In some words there is an interchange of c and s, as decerte, pourchace pourchase, service servise, rancoun, suffice suffise, sufficant, &c., and the French termination -esse is also spelt -esce, as largesse largesce, simplesce simplesse; so also encresce, redresce, &c. In such points the orthography of Romance words is usually in accordance with that which we find in the author’s French writings, in which also are found such etymological forms as deceipte, doubte.
Before quitting the general subject, we ought to note certain words of common occurrence which are spelt not quite in the usual way. The author regularly writes bot for but, be for by, when used as a preposition and unemphatic, ous for us (pers. pron.), noght for not (not being used for ne wot). Some forms of proper names, as Habraham, Irahel, are characteristic. In these points, as in many others, the writer evidently followed a definite system, and in spite of the variations recorded, the orthography of the Fairfax and Stafford MSS. certainly conveys to the reader the general impression of regularity and consistency.
Phonology. (1) O. E. short vowels and diphthongs.
O. E. a, æ, ea. In the case of a (o) before a lengthening nasal combination, ld, nd, mb, ng, &c., we may note that though hond, honde, hondes are preferred, as by Chaucer, yet hand, handes pretty frequently occur, as i. 2, 1807, 2994, ii. 574, iii. 116, v. 1505, &c. (also handle, iii. 1956, v. 1949), and that without any necessity of rhyme. In fact hand seems to be rather preferred except in rhyme. Contrary to what is apparently Chaucer’s usage we find thonk, thonke as the regular forms in Gower, and only occasionally thank, as ii. 60, 2012. This may be due to the Kentish tendency to lengthen before nk, which perhaps was pronounced nearly as ng (see Morsbach, Mittelengl. Gramm., p. 128), and in this connexion we may note the fact that the Fairfax MS. twice has þong for þonk. On the other hand there is no definite trace of the principle which has been discovered in some of the Kentish texts of lengthening before these combinations when a vowel follows, while preserving a when the consonant group ends the word, honde, stonde, þonke, &c., but hand, stand, þank[R]. Gower uses handes as well as hand, and interchanges hange and honge, sang and song, according to convenience.
Note that upon rhymes freely with on (= one), anon, gon, &c., but the supposed rhyme on (ăn): mone, i. 2179, noted by Fahrenberg, is really one (ān): mone. In some cases of original ǣ shortened to æ Gower prefers e to a, as eny, only occasionally any, eddre beside addre, but lesse, ledde only for the sake of rhyme.
ea before h becomes ī in sih (from seah, sæh, pret. of sēon), which in Gower is the usual form of the word, æg forms ai (ay), as in dai, lay, mai, fain, slain, and other ai forms, which are not interchangeable with ei (but said with variant seid by influence of seie).
O. E. e. When we are dealing with so careful a rhymer as Gower, we need hardly remark upon the absolute distinction made between ę̄ derived from O. E. ĕ and ẹ̄ of whatever origin. The case of skiereþ: hiereþ, cited by Fahrenberg as an instance of the opposite, cannot be regarded as a real exception, in view of the uncertain derivation of skiere. His other cases of supposed ę : ẹ are instances of the pret. pl. spieke (speke), from sprǣcon, as spieke : beseke, ii. 959, sieke : spieke, ii. 1455. One is doubtful, viz. seke : mispeke, ii. 2007, where mispeke may be pret. subjunctive; and besides these, undergete: flete, ii. 1133 f. is irregular.
There is, however, also a well-marked distinction between new-lengthened ę̄ in words like trede, stede, bere, spere, &c., forȝete, gete, begete (inf. and partic.), mete (subst.), &c., and ę̄ from ǣ or ēa, the distinction being due presumably to imperfect lengthening. With the first class rank also words in which e is derived from O. E. y in open syllables, as lere (loss) from O. E. lyre, stere (stir) from styrian, dede (pret.) from dyde, and also e in answere.
Thus we find the following quite distinct sets of rhymes: bede, forbede (past participles), bede (subst.), dede (pret. = did), stede (stead), trede, forming one class and rhyming together, while they are kept entirely apart from threde, drede, dede (= dead), rede, pl. adj. (= red), which have ę̄ from ēa or ǣ. On the other hand, bede the pret. plur. of bidde (from bǣdon) rhymes with dede (dead), e.g. i. 2047.
So also answere, bere (subst.), bere (verb inf.), forbere, dere (destroy), lere (loss), stere (stir), bestere, swere (verb), tere (verb), were (wear), were (defend), form one class of rhyme-words as against ere, fere (fear), there, were (from wǣron), &c. But eere (verb) from erian rhymes with there, v. 819 f., and scheres with teres, v. 5691. The case of bere rhyming with were (from wǣron), i. 2795 f., vii. 1795 f., is not an exception to the rule, being the preterite plural, from bǣron.