Since Chaucer lived before the Great Vowel Shift , which raised the pronunciation of English long vowels and in the case of and made them into dip-thongs, his pronunciation of vowels was much like that of German, French, and Italian of today. The approximate pronunciation of vowels and dip-thongs is shown in the following table. In some cases, such as words containing West Saxon ae, it is necessary to go behind the Old English vowels since the sounds so spelled were of two different origins, varied in the different dialects of Old English, and developed differently in Middle English. The spelling o or oo likewise represents two different sounds in Chaucer's works, that in Modern English broth and note. It is important to remember that the spelling oo in Chaucer would never be pronounced like modern English mood.
Pronunciation is approximate to dipthong in aisle, or resembling that in day.
A Kentish pronunciation is sometimes used for the sake of the rime. Consonants for the most part in Modern English is a sufficient guide to the pronunciation. Sometimes silent or weakly aspirated in he, his, him, hem, hit, hadde.