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3. What are the main consequences of the Transition from Middle English to Early
Modern English?
Lecture №
5.
Plan: The Great Vowel Shift.
Although the population of London in 1400 was only about 40,000, it was by far the largest
city in England. York came second, followed by Bristol, Coventry, Plymouth, and Norwich.
The Midlands and East Anglia, the most densely populated parts of England, supplied London
with streams of young immigrants. The speech of the capital was mixed, and it was changing.
The seven long vowels of Chaucer's speech had already begun to shift.
The Great Vowel Shift.
What Was It?
The Great Vowel Shift was a gradual process which began in Chaucer's time (early 15th
Century) and was continuing through the time of Shakespeare (early 17th Century). Speakers
of English gradually changed the parts of their mouth used to articulate the long vowels.
Simply put, the articulation point moved upward in the mouth. The vowels, which began
being pronounced at the top, could not be moved farther up (without poking into the nose);
they became diphthongs
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. The upshot has been that the Anglo-Saxons lived (like the Scottish
still do) in a 'hoose', and the English live in a 'house'; the Anglo-Saxons (like the Scottish)
milked a 'coo', and the English milk a 'cow'; an Anglo-Saxon had a 'gode' day and the English
have a 'good' one; an Anglo-Saxon had 'feef' fingers on each hand and the English have 'five';
they wore 'boats' on their 'fate' while the English wear 'boots' on our 'feet'. The Great Vowel
Shift is still continuing today in regional dialects; many speakers are now trying to move the
topmost articulation points farther up, producing new diphthongs.
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