Syncope sometimes results in the replacement of -ite with -te. For instance, trinte is sometimes found for trinite(“Trinity”).
Conversely, learned influence may sometimes result in -te with -ite, especially when the word goes back to a Latin original with -itās. This is exemplified by the replacement of personalte(“personality”) with personalite in later Middle English (compare Latin persōnālitās).
As in modern English, -ite tends to attract stress to the antepenultimate syllable, while -te leaves stress where it was on the root.
