AÎ The letter combination aî represents the stressed sound /ɛr/. It's typically found in nouns and adjectives where the stem ends in -aire. E.g. to compare, the comparison, comparable, comparative [Modern English] ta compaire, þe compaîasson, compaîable, compaîatif [Inglish] to bear, bearable [Modern English] ta baire, baîable [Inglish] to wear, wearable [Modern English] ta ɯaire, ɯaîable [Inglish] Citations: https://www.etymonline.com/word/compare#etymonline_v_28450 https://www.oed.com/dictionary/compare_v1?tab=factsheet#8798097 https://www.etymonline.com/word/comparison#etymonline_v_17255 https://www.oed.com/dictionary/comparison_n?tab=factsheet#8798877 https://www.etymonline.com/word/comparable#etymonline_v_28449 https://www.oed.com/dictionary/comparable_adj?tab=factsheet#8796237 https://www.etymonline.com/word/comparative#etymonline_v_28456 https://www.oed.com/dictionary/comparative_adj?tab=factsheet#8796842 https://www.etymonline.com/word/bear#etymonline_v_8203 https://www.oed.com/dictionary/bear_v1?tab=meaning_and_use#25248525 https://www.etymonline.com/word/bearable#etymonline_v_29878 https://www.oed.com/dictionary/bearable_adj?tab=factsheet#25263140 https://www.etymonline.com/word/wear#etymonline_v_4874 https://www.oed.com/dictionary/wear_v1?tab=factsheet#15155146 https://www.oed.com/dictionary/wearable_adj?tab=factsheet#14774017