The Great Vowel Shift
The History of the English Language
Course 1 · Chapter 6 · The Great Vowel Shift
Why do the letters in meet, bite and mate not match the sounds as they would in many other languages? Much of the answer, according to the sources, is the Great Vowel Shift, a series of changes to English long vowels between about 1400 and 1700. This chapter sets out what the sources say changed, when, and what scholars still argue about.
What changed
The Great Vowel Shift article describes the long vowels moving up, and the highest ones breaking into diphthongs (two-part vowels). Its examples:
| Before | After | Example word | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| /iː/ | /aɪ/ | bite | The close front vowel became a diphthong |
| /uː/ | /aʊ/ | out | The close back vowel became a diphthong |
| /eː/ | /iː/ | meet | A close-mid vowel rose |
| /oː/ | /uː/ | boot | A close-mid vowel rose |
| /ɛː/ | /eː/, then /iː/ | meat | An open-mid vowel rose in two steps |
| /ɔː/ | /oː/, then /oʊ/ | boat | An open-mid vowel rose, then changed again |
| /aː/ | /æː/, /ɛː/, then /eɪ/ | mate | The open vowel rose in several steps |
The article adds that /uː/ did not shift before labial consonants or after /j/, as in soup, which is why soup does not sound like out. Some consonant changes where sounds became silent are sometimes included under the same name.
When
- Overall: mainly between 1400 and 1700, according to the article. Changes after 1700 are not counted as part of it.
- First phase: completed around 1500.
- Second phase: /aː/ was raised around 1550, and the open-mid vowels after 1600.
The Middle English and Chancery Standard articles, as read in Chapters 3 and 4, place the start of spelling standardisation in the same century, the 15th, so the spellings were fixed while the sounds were moving. The Early Modern English article says its period began in the late 15th century and that Modern English was "fully" in place by 1714, with spelling still fluid until Johnson's Dictionary in 1755.
Why did it happen?
The article does not say. It gives two proposals about the order of the changes:
| Model | Proposed by | Idea |
|---|---|---|
| Push chain | Lass | The close-mid vowels rose first and pushed the closest vowels, /iː/ and /uː/, into diphthongs |
| Drag chain | Handke | The closest vowels broke into diphthongs first, leaving a gap the others rose into; based on a phonetic split between high and like/my |
The article does not discuss social theories, so I do not describe any. On the values of the new diphthongs, it says Lass thinks /iː uː/ became /ei ou/ around 1500 and shifted further later, while Dobson, Kökeritz and Cercignani argue they were centralised and lowered at once, and Stockwell (1961) proposed a third route. I show these disagreements and do not choose.
What it explains about spelling
The article says "English spelling did not adapt to the changes", while German spelling did (the example it gives is bīzen becoming beißen). Spelling kept the older vowel values, so the vowel letters in English words such as bite and mate no longer match the sounds the same letters stand for in the older values. The Early Modern English article gives related evidence: both Early Modern and Modern English "retain various orthographical conventions that predate the Great Vowel Shift", and doom and come rhyme in Shakespeare.
Other sound changes in Early Modern English
The Early Modern English article lists other changes in the same centuries, with the caution above:
- Initial clusters such as /wr kn ɡn/ were pronounced in full and had reduced by the 16th to 17th centuries (compare the silent letters in write and knee).
- The /h/ of wh was kept for a time, so wine and whine differed.
- The sound of gh was lost.
- Would and should began losing the /l/ by the 1640s.
Words to know
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Long vowel | A vowel held longer than a short one; in Middle English a separate sound, not just a spelling |
| Diphthong | A vowel that glides from one sound to another |
| Push chain | A change where one sound moves and pushes the next out of the way |
| Drag chain | A change where a sound moves into a gap and drags others after it |
| IPA | The International Phonetic Alphabet, a system for writing sounds |
| Merger | When two sounds become one |
✏️ Try It Yourself
Think of the answer first, then click to check.
1. What are the dates the article gives for the Great Vowel Shift?
Show answer
Mainly between 1400 and 1700, with the first phase completed around 1500.
2. What happened to the highest long vowels, /iː/ and /uː/?
Show answer
They became diphthongs: /iː/ to /aɪ/ (bite) and /uː/ to /aʊ/ (out).
3. What happened to /eː/ and /oː/?
Show answer
They rose to /iː/ (meet) and /uː/ (boot).
4. What is the difference between a push chain and a drag chain?
Show answer
In the push chain (Lass) the close-mid vowels rose first and pushed the closest ones into diphthongs; in the drag chain (Handke) the closest vowels broke up first and the others rose into the gap.
5. Why does soup not sound like out?
Show answer
The article says /uː/ did not shift before labial consonants or after /j/.
6. What does the article say about German spelling and the shift?
Show answer
German spelling was changed to match the changes (bīzen became beißen), while English spelling did not adapt.
7. Which rhyme in Shakespeare is given as evidence of sounds moving away from the spelling?
Show answer
Doom and come rhyme (per the Early Modern English article).
8. Name two other sound changes in this period.
Show answer
For example the reduction of initial wr and kn clusters, the loss of the sound of gh, and the loss of /l/ in would and should by the 1640s.