The long a, if prolonged by e at the end of the word, is always slender, as graze, fame.
A forms a diphthong only with i or y, and u or w. Ai or ay, as in plain, wain, gay, clay, has only the sound of the long and slender a, and differs not in the pronunciation from plane, wane.
Au or aw has the sound of the German a, as raw, naughty.
Ae is sometimes found in Latin words not completely naturalized or assimilated, but is no English diphthong; and is more properly expressed by single e, as Cesar, Eneas.
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.