E.
E is the letter which occurs most frequently in the English language.
E is long, as in scēne; or short, as in cĕllar, sĕparate, cĕlebrate, mĕn, thĕn.
It is always short before a double consonant, or two consonants, as in vĕx, pĕrplexity, relĕnt, mĕdlar, rĕptile, sĕrpent, cĕllar, cĕssation, blĕssing, fĕll, fĕlling, dĕbt.
E is always mute at the end of a word, except in monosyllables that have no other vowel, as the; or proper names, as Penelope, Phebe, Derbe; being used to modify the foregoing consonants, as since, once, hedge, oblige; or to lengthen the preceding vowel, as băn, bāne; căn, cāne; pĭn, pīne; tŭn, tūne; rŭb, rūbe; pŏp, pōpe; fĭr, fīre; cŭr, cūre; tŭb, tūbe.
Almost all words which now terminate in consonants ended anciently in e, as year, yeare; wildness, wildnesse; which e probably had the force of the French e feminine, and constituted a syllable with its associate consonant; for in old editions words are sometimes divided thus, clea-re, fel-le, knowled-ge. This e was perhaps for a time vocal or silent in poetry as convenience required; but it has been long wholly mute. Camden in his Remains calls it the silent e.
It does not always lengthen the foregoing vowel, as glŏve, lĭve, gĭve.
It has sometimes in the end of words a sound obscure, and scarcely perceptible, as open, shapen, shotten, thistle, participle, metre, lucre.
This faintness of sound is found when e separates a mute from a liquid, as in rotten, or follows a mute and liquid, as in cattle.
E forms a diphthong with a, as near; with i, as deign, receive; and with u or w, as new, stew.
Ea sounds like e long, as mean; or like ee, as dear, clear, near.
Ei is sounded like e long, as seize, perceiving.
Eu sounds as u long and soft.
E, a, u, are combined in beauty and its derivatives, but have only the sound of u.
E may be said to form a diphthong by reduplication, as agree, sleeping.
Eo is found in yeoman, where it is sounded as o short; and in people, where it is pronounced like ee.