01 In Old English, the article the, when the following word began with a vowel, was often written with elision as if a part of the word. Thus …
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In Old English, the article the, when the following word began with a vowel, was often written with elision as if a part of the word. Thus in Chaucer, the forms thabsence, tharray, thegle, thend, thingot, etc., are found for the absence, the array, the eagle, the end, etc.