Great Vowel Shift
Pronunciation change in English between 1350 and 1700
Summary
The Great Vowel Shift was a series of pronunciation changes in the vowels of the English language that took place primarily between the 1400s and 1600s, beginning in southern England and having influenced effectively all dialects of English today. Through this extensive vowel shift, the pronunciation of all Middle English long vowels altered. Some consonant sounds also changed, specifically becoming silent; the term Great Vowel Shift is occasionally used to include these consonantal changes.
Originally created by Josh Grosse
11/26/2001, 1:57:56 PM
Modified
5/18/2026, 2:48:24 PM
Recent revisions
/* Timeline */ original seems to be dead now
Quick cleanup per [[WP:NOPIPE]]
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1354731332|1354731332]] by [[Special:Contributions/~2026-29576-79|~2026-29576-79]] ([[User talk:~2026-29576-79|talk]])
/* Timeline */ tag and reason
/* Timeline */ fv
skinv
/* First phase */ obviously /iː uː/ becoming diphthongs occurred first
clean up, [[WP:AWB/T|typo(s) fixed]]: Early Modern → early modern
Requested clarification
/* Overall changes */
Hyperlinks in table
/* First phase */
Reverted 1 edit by [[Special:Contributions/~2026-10943-40|~2026-10943-40]] ([[User talk:~2026-10943-40|talk]]) to last revision by Citation unneeded
/* Overall changes */ made timeline a subsection and clarified some info
Added timeline note to correct refn group
/* Overall changes */ Added note regarding critique of timeline
minor lede tweak
/* top */added link to english language
