You say TOMAYTO, I say TOMAHTO, but WHY?? Tomatoes, potatoes and the Great Vowel Shift

[@jamesmcinnis208]

They were smart to name it "The Great Vowel Shift" rather than "The Great Vowel Movement."

[@YamnayaSintash]

Haha 💩 fuuny

[@wolfman_jack]

👏 Bravo!

[@cobracommander8133]

😂😂

[@FJWoods007]

Ten points.

[@DavidLimKP]

@@YamnayaSintash 9999

[@alicerossi_ap]

Yes, please. All this is so interesting and instructive and gives a logical sense to so many peculiarities of pronunciation typical of the English language. Thanks so much, cheers!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

My pleasure. Glad you liked the video

[@foodengineer1763]

hi Alice, your English sounds perfect.

[@foodengineer1763]

@@linda99091 hi marina, where are you from?

[@2299arthur]

@@foodengineer1763 Stop simping bro, they don't want anything to do with you

[@foodengineer1763]

@@2299arthur mind your business my friend, we are all aware of what we do.

[@SaguaroBlossom]

I've heard it phrased. "A tomato is technically a fruit, but nutritionally a vegetable." (Same with Avocado) "Intelligence is knowing tomatoes are a fruit, but common sense is knowing they don't belong in a fruit salad."

[@thepentecostalunderstanding]

The way you pronounced the "before GVS" words, sounds so much like how we Norwegians pronounce the exact same words (the meaning are also the same). We pronounce house like "Hoos", bite like "Beet" and knife like "Kneev" with the K pronounced. Everything sounded incredibly Norwegian to my ears which baffled me! I would gladly hear more English in GVS pronunciation because it probably would sound very close to Norwegian or Scandinavian.

[@voxveritas333]

don't forget about the Danelaw period in Britain's history and the Norse influence on English!

[@SiriusMined]

At the end of the day, both Norwegian and the other Scandinavian languages (except Finnish) and English are Germanic at their roots.

[@herrbonk3635]

@@SiriusMined And both Scandinavian (especially Swedish) and English were affected by French, although in different ways. English was almost replaced by the Norman French language, while the Swedish people took in a great number of French words during the 1400s to 1700s more voluntarily. It was still totally top down though, but more by fashion than oppression. However, unlike in English, the French loans did not affect the vowels of germanic words. Also unlike English, they usually kept some (modern/Paris-) French sounding qualities. Their spellings were also largely adopted to the Swedish system, with some exceptions. Their "French melody" affected some other words though, and were also used for new words. It basically became a third stress pattern and melody in Swedish. Grave accent, acute accent and French end-syllable stress (which technically counts as accute accent, although very different sounding).

[@larsutzenbisgaard6397]

Likewise in danish: hus, bid and kniv. Especially in the peninsula of Jutland, many words are pronounced like english before gvs.

[@emmabraem1729]

It also sounded like Flemish. Aspecialy West-Flemish.

[@phoenixmassey]

My mum’s parents were British. She grew up in the States. My dad was American. He grew up in England. Guess what? I pronounce tomato both ways! 😉 Seriously, I love the history of language! More please! I am reading The Loom of Language because you recommended it. Thank you!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Thanks, I hope you're enjoying the Loom of Language

[@phoenixmassey]

@@LetThemTalkTV I am!

[@sophitsa79]

Have you noticed a pattern to when you use either pronunciation?

[@yunuscurrie3410]

Similar happened to me, so instead i have my own pronounciation of tomato. The 'a' is pronounced like the 'a' in bath (american pronounciation) or the way 'a' was pronouced before the vowel shift

[@Crisguay]

Many thanks for sharing this outstanding piece of English pronunciation history. I would like to know more of them. I feel that it is a wonderful way to understand and set apart the different sounds of English for the same vowels. Which is quite tricky by the way!!! Not only are you an excellent teacher, but also a good communicator!! 🤓

[@LetThemTalkTV]

It's very kind of you to say that. I'll do more for sure.

[@Tedinator01]

The Great Vowel Shift is an absolutely fascinating subject. An episode on this would be greatly appreciated.

[@foamheart]

Yes more history please, I found this very interesting.

[@thomassunkel9229]

Oh my god: B‘nana vs. Bänänah.

[@walterweiss7124]

@@thomassunkel9229 strange enough in Spanish it's platano

[@AlbertoCastel845]

In Mexico we have green and red tomatoes. The red ones are called (mainly in central Mexico) "jitomates" (from the nahuatl "xictitomatl", which means "navel tomato"). The green ones are a completely different species and are called "tomates verdes" or just "tomates" or "tomatillos" or "miltomates" (from the nahuatl "miltomatl" which means "tomatoes from the corn fields").

[@walterweiss7124]

lovely nahuatl, once I tried that corn schnaps, forgot the name (I don't mean mezcal or tequila of course)

[@AlbertoCastel845]

@@walterweiss7124 Maybe tejuino? (náhuatl tecuin - beating heart)

[@walterweiss7124]

@@AlbertoCastel845 similar indeed, but it was pulque (both look milky)

[@AlbertoCastel845]

@@walterweiss7124 OK but pulque is made from the sap of the maguey or agave.

[@walterweiss7124]

@@AlbertoCastel845 I see, you're right, didn't know that, I was convinced it's made of corn, bec my friend told me so

[@GroovingPict]

House and mouse are still written and pronounced "hus" and "mus" in Scandinavian languages. And English actually does it too, in a commonly used compound word: "husband". Which is a word imported from Scandinavian, which roughly translated means something like the "man of the house" or "master of the house" (as opposed to other men or boys who might live on the same farm for example as hired farmhands). In Scandinavian languages the word is more archaic these days, but the Swedish translation of the famous record label "His Master's Voice" for example is "Husbondens Röst"

[@Saartje05]

house and mouse in Dutch are huis and muis

[@voxveritas333]

I think it's the great strength of English that we have all these variations in speaking. It makes us more receptive to hearing and attuning ourselves to understand all the ways that other people are learning and speaking our language, for all its difficulties and wackiness! We are so fortunate that others want to learn English, difficult as it may be.

[@bernatpanxeta]

Very interesting! I'm from a small and isolated valley in Northern Majorca. We got a road to the other parts of the island in the midle of XIXth century. So we have more relations with Southern France. We spoke a local dialect mixed of catalan and french ( now it's almost extinct). Nor catalans or french could understand us. This dialect has survived for about 200 years, growing and changing very fast, until the arriving of mass media and massive standard education. Now it's finishing its time of life. It has been an amazing and interesting experiment with language. Now I'm trying to make english my second language, with some people here, to avoid the growing of spanish in our land. We prefer to learn english, a far language, than spanish, too nearer to us. I follow all your videos. I'm learning more english than at school. Thank you very much, sir!

[@RGF19651]

As is often said, the Yanks and Brits are separated by a common language. But a very interesting way of separation. More videos like these would be would be greatly appreciated indeed.

[@lisogato2000]

This channel is fascinating! I could hear you talk aaall day... Plus I've noticed significant difference to my pronanciation... As a music teacher I guarantee you have an exquisite music ear... It's a wonder you're not a soloist, with that ability... But then again, in fact you are...your instrument is the language... I can only feel gratitude for your lessons...

[@TraceyTaylor]

Please, please give us more about the history of the English language! The GVS is fascinating, and nothing like that was ever taught in my achools. What a helpful clarifier that would have been while learning and accepting all the irregularities of English! Thank you for what you do!

[@svetlanafasolko3482]

Hello, Gideon! Your videos about history of English language, accents and pronunciation are absolutely stunning, it's such a pleasure to know more about beautiful English language and culture! Thank you for your work 🤩 That would be just awesome to watch more ☺

[@Dulyman7]

Absolutely loved this. It’s incredible how learning a language (or learning more about your own language) is also a lesson in history! Thanks, Gideon.

[@dinkster1729]

Except Gideon's comments about Canada are off. Gee! He got a Norwegian to speak Norwegian. He should have gotten a Canadian to say "about" and "boot". The American kids up at the lake used to ask my daughter to talk because they thought she talked funny. They were from Pennsylvania. An teacher from Florida used to correct my pronunciation: VAY-hickel not VE hicle! Honey, there's an E in vehicle not an AY.

[@fr4946]

Never heard about the GVS before, to know a bit more about it would be absolutely brilliant. Also always wondered about the differences between the pronunciations of tomato and this video explains it very well. Thanks

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Thanks, I'll do more about the GVS

[@dinkster1729]

My Canadian husband says his Canadian grandmother used to say, "tomato" not toMAYto. Modern Canadian say "To MAY to" and would think that "tomato" was British. Perhaps, that song from the Gershwins indicates that some Americans did say, "Tomato" at one time.

[@TheGaspar2009]

I really like the videos about history. You make a great job for the english learners around the world. Thank you.

[@oldeagle5942]

Yes your videos about history of language and pronunciation are great. Keep doing it

[@LetThemTalkTV]

You inspire me to do so.

[@kirstenriehl700]

Language history is so interesting! More videos about this topic, please!

[@CelesteL]

Love learning the origins of words. Do prepare more lessons like this one, please!

[@denmadhav]

It's fascinating to listen to you. Please give us a video on the GVS with examples. I'm sure it will be interesting.

[@vickivaughnmorrison6170]

Yes, I agree! I'd love to learn more about the GVS! I'm from the USA. My son -in-law is from Australia. He says we have lazy vowels in the USA. I reply that they have lazy consonants in Australia, especially the R. Then we all have a big laugh.

[@tijanaseptembar]

Following your channel is one of the best decisions I've made. It is not anymore about learning English but understanding it together with a pinch of history. In school we learned english english. (From sussex )

[@tijencan45]

Yes please. I would love to watch more history about English language. Thanks

[@manjirabanerjee7169]

Couldn't thank you enough for this intriguing lesson ; would appreciate more of the same ilk,dear Sir.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

More to come! Thanks

[@kenanthony1738]

Yes, make more videos, they are excellently made and very informative - thank you for your work making them.

[@DanielVSeeger]

Dear Gideon, you made me very curious about the GWS in this amazing video. It would be just fantastic if you could expand on this topic. Many thanks!

[@WayneKitching]

Very interesting video! As a South African, our "aspirational" accent when speaking English is RP. School kids are influenced by American TV and KZbin videos, and teachers often correct them when they pronounce words like "grass" like an American. What I find interesting though, is that the dialects in the North of England pronounce the "a" in "grass" similar to the Americans. I've read that this pronunciation was common throughout England until the Southerners starting changing the vowel to sound more posh, but the Northerners and Americans either didn't get the memo, or they just didn't care! 😂 I'd like for you to talk about "archaic" English pronunciations that survives in the USA.

[@jameshitselberger5845]

That would be a great idea...the word yonder is still used in some places, though by an older generation generally...

[@harrynewiss4630]

More complicated than that. West country English pronounciations of words like 'grass' are different again, with a different vowel quality.

[@edgarrodriguez8973]

The most amazing English history video I've seen. As a native Spanish speaker, British pronounciation make more sense seeing the GVS and the historical development. Delightful!

[@hannametzger4080]

lovely. A calm way to think about language. The history of words is endlessly fascinating.

[@patrickalvino-g7v]

The wonderful Gershwin song is really a comment on how some upper class or upper class want to be Americans would affect some aspects of posh British speech in the early to mid twentieth century. You covered this in your brilliant video on the "mid- Atlantic" or "transatlantic" accent. These people would sometimes over compensate and say things like "po-taahto" believing this was how the British aristocracy would say it to rhyme with "tomaahto" I certainly remember people in my grandmother's generation going this. Would love to hear more about the GVS. Thanks for the wonderful videos.

[@dinkster1729]

I think some people decades ago just said, "tomato", not "to MAY to". My husband's Grandmother apparently did. She would have died in the 1960s or so, I think. My husband just remembers that she did because it wasn't the usual pronunciation in Eastern Ontario. She wasn't English either.

[@Silver_Willow]

Gideon, this is fabulous, thank you so much for such an interesting, captivating history lesson! Please make more!

[@ajwinberg]

I'm America, so I say tamayto. I just found your channel and I have really been enjoying it.

[@FionaEm]

That was fascinating! I didn't know "po-tah-to" was an actual thing before the Great Vowel Shift, because no-one speaking modern English ever says it that way. I'd also never thought of Geordie pronunciation being akin to Middle English, but on reflection, you're quite right 😊 Cheers from Australia (where we definitely don't sound Geordie 😅)

[@dinkster1729]

I read Chaucer once with my boyfriend who was doing an exam in Middle English. I did find myself using a kind of Scottish accent while reading the Chaucer out loud.

[@user-pz9uw1d07]

First time I hear about the great vowel shift. Thank you very much

[@nicolasmartin-minaret6157]

16:06 that's call "analogy", even though the term is more used for grammatical features. Great video! We do the same job, but you provide knowledge for everyone! Thanks

[@cerominho]

Keep these types of videos coming, pls. I love them.

[@vladgordeyev3219]

Yes, please carry on with your great stories. You are a good teacher.

[@CitiesForTheFuture2030]

I'm fascinated by etymology - more please.

[@marinatrujillo6150]

Thank you very much for your videos, they are captivating. I am from Uruguay.

[@ekaterinagrichko8106]

Awesome video. Thanks Definitely waiting for more of them.

[@menonly56]

That's what I needed and for many years i couldn't manage to search the philosophy of the words. Thx for sharing your knowledge with us.🌹🙏

[@caroam5]

I'm feeling a bit puzzled now! as both German (Haus, Maus) and Dutch (Huis, Muis) diptongue those words, sounding much more similar to current English than to the older pronunciation 🤯

[@LetThemTalkTV]

German and Dutch vowels have changed too though not necessarily in the same direction. It could be a coincidence. I'm not an expert on Dutch/German vowel changes.

[@phillipirwin7746]

A lot of that can be explained in the German vowel / consonant shift, as mapped and comment on by the Brothers Grimm. The farther north and west you go (in Germany) the deeper you get into Plattdeutsch territory.

[@larsrossle8576]

Hus and Mus, without the diphthong, is how these words are pronounced in scandinavia.

[@wysslukas]

Hus and Mus are also pronounced without diphtongue in Alemanic, i.e. Swiss German (and Vorarlberg, Luxemburg, southern parts of Swabia, Baden and Allsace). There are surprisingly many similar words between Scandinavian and Alemanic that are different in standard German.

[@emmabraem1729]

The old Flemish dialects might give an answer. Hus, mus also sound West-Flemish.

[@cangenc132]

Yes, the Great Vowel Shift is so interesting I’d absolutely love to see a video from you! Thank you for the education!❤️

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Ok, will do. thanks.

[@beverlyogrady1111]

More videos please. Your presentation and content are terrific.

[@philippel.5013]

Absolutely fascinating videos. So, yes! Would love to see more of them.

[@annakowalewska3632]

Thank you, so interesting,as always.. More history would be great..

[@BrinToo]

Yes love to hear more of the history of accents, and GVS. Also how the accents in the British colonies esp. South Africa and Australia developed.

[@davidd708]

Another request (this one from an American) for a GVS video. I've read about it a few times, but I can't "feel" it. I have a feeling your approach would finally get it to sink in for me and make it seem less impenetrable. Thanks!

[@scheilaferreira7899]

I find it so interesting that you took the time to do this video! Hard work! Very good indeed! Thank you! I used to wonder about this old song (of course I am a huge Fred Astaire Fan!) and also I have always been curious about the English pronunciation variations.

[@Tony32]

I got so caught up in the GVS explanation, I forgot the potatoes until you came back to it later on the video. And yes, please make a whole video about the great vowel movement 😁🤣

[@diowarriorstv8911]

Yes please! I enjoyed this video immensely and I am curious about the Great Vowel Shift.

[@wholovesyababy5574]

Yes. Definitely. I'd like more on the Great Vowel Shift. Very interesting.

[@ІринаМайорова-я8ъ]

Fascinating! Would be happy to watch more, I stumbled on this video by chance and I am in love with this content ! You are great !

[@sklyarsveta]

Yes, please. Give us more about like this. 🕊

[@susansisson366]

You are my favorite linguist! My degree in Applied Linguistics is seldom used anymore, alas, but I've retained my interest in the topic, and especially insights into changes in the language in the last 1200 years! (I'm a Californian, so my native language sounds clear to me, perhaps because California has had a great deal of Spanish inserted into it, but also because so many people from everywhere in the world came here during the Gold Rush and have tried for the spoken language most broadly understood. When in London, it was remarked on how my speech was easily understood, amusing to me, since Geordies and Scots were nearly incomprehensible!!)

[@LetThemTalkTV]

very interesting comment thanks. I'm glad you understood us Londoners.

[@voxveritas333]

having grown up in the center of North America and now living in southern California, I completely agree with you. To my ears, we have the least pronounced regional accent compared to the twangs of Texas, drawls of Southerners or the irritating sounds of New England or New York and New Jersey. We speak the way the typical national news broadcasters emulate, at least for the most part. Similar enough to SSBE to be mutually understandable to Londoners.

[@martinstephenson557]

Susan Sisson - don't worry, the Scots and Geordies are also practically incomprehensible to us English!

[@23max232323232323]

If you haven't already, make a video about the great vowel shift. I think advanced learners will love it

[@veraahllof]

Really interesting, would love to see more videos on the Great Vowel Shift (plus other stuff on the history of the English language & others)

[@nsfa19]

Wow! Excellent video! I'ver learnt history and English at the same time. Congrats and keep up the excellent work!

[@bellazviagina6715]

Yes please I'd love a video with more about the GVS. It's absolutely fascinating!

[@Abbaas_]

Please make a video on the great vowel shift. It would be much appreciated.

[@yannisvaroufakis9395]

Happy to jump in as a subscriber. I love your videos! I’m enraptured by the majestic, sonorous quality of British English. It’s no wonder that the ancient Romans, Greeks and even Jesus himself spoke British English….in movies, at least. Everything said in a British accent sounds more authoritative and intelligent. In contrast, everything I say in my native New York accent sounds less sophisticated and more gangster. I had three British uncles by marriage to my father’s sisters. One was an urban Londoner, the other was from Cotswold. Both had subtly different accents.The third spoke in heavy Cockney. He was the most fun. No one could understand him. I found him very entertaining as a kid and I sat for hours hearing stories from Uncle Ernie. Eventually, I came to understand almost everything he said! I always wished I could speak like all theee of my uncles, especially Uncle Ernie. Anyway, on the present video you make the very same observation I made to my British neighbor who opined how illogically idiomatic American English pronunciation is. I responded that the same could be said about British English. “For example,” I said, “Why is it tomaaato instead of tomayto, but potato instead of potaaato?” She couldn’t answer that, but chuckled. I knew this from watching Peppa Pig with my 5-year-old son. That cartoon is so wildly popular due primarily to those wonderful British accents. Keep up the good work!

[@raykloetstra8501]

Thanks for your excellent discussion about the Great Vowel Shift. As the Canadian-born son of Dutch immigrants, I find it remarkable that many Dutch and Frisian cognates of English word sound remarkably similar to the English cognate before the GVS. In addition, in the case of house/hus and mouse/mus, the Frisian cognates are still written the same as the older English form (with the exception that the u has a circumflex accent on it). Also, the English "wain" (as in wagon) and "rain" are pronounced is Frisian more like Cockney accent, yet in Frisian are written with the more-Germanic diphthong "ei", hence, wein and rein. Cousins often reveal their roots!! Love your content!!!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Thanks for that insight. Very interesting

[@jbussa]

3:50 There was this bar in Ensenada, Mexico called "Papas and beers" Now I know where that word comes from :)

[@user-pz9uw1d07]

I would love seeing more videos about the history of words' pronunciation

[@gaufrid1956]

Here in Mindanao Philippines the word for the fruit is "kamatis" which is derived from the Nahauatl "tomatl". Here in Mindanao the fruits are often small and vary from yellow to red.

[@ursulastaempfli759]

Yes, please. A video about the great vowel shift will find a ready welcome. I am looking forward to the ride.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Hold on tightly...coming soon.

[@Pedram_k]

It's interesting because here in Iran in some regions they are still called patates and tomata (or variations of it). If I'm not mistaken it was the Portuguese who first brought them over here during the war with -then called Persia in 16th century. While the standard names would be a direct translation from French which literally means "apple of the earth" for potatoes and an entirely made up name for tomatoes

[@LetThemTalkTV]

very interesting

[@SiriusMined]

Yes. They also brought them to India

[@Pedram_k]

@@SiriusMined Really? That must've been a funny scene where Portuguese shipmen show these wired vegetables to the people: We know we are in fight and all but you really should try these! They just came from the finest farms in America!

[@grimftl]

I wrote an essay about the great "'It is I' v. 'It is me'" controversy. To paraphrase "Bones" McCoy, I'm not a linguist, I'm just a humble country engineer. Would you take a look at it?

[@LetThemTalkTV]

post a link to it here

[@fslakoh]

Brillant ! Thanks Gedeon !

[@ghaliadris]

This video reminded me of my English classes at University. I really enjoyed watching it ☺️☺️☺️ thank you

[@andrefmartin]

Yes, please, go ahead and make more of this kind of videos. You are an expert on languages! It is good to learn from you. Thank you a lot.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

You're too kind. More coming soon

[@plumpartridge8336]

very interesting indeed ! I would appreciate more videos about History of English language, thanks

[@pernilion]

Love your brilliant, instructive and entertaining videos. Keep ‘em coming!

[@sandrademetz7621]

Yes, I’d like to know more about the history of the English language. Thank you.

[@hameley12]

This was very exciting and interesting! Happily subscribed! Although, tobacco is good depending on the herbs or brand used. Nowadays most cigars and tobaccos have toxic contents that aren't that great for digestion, lungs, or other health usages. My great-grandfather, from mum's side used to smoke on his pipe whenever he was almost ill. Grandfather smoked his pipe near wintertime to prevent from getting sick too. His pipe consisted of licorice root, eucalyptus and mint. He let me smoke it almost every year because it cleared my breathing, little did he know that I had asthma. But it did help and he never drank alcohol. Grandpa lived up to 99 years! Which is insane in contrast to his cousins and brothers who died much younger. 😄

[@jamiesale9460]

I’m all for your video on the great shift. You’re the best

[@Occulomotoria]

Yes please! More history 🤩

[@LetThemTalkTV]

coming soon...

[@mamymimma]

Fascinating indeed, thank you so much!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

my pleasure.

[@thierrybravier7095]

Hi this is really fascinating, spelling frozen before vowel pronunciation change makes this nonsense much more logical. I love your videos and particularly those about language history, easy linguistics and language / history interactions. Please do send even more of this excellent material.

[@velindaarteaga2861]

I am delighted with this video! I am from Venezuela, and lived in London for many periodos during the 80's. This is the first time I see your videos and at last understand some reasons for vowels pronunciation. Bye the way, your pronunciation un Spanish is perfectly correct. 👏👏👏

[@velindaarteaga2861]

By...

[@girthbloodstool339]

Fun video! I do have one quibble, however. I am a Canadian in my 60s, and have known Canadians from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island, and no Canadian ever says "Oot and aboot". This mythic pronounciation is something that has been invented by American comedians, as far as I can tell, and is part of Americans' relatively shallow bucket of adorable Canuck traits that distinguish us from them, along with fueling our cars with maple syrup and living in igloos. Our "out and about" pronounciation is indeed different from the American, but those words always rhyme with "lout", and not "loot". Our 'ou' vowel takes on a more curt delivery which is basically the same as standard southern English, as opposed to the American 'ou' vowel sound which is more heavily drawled, and moreso the further south you go in America. I would be very interested to see any example of a Canadian actually saying this in earnest. It simply does not happen.

[@christianspanfellner3293]

You almost fooled me with the werewolves. 😀 And you're right to add a caveat to the bit about the Canadian pronunciation of "about" -- "aboot" is indeed a cliché. Actually it sounds pretty close to the SSBE pronunciation of "a boat." Since both "boot" and "boat" have distinct vowels, there's no way to confuse them.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

I was very careful not to offend Canadians....or werewolves

[@TimBee100]

Only idiots in Canada pronounce "about" like that. Maybe some from the small Maritimes provinces do but they make up a small minority.

[@cathygillies7271]

@@LetThemTalkTV Americans tend to hear the Canadian 'about' as 'aboot' which to our ears is very exaggerated. A theory about this Canadian pronunciation may be rooted in the influence of Scottish English -- Canadians of Scottish heritage are the third largest European group after English and French. The English of Newfoundland has preserved a great deal of 17th century English which was when the early migrations started.

[@girthbloodstool339]

Exactly. This is how American comedians poke fun at us Canadians - I have NEVER heard this pronunciation spoken seriously by a Canadian, and it always provokes eye-rolls here at Yankee ignorance.

[@jwolfe01234]

@@girthbloodstool339 I can always tell a Canadian by the way they say "about". I have had this conversation before: "Oh, you're Canadian." "What, did I say, 'eh'?" "No, you said, 'about'." When I hear "a boot", though, I don't think Canadian, I think Scottish. To me, the Canadian "about" sounds like a cross between "a boat" and "a boot". Quite distinct from the OW of standard American English. Another dead giveaway is a word like "organization". Canadians emphasize the "I", as in or-guhn-EYE-ZAY-shun. Whereas, Americans go with or-guh-nuh-ZAY-shun. I follow ice hockey, so I have a lot of opportunities to hear someone speak and say to myself, "Oh, they're Canadian."

[@andreaclaudia6391]

Yes, please! A whole video about gvs would be awesome!

[@izziebon]

I remember reading “ Lark Rise” by Flora Thompson, and she refers to the introduction of love apples into rural England.

[@rickebuschcatherine2729]

Anythink you can explain in pronunciation could interest me soo why not the history of the vowell. Thanks for everythings.

[@samuelgonzalez4887]

I can stay here for hours! Of course I want more videos, and( I almost forget ) thanks for this content!

[@PendelSteven]

8:25 in other words, for a Dutch that's just Twents accent. Or certainly thereabout. Part of the Westphalian language family. 9:32 That's also part of Dutch accents - I Immediately think of Limburgian, which is the south-eastern dialect related to Luxemburgish and Lower German. Also, just Middle Age Dutch in general. One could argue the Limburgian and Twents accents just didn't evolve as much. Which isn't bad, don't get me wrong. 15:06 maken is still maken in Dutch, pronounced as the former. Taken, pronounced as former are tasks.

[@ceilconstante640]

Very interesting! I've never heard of TGVS before. I grew up in Metro Detroit 10 minutes away from the tunnel to Windsor. I've always wondered why Canadians pronounced some words so differently.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

so the accent is different on the other side of the tunnel?

[@ceilconstante640]

@@LetThemTalkTV just some words. Most notably House is Huse, We say Mom, they say Mum. I've been gone for 40 years so I don't remember the few other words that stand out. Otherwise we sound very similar.

[@cathygillies7271]

@@LetThemTalkTV The Canadian/American border makes a great deal of difference in pronunciation. Cross the border from New Brunswick, Canada to Maine, USA and hear the distinct difference. Same for Detroit, USA and Windsor, Ontario, Canada

[@dinkster1729]

@@cathygillies7271 Right! I used to shop in Watertown, New York state a fair bit when the Canadian dollar was worth more and their accent is much different from the Eastern Ontario accent as well. I read it's because our English is based on Pennsylvania pronunciations not New York state pronunciations because the Loyalists who came to Ontario were originally from Pennsylvania. Some of our vocabulary is clearly Pennsylvanian. We say "spigot" for a water tap outside, for example. I think what we call 'a tap" "a hot water tap" is a "hot water faucet" in Great Britain. "A spigot is Pennsylvanian apparently. There are other words as well, but I can't remember them.

[@nHans]

However, unlike the word 'tobacco' itself, the island of Tobago-named for tobacco-does seem to have undergone the GVS: It's pronounced /təˈbeɪɡoʊ/ in English. How did _that_ happen! 😵

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Not sure why that happened. I'll investigate

[@ValkyRiver]

@@LetThemTalkTV Maybe spanish voiced the /k/ to a /g/?

[@benhetland576]

In "tobacco" the 'a' is a short vowel, while in "Tobago" it is a long 'a:' in many languages (modern Spanish does not retain a long--short vowel distinction). The GVS only affected the long vowels in English, not the short ones. This could also explain why "tomato" is affected while "tobacco" is not. It then remains to be explained why some of the words got borrowed with a long vowel while others got a short vowel.

[@dinkster1729]

@@ValkyRiver Yes, but the a in Tobago is like the A in To MAY to (American) and the "a" in "tobacco" is like the "a" in "tomato (British). And I knew a girl from Trinidad and Tobago and that's how she pronounced it like the A in to MAY to.

[@DClover411]

Yes please! Upload a video about the Great Vowel Shift! Don't know if you have already. Please include other western Germanic languages! Thank you!

[@Saartje05]

In Flanders they call the potatoe 'patatten' while in The Netherlands (with maybe exceptions in the south) it's called 'aardappel' (earth apple). Often the Dutch use the word patat for fries (chips in the UK) but in Flanders it's frieten (fries, frites)

[@lburt]

By what you said, some viewers, who believe they know it all, write "angry" comments to you, trying to teach you, instead of profting from your very informative videos . . . How sad! Very instructive and amusing video.

[@Rick_Petrone]

I like so much your explanations. Greetings from Brazil! 🇧🇷

[@FarnhamJ07]

I would definitely love to see more of these historical videos; this one was pretty awesome! Many thanks for making and sharing it :)

[@viktoriia4077]

Thank you! It was educational and interesting/ Also now I know what to tell my friends when they'll complain about pronunciation and spelling english :D GVS is such a discovery

[@dudablack2426]

Hi Gideon!! Yes please!!! Loved this history class , would live to hear more ❤❤❤

[@gallomphrattlebone329]

Really amazing! Please explain the historic reasons why "would" vanished from the if-sentences. "Would"used to be allowed in if-sentences but it's no longer to be used within them. Also, where does "went" come from? The verb "go" in the past tense should be something like "goed" or "gewd" or "goad".... strangely enough a totally different word like "went" popped up some long time ago. But why? And why is the verb "to be" not to be treated like other full verbs? It's not a modal verb, nevertheless you have to treat it like one: "I am not" (like in "I may not", "I must not" etc) instead of "I don't be". Why is this so and since when? Why is "cannot" written in one word?

[@LetThemTalkTV]

many interesting questions. I'll have to cover them in future videos. Thanks

[@TerezatheTeacher]

The "go - went - gone" thing happened because "went" comes from a completely different verb with the same or similar meaning. In the past tense, the other verb was used more than "go", so it stayed, and "go" was used more in the other tenses. So the "went" verb kinda died and that one form merged with the verb "go". Coincidentally, the various French forms and tenses of the verb "aller", to go, come from 3 different Latin verbs, which makes the current Frankenverb super irregular: aller (to go), je vais (I go), j'irai (I will go).

[@TerezatheTeacher]

The verb "to be" is just a weirdo, isn't it? 😄

[@HolgerJakobs]

@@TerezatheTeacher Actually in most languages the verbs "to be", "to have" and "to go" are among the most irregular ones (if they exist, that is).

[@voxveritas333]

@@TerezatheTeacher in several languages. English, French, German: all crazy! am, are, suis, sommes, bin, sind, etc.

[@marjorielynch6891]

Absolutely give more GVS discussion. As to the Hus/house pronunciation, I live in North Carolina in the US and older people from the area near the Virginia border pronounce “0u” words as oh-use. (Best I can present how they say it).