based on conventional principle;
more ambiguous and less stable (printing was not introduced yet and the manuscripts contained numerous variants of spelling – practically each scribe had its own way to spell the words);
digraphs (2 letters = 1 sound) appear + 1 letter = several sounds, several letters/combinations of letters = 1 sound (these were the deviations from phonetic principle):
| 1 letter = several sounds | several letters/combinations of letters = 1 sound | ||
| letter | sounds | letters | sound |
| o | [o], [u], [o:], [ǿ] | g, dg, j | [dζ] |
| c | [s], [k] | k, c, q | [k] |
| g | [g], [dζ] | ||
| u | [u], [v] |