> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5 PM Pacific Daylight Time, > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > It all started with the Great Vowel Shift... > > -frank > ====== > Okay, I'll bite. What the heck is the Great Vowel Shift? > > Marnie aka who has a lot of vowels >
it is the name given to the changes in pronunciation of English vowels that took place from the 15th to 18th centuries. To some extent it is still taking place. It's the reason why some old poems have so-called half-rhymes (ie they don't rhyme) - they did at the time - and one of the reasons why English spelling can seem illogical. Spelling was codified at a particular time and place along the line of the GVS, and more or less accurately represents the pronunciation of the time & place, but the pronunciation has since shifted. Listen to some of the recordings here: http://facweb.furman.edu/~mmenzer/gvs/what.htm There is a distinct vowel shift taking place even now in the northern cities of the USA among middle-class white people. You may have fewer vowels than you think! In English a lot of spelt vowels are just pronounced as schwa (the 2nd vowel in 'butter'), or as diphthongs (and sometimes even triphthongs) depending on the variety of English, rather than as vowels. Bob -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
