In l. 20, the accent over the _a_ in
_{'a}ld_ is marked in the MS., though the vowel was not originally long.
Even a glance at this comparative table reveals a peculiarity of the
Wessex dialect which properly belongs neither to Mercian nor to Modern
English, viz. the use of the diphthong _ea_ (in which each vowel was
pronounced separately) instead of simple _a_, before the sounds
denoted by _l_, _r_, _h_, especially when another consonant follows.
We find accordingly such Wessex forms as _eall_, _ceald_, _fealleth_,
_-feald_, _gealla_, _healf_, _healt_, _nearu_, _eald_, _seald_,
_weall_, _gearo_, where the Old Mercian has simply _all_, _cald_,
_falleth_, _-fald_, _galla_, _half_, _halt_, _naru_, _ald_, _sald_,
_wall_, _iara_. Similarly, Wessex has the diphthongs _{-e}a_, _{-e}o_,
in which the former element is long, where the Old Mercian has simply
_{-e}_ or _{-i}_. We find accordingly the Wessex _c{-e}ace_, _{-e}ac_,
_{-e}age_, _sc{-e}ap_, as against the Mercian _c{-e}ke_, _{-e}k_,
_{-e}ge_, _sc{-e}p_; and the Wessex _l{-e}ogan_, _l{-e}oht_, as
against the Mercian _l{-i}gan_, _l{-i}ht_.
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