['fu:θɔ:k]
n.
北欧古字母表

Futhorc \Fu"thorc\ Futhork \Fu"thork\, n. [Written also
{futharc}, {futhark}.]
The Runic alphabet; -- so called from the first six letters
f, u, [thorn] (th), o (or a), r, c (=k). See {futharc}. [Also
spelled {futharc} and {futhorc}.]

The letters are called Runes and the alphabet bears the
name Futhorc from the first six letters. --I. Taylor.

Note: The spelling futharc represents most accurately the
original values of these six Runic letters.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Futhorc \Fu"thorc\ Futhork \Fu"thork\, n. [Written also
{futharc}, {futhark}.]
The Runic alphabet; -- so called from the first six letters
f, u, [thorn] (th), o (or a), r, c (=k). See {futharc}. [Also
spelled {futharc} and {futhorc}.]

The letters are called Runes and the alphabet bears the
name Futhorc from the first six letters. --I. Taylor.

Note: The spelling futharc represents most accurately the
original values of these six Runic letters.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]


futharc \futharc\ futhorc \futhorc\n.
1. [From the sounds of the first five letters.] the name for
the runic alphabet. See {rune}. [Also spelled {futhork} or
{futhark}]

Note: The name is derived from the sounds of the first five
letters of the runic alphabet, f, u, th, o, r, and c.
The vowel sound of the fourth letter corresponded more
closely to a in the earlier versions used in
Scandinavian countries, and the earlier alphabet is
therefore referred to as the futharc or futhark. The
fifth rune had a sound like that of k, and in the
Danish futhark the fifth character is that
transliterated as k. Thus the runic alphabet is also
called the futhork or futhark. The third rune had a
sound and form resembling that of the Anglo-Saxon
thorn, which represented the th sound at the beginning
of the word thorn. The origins of the runic alphabet
are obscure, but the earliest forms may have been
invented around the second century A.D. in eastern
Europe. The forms of some of the letters show a
relation to the Latin or Greek alphabets, and the
futhorc was presumably in part an adaptation of those
alphabets to the sound of the Germanic tongues. An
inscription of the futhark itself, an ordered list of
the runes, was found on an object dated as early as the
fifth century A.D. The Scandinavian futharc had 16
runes, but the futhorc used in Anglo-Saxon England had
31. The futhark was mostly used for writing on wood,
for which reason the runes were comprised of only
vertical and diagonal strokes. The degree of widespread
use of the futharc is not known but it was probably
used mostly for short messages or inscriptions on
objects. Fewer than 10,000 runic inscriptions, both on
wood and stone, have been found. The number and forms
of some of the runes varied over time and locality.
--R. I. Page, ``Runes''.
[PJC]