(2) O. E. LONG VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS.
O. E. ā. The ǭ of hom rhymes, as in Chaucer, with the ọ̄ of the preterites com, nom, and also fom with nom, v. 4007. These must be regarded as imperfect rhymes, due to the want of strictly correct rhyme-words. Gower has regularly most (O. E. māst) and but once in rhyme mest (O. E. mǣst), lest : althermest, i. 3101 f.: also regularly oght, noght, and oghte (verb), but tawht : awht, i. 2770, and aghte : betaghte, viii. 747.
O. E. ǣ. This, when representing West-Germanic ā, Gothic ē, appeared as ē in the Old Anglian and Kentish dialects, and might naturally be expected to be sometimes close e in the language of Chaucer and Gower. It is well known that Chaucer uses many of the words which have this vowel in a variable manner.
The same is true to some extent also in words where the original ǣ corresponds to Germanic ai, and in which we find Old Kentish ē. Of these leden, clene, menen, leeren appear in Chaucer sometimes with ẹ̄ (and evere, nevere always). For these and some other cases see ten Brink, Chaucers Sprache, § 25.
When we compare Chaucer’s usage with that which we find in our author, we find what our former experience has prepared us to expect, viz. a greater strictness and regularity of usage in Gower. The examples of fluctuation between the two sounds are comparatively few.
Taking first the words in which ē is from ǣ corresponding to West-Germanic ā, we find the following with ę̄:
bede (pret. pl.), from bǣdon, (dede : bede, i. 2047 f.).
breth (: deth, i. 119, 2127, &c.).
fere, ‘fear,’ (: ere, i. 462, ii. 46).
her, ‘hair,’ (heres : teres, i. 2999).