, which realised as [θ] (English think) or [ð] (English feather) depending upon position; interchangeable with ð æ for /æ/; English bat ǣ for /æː/; Finnish ääni œ for /ø/; Hungarian jövő œ̄ for /øː/; German schön or Hungarian jövő Grammar Mercian grammar has the same structure as other West Germanic dialects. Nouns Nouns have three genders: masculine, feminine, neuter; and four cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive. These, in addition, all have singular and plural forms. They can also be strong or weak. Examples Strong masculine noun stān (stone) nominative (singular, plural): stān, stānes accusative: stān, stānes dative: stāne, stānen genitive: stānes,