Elision of weak final _e_ takes place regularly before a vowel or an unaspirated _h_. We must observe that several classical proper names ending originally in _ē_, as _Alceone_, _Daphne_, _Progne_, _Phebe_, have weak _e_ and are subject to elision, and under this head it may be noted that _Canace_ rhymes to _place_, whereas Chaucer (referring to Gower’s story) gives the name as _Canacee_, in rhyme with _he_. Also the combinations _byme_, _tome_, _tothe_, &c., have weak _-e_ and are elided before a vowel. An aspirated _h_ prevents elision as effectively as any other consonant. We have ‘min holë herte,’ ‘gretë hornes,’ ‘Cadmë hyhte,’ ‘Mi Sonë, herkne,’ ‘proprë hous,’ ‘fastë holde’ (and even ‘othrë herbes,’ iv. 3008); but there are some words in which _h_ is aspirated only when they are emphatic in sense or position, as _have_, _hath_, _he_, _him_, _hire_, _how_, &c. For example, elision takes place usually before _have_, _he_, _how_, but not so as a rule in cases where they are used in rhyme or with special emphasis, e.g. i. 2542, ‘Of such werk as it scholde have,’ ii. 2479, cp. v. 7766, ‘Wenende that it were he,’ iv. 3604, ‘And al the cause hou it wente.’ On the other hand, the preterite _hadde_ seems to have an aspirated _h_ even in unemphatic position, as ii. 589, ‘The Sceptre hadde forto rihte’: compare vii. 2364, ‘Victoire hadde upon his fo,’ with vii. 2392, ‘Thogh thou victoire have nou on honde.’ Elision also takes place before _hierafter_, though not before _hiere_. There is one instance of hiatus, viii. 110, ‘That he his Sone Isaäc,’ and it may be noted that the same thing occurs with the same name in the _Mirour_, 12241, ‘De Isaak auci je lis.’ The article _the_ regularly coalesces with a succeeding word beginning with a vowel or mute _h_, as _thaffeccioun_, _thalemans_, _thamende_, _thapostel_, _thastat_, _theffect_, _themperour_, _thenvious_, _therbage_, _therthe_, _thexperience_, _thonour_, _thother_, _thunsemlieste_, _thyle_, &c. The exceptions, which are very few, are cases of special emphasis, as i. 3251, ‘The Erthe it is.’ Similarly the negative particle _ne_ with a succeeding verb beginning with a vowel, as _nam_, _naproche_, _nis_ (but _ne have_), and also occasionally with some words beginning with _w_, forming _nere_, _nost_, _not_, _nyle_, _nyste_, &c. In some few instances _to_ coalesces with the gerund, as _tacompte_, _teschuie_.