arduous, education_.

V. OF THE LETTER E.

The vowel _E_ has _two_ sounds properly its own,--and I incline to think,
_three_:--

1. The open, long, full, or primal _e_; as in _me, mere, menial,
melodious_.

2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _e_; as in _men, merry, ebony,
strength_.

3. The obscure or faint _e_; as in _open, garden, shovel, able_. This third
sound is scarcely perceptible, and barely sufficient to articulate the
consonant and form a syllable.

_E final_ is mute and belongs to the syllable formed by the preceding vowel
or diphthong; as in _age, eve, ice, ore_. Except--1. In the words, _be, he,
me, we, she_, in which it has the open sound; and the article _the_,
wherein it is open before a vowel, and obscure before a consonant. 2. In
Greek and Latin words, in which it has its open sound, and forms a distinct
syllable, or the basis of one; as in _Penelope, Pasiphae, Cyanee,
Gargaphie, Arsinoe, apostrophe, catastrophe, simile, extempore, epitome_.
3. In the terminations _ere, gre, tre_, in which it has the sound of
_close_ or _curt u_, heard before the _r_; as in _acre, meagre, centre_.

Mute _e_, after a single consonant, or after _st_ or _th_, generally
preserves the open or long sound of the preceding vowel; as in _cane, here,
pine, cone, tune, thyme, baste, waste, lathe, clothe_: except in syllables
unaccented; as in the last of _genuine_;--and in a few monosyllables; as
_bade, are, were, gone, shone, one, done, give, live, shove, love_.

DIPHTHONGS BEGINNING WITH E.

_E_ before an other vowel, in general, either forms with it an _improper_
diphthong, or else belongs to a separate syllable. We do not hear both
vowels in one syllable, except perhaps in _eu_ or _ew_.

_Ea_, an improper diphthong, mostly sounds like _open_ or _long e_; as in
_ear, fear, tea_; frequently like _close_ or _curt e_; as in _head, health,
leather_: sometimes, like _open_ or _long a_; as in _steak, bear,
forswear_: rarely, like _middle a_; as in _heart, hearth, hearken. Ea_ in
an unaccented syllable, sounds like _close_ or _curt u_; as _in vengeance,
pageant_.

_Ee_, an improper diphthong, mostly sounds like one _open_ or _long e_; as
in _eel, sheep, tree, trustee, referee_. The contractions _e'er_ and
_ne'er_, are pronounced _air_ and _nair_, and not like _ear_ and _near.
E'en_, however, preserves the sound of _open e. Been_ is most commonly
heard with the curt sound of _i, bin_.

_Ei_, an improper diphthong