O.E. ĭ is preserved as i and y: [51] knyght—nyght. [307] dym—hym. [1783] myld—child. Only once this vowel has changed into e: [714] wret—get. i rhymes with e: [3] wynde—ende—lende—ffynde.
O.E. ŏ is unaltered: [422] gold—mold. [1122] gold—mold.
O.E. ŭ has become o: [367] dore (ags. duru)—befor). [765] Aragon)—son). [1257] ouer com—Aragon). [1762] com)—kyngdome. [1801] done—sonne (ags. sunu). [2320] sonne—dungeon.
O.E. y̆, the i-umlaut of ŭ, has the value of i, written i or y: [390] kysse—iwysse. [1564] till̴—fullefyll̴, yll̴—wyll̴. [1740] evyll̴—fulle fylle. Only once it rhymes with e: [1484] hyll̴ (= hell̴)—yell̴—befell̴—well̴, never with u.
2. LONG VOWELS.
O.E. â is preserved in the following rhymes:[2] a. [39] take—stroke (= strake, ags. strâc), spake—take. [97] sore—fare. [103] goos—takythe (= gas—tas). [280] wakyn)—tokyn) (ags. tâcen). [334] care—sore. [590] fare—wher, hore—care. [705] fare—gere (ags. gâr). [788] Iame—name, bone—schame. [834] ga—ma. [977] fare—bare, sare—chaffare. [1143] glade—rade. [1238] Cate—gate, bad—wott (ags. wât). [1251] brod—made; cf. [1303], [1306], [1501], [1526], [1604], [1612], [1663], [1669], [1825], [1911], [2178], [2356], [2617].
b. O.E. â has changed into o: [16] sone (ags. sunu)—gon. [141] rode—rode (ags. rôd—râd). [195] bon (ags. bân)—Rome. [238] wote (ags. wât)—fote. [654] browȝ—goo. [1062] tho—do. Cf. [1196], [1226], [1295], [1381], [1809], [1812], [1815], [2013], [2025], [2028], [2037], [2046], [2295], [2298], [2301], [2542]. The result is, that in 26 cases old â is preserved, in 22 cases changed into ô.
O.E. æ̂ is turned into (1) a: [154] were—fare. [603] fare—were. [1020] were—fare. [2074] care—ware.
Into (2) e. [379] dede (ags. dæ̂d)—hed. [1047] were—chere. [1053] sped—lede (ags. læ̂dan). [1263] stede—wede (ags. wæ̂d).
Into (3) o. [1113] mone (ags. mæ̂nan)—Aragon. [1384] beffore—there—were.