A number of ME words derived from OF are spelled with both initial sc- and s(c)h- before a, e.g., scaffold/ s(c)haffold n., scalden/schald(e(n v., scandle/schaundle n. These spellings represent respectively [sk] and palatalized [š], an alternation which is part of the same phonetic principle responsible for the ME forms catel n./chatel n., carpenter/charpenter n., etc. and derives, in part, from dialect variation existing in OF. The part of the OF area in which the unpalatalized sound was used has in English dictionaries and treatises on OF traditionally been referred to as Old Northern French (ONF), and that label has been used in this dictionary. The ONF area embraces Flanders, Picardy, and the northern and eastern part of Normandy. The frequency of alternating forms in ME has been attributed to the presence of competing forms in Norman French and to the influence of the chancellary of the King of France. In citations to specific OF forms in the following entries the label ONF has been used only when the cited form could be located as either exclusively or chiefly within the ONF area; thus, forms which share the feature but could not be so located have been grouped under the label OF. When a form is attested in both AF and ONF, it has been labeled AF/ONF. For a parallel development before e, see, e.g., skek n., skekken v.(1), skellet n.(2), skeu n.(2), skeuen v.(2), skevein n., and skevinage n., though the ME evidence for the alternation of sc- and s(c)h- in this environment is not so widespread.