The Great Vowel Shift (jan 1, 1350 – nov 23, 1600)

Description:

The Great Vowel Shift was a massive sound change affecting the long vowels of English during the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries.

Basically, the long vowels shifted upwards; that is, a vowel that used to be pronounced in one place in the mouth would be pronounced in a different place, higher up in the mouth.

The GVS has had long-term implications for, among other things, orthography, the teaching of reading and the understanding of any English-language text written before or during the shift.

http://facweb.furman.edu/~mmenzer/gvs/what.htm

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