Welcome to the History of English Podcast, a podcast about the history of the English

language.

This is episode 142, the Great Vowel Shift Part 2.

In this episode, we're going to continue our look at the Great Vowel Shift, and we're

going to do that by shifting our focus to the lower front part of the mouth.

There are several vowel sounds produced in that part of the mouth, and they were all

affected by the Great Vowel Shift.

These developments are fascinating, and, unfortunately, a bit complicated.

We'll begin with the specific changes associated with the vowel shift in the 1400s and 1500s,

but the changes didn't stop there.

These vowels kept moving over the following centuries, well into the modern English period,

and as they continue to be raised, they eventually crashed into the other vowel sounds at

the top of the mouth.

The result was the merger of several different vowel sounds, so there's a lot to keep track

of in this episode, but these developments are very important to the development of modern

English.

But before we begin, let me remind you that the website for the podcast is historyofenglishpodcast.com,

and you can sign up to support the podcast and get bonus episodes and transcripts at

patreon.com slash historyofenglish.

Now this is part two of our three-part look at the Great Vowel Shift, and my goal over

the course of these three episodes is to walk you through the specific changes associated

with the vowel shift.

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