Great Vowel Shift [SEP] start time
Great Vowel Shift
The Great Vowel Shift was a series of changes in the pronunciation of the English language that took place primarily between 1350 and the 1600s and 1700s, beginning in southern England and today having influenced effectively all dialects of English. Through this vowel shift, all Middle English long vowels changed their pronunciation. Some consonant sounds changed as well, particularly those that became silent; the term "Great Vowel Shift" is sometimes used to include these consonant changes.
English spelling began to become standardized in the 15th and
bi.de" and phonetically , had one stressed, open, long syllable. On the other hand, the word "bid", although stressed, had a short vowel: .
- At some point unknown, the phonetically long vowels began to diphthongize. This was the start of the Great Vowel Shift. Possibly at the same time, the short vowels became lax. So as "bide" became , "bid" changed to .
- At a later point, all word-final schwas were lost. The