Great Vowel Shift

impossible to read by many modern day readers. They tend to struggle thru understanding many of the words, as well as their meanings within this story. As I read The Canterbury Tales I noticed how the rhythm and rhyme differ from modern day English, the vowel are pronounced differently, and many of the words used within this story are no longer used in modern English. Additionally there are three main changes to that can be seen over time within the English language, vocabulary, pronunciation, and sentence

adapting throughout time. A major aspect that distinguishes Middle English from Modern English is called the Great Vowel Shift. This shift was a progressive change, throughout multiple centuries, in pronunciation that resulted in the long vowel sounds being made higher and further forward in the mouth (“Great Vowel Shift”). Geoffrey Chaucer, of the Middle Ages, may be used as an example of this shift. In his literature, a word such as “lyf” was pronounced as leef and later became the modern word life.

Standardization of the English Language There are several important events before 1500 that when listed together show a series of steps in the struggle for English language supremacy. These steps are mainly governmental, legal and official events that pushed English usage. In 1356 The Sheriff's Court in London and Middlesex were conducted in English for the first time. When Parliament opened in 1362 the Statute of Pleading was issued declaring English as a language of the courts as well as of Parliament

(1500-1800) was followed after the Middle English Era. The Modern English phase is sub divided into the early and late phases. The Late Mordern English phase is followed by the Modern English phase. By the end of the Middle English Era, the great vowel shift had begun. Events that took place during this era helped in shaping the English language the way it is today. British was in contact with many other countries. This lead to the development of new words and phrases and hence a greater addition

David Crystal 's news article, “2b or Not 2b”, address issues in direct contradiction to John Humphrys article “ I h8t txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language”, which sought to bring to focus the havoc that texting has brought upon the modern English language. Pointing out that, while texting has been a change largely impactful on the English language it poses no threat and should not be considered as such. Using examples throughout history to prove that abbreviations in word and language

Language is what we learn from society and not something by birth. ENGLISH language is the most commonly spoken language around the world. It is considered as the official language in many countries as well as 2nd most used language in most of the countries around the world. With the increased popularity of this language and development all around the world, the number of people willing to learn and use English have also increased. So along with the growing popularity of English language the methods

Kevin Yousif Mr. Brown AP English Language and Composition 17 November 2015 Language, and a Better Understanding Language is a topic that will never cease to adapt, from slang being developed in suburbs of urban cities, to new additions to the Oxford dictionary. We, students of English, use different concepts of language almost everyday and most of the time we don’t even realize it. To get a better understanding of the English language and concepts developed within it, one would turn to look at the

ever-evolving era of the Modern English language is characterized not only by newer variations in grammar and consonant structure, the standardization of what appeared to be a vastly more succinct system of lettering, the lasting affects of the Great Vowel Shift, and key contributors such as William Shakespeare and William Caxton, but also by the adoption and integration of other cultures into the spoken and written English language. Language exists as one of the they key disseminations of culture, if

short vowel /a/ and /e/. The months April and March are spelled the same as modern spellings, so the reader may infer the sounds are the same. Therefore, the modern short vowel rule applies to Middle English as well. Droghte and drought are spelled similarly except for the vowels. The Etymology Dictionary defines droghte as dryness. So droghte and drought are synonyms. (Harper). Perced is also easy for the modern reader to decode. It is spelled nearly the same as pierce except the vowel /i/

parents speak and start to internalize it in a different way. Before today’s “Modern” English, there were major shifts: Old English Shift and Great Vowel Shift. Both of these lead to how we speak today and why we speak the way we do. Bruce Mitchell and Fred C. Robinson state in “A Guide to Old English”, in the Old English language they used the Germanic language of Great Britain. This can be