However, during the 16th and the 17th centuries, there were many different mergers, and some mergers can be seen in individual Modern English words like great, which is pronounced with the vowel as in mate rather than the vowel as in meat.
However, !during the 16th and the 17th centuries, there were many different mergers, and some mergers can be seen in individual Modern English words ,like great, which .is pronounced with the vowel as in mate rather than the vowe,l as in meat.