Between the 15th and 18th centuries, the Great Vowel Shift occurred. This shift affected pronunciation of long vowels in the English language. Physically, long vowel sounds were now pronounced higher in the mouth, changing the phonetic sound of words. It is thought that the process may have occurred through the 8 steps below.
The 8 Steps of the Great Vowel Shift:
1. i and u become aI and au
2. e and o move up becoming i and u
3. a moves foreword to æ
4. æ becomes e, ɔ becomes o
5. æ moves up to ɛ
6. e (created in step 4) moves to i
7. ɛ (from step 5) moves up to e
8. əI and əU drop to aI and aU
These steps would not happen quickly, but over time new pronunciations would be adopted. Although some more conservative speakers may have taken longer to move through the steps, other groups of language witnessed these changes at a faster rate. However, it is important to remember that the Great Vowel Shift was a very gradual process, that occurred over centuries- not over night.
Examples
Middle English Pronunciation - Modern English
toe became to
weef became wife
moos became mouse
bayn became been
heer became her
Examples
Middle English Pronunciation - Modern English
toe became to
weef became wife
moos became mouse
bayn became been
heer became her
Great! I would love to see some comments with examples from anyone. Either work out from the list what words would have sounded like and illustrate points that way or try and find some poetry where pre-standardisation spellings or rhyme pairs reflect the older pronunciations
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