PHY117 - The Great Vowel Shift

This E-Lecture discusses the central principles and stages of the Great Vowel Shift, the chain shift that has influenced the English language until the present day. Using the potential of the ActivBoard, Jürgen Handke, discusses each individual stage of the GVS in detail, produces examples where necessary and includes phonological and more general explanations for this influential sound shift.

[@karolinakuc4783]

This lecturer is brilliant not only does he clarify it all perfectly but he also uses pauses, slow pace and clear pronounciation so that all sounds clear.

[@72Yonatan]

He just happens to be a scholar with the right pedigree for this task, and he does a superb job in this presentation. He is someone who has done his homework.

[@tairasavio2567]

I wish I could have had internet e-lectures when I was a student - 20 years ago! Thanks!

[@oer-vlc]

+Taira Savio So do I. I was taught in a classical format. But I had supoerb teachers: David Crystal, Mike Garman, Peter Trudgill and my German mentors: Ekkehard König and Claus Gnutzmann. I hope I can return something they gave me.

[@naomititus2986]

+The Virtual Linguistics C

[@huidezhu7566]

+The Virtual Linguistics Campus David Crystal? :O

[@SouvikBiswas420]

internet really helps, specially in academics; the whole world at your help.

[@user-bn2kh4iz1z]

The Virtual Linguistics Campus Ein wunderbares Video. Vielen Dank!

[@hitthacienda]

This lecture is fantastic. The topic was never studied in my years at university and I'm glad I have knowledge of it now. Thank you.

[@Daffitt]

You have just saved a poor literature student in helping me pass (and ace) a dreaded linguistics exam. Thank you ever so much!

[@xxxmoredoxxx]

this is so awesome! I have just understood what I haven't managed in 2.5 years of studying english. thank you!!!

[@oer-vlc]

Tiffany Tremurici Very motivating comment. We will make sure that you understand a lot more as time goes by.

[@yassineberguita1647]

Can’t believe this thing exists!! The man (I mean the respected professor) gives all in a nutshell! At least 5 books are summarized therein. Thank you! May his almighty awards you as you wish

[@pravoslavn]

Outstandingly lucid presentation, backed by an outstanding grasp of the issue. I especially appreciate that the good Professor speaks in complete sentences when lecturing. The board graphics were VERY helpful. Thank you, Sir !

[@TheObscureRambler]

I've seen the Great Vowel Shift 'explained' so many times in textbooks with barely a gloss-over. This makes things much easier to understand and absorb.

[@SashaPalliyaGurU]

All my lecturer said was"check the text book. It's all there." And here I am listening to your wonderful lecture that is going to save me from a great FAIL. THANK YOU SIR.

[@oer-vlc]

It's a pleasure.

[@Pachucotube]

I've been using quite a few of the these e-lectures for my History of English class and wanted to say thanks. Very detailed, thorough, and well explained lectures. Quite an accomplishment I would say.

[@prolitcom]

I find this lecture awesome. You cover this topic in a very structured and understandable manner. Thank you!

[@Rywykjlp]

Thanks a lot for this wonderful lecture. Spanish is my native language, and its vowel system is much less complicated than the one found in English. Thus, sometimes I have some problems figuring out how not to mispronounce some words. This lecture helps me understand how to do it and where to be careful. I'll keep trying. English is an interesting language, though a little hard.

[@gorgondrifter458]

Your English seems really good to me and I'm a native speaker.

[@pierreproudhon9008]

And I still don’t know how to pronounce e

[@Inigobalboa]

@@gorgondrifter458 Never underestimate Google Translate algorithms' efficacy, LOL

[@jvincent6548]

You are spot on. English is quite an easy language if one simply wishes to speak it quickly. It is very flexible and tolerates many errors. But it is a devilishly difficult language to write. Because it has rules but rules with so many exceptions. [ 'i' before 'e' is the rule, but 'except after 'c' as in pie, lie and piece and ceiling. But if the word sounds like 'A' as in neighbour, weight...] You see the trouble here? The only way really is to learn them. Also English does indeed have the same grammatical structure as the Old GErman from which it comes: it is just hidden. So English easy to learn quickly if to be spoken only. But very difficult to write properly and extremely difficult to write well. Por cierto, yo aprendiendo Español en este momento. Es increible lo similar que es al Ingles en mi opinion

[@ycajal]

Thank you so much Dr Handke you're a life saver!!!

[@chrisgumb8986]

Jürgen is the man! This History of English series is fantastic!

[@Atrusino]

Awesome. I'm studying linguistics at home and while brief, I feel that this is a great, comprehensive introduction to the Great Vowel Shift. Thanks!

[@minuminuminuminutxi9653]

wow, this was amazingly good!! I didn't understand stage7 very well, but the lecture was of precious help. Thank you!!

[@lilykawai2150]

Northern English dialects seem to follow the vowels before the great vowel shift. Don't you think?

[@a.s.9359]

Thank you very much! Very insightful! Thank you for making this concise lecture available!!

[@annagaszcz9748]

Very clear, thorough and professional. Thank you

[@pristine6584]

This is really absolutely undoubtedly a very substantial e-lecture which can help my students studying the history of English. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise Sir! With love from the Philippines.

[@samspectre]

Very helpful. I've read some about the GVS but it was good to hear someone pronounce the differences.

[@mtorresspokane]

What a wonderful and enlightening lecture! Thank you!

[@elizabethh8579]

Quite impressed that he can smoothly pronounce all of the variations of the vowels.

[@72Yonatan]

Fascinating lecture which explains a lot of developments in modern English, as well as why regional accents have their unique qualities.

[@p00bix]

This is a great lecture. I knew virtually nothing about this before and it was really interesting throughout!

[@AphroditeArtemis06]

You are amazing....wish I discovered this earlier. I find linguistics very difficult for me, but you make it so much more comprehensible when you lecture. Much Thanks from Trinidad! :D

[@SireBab]

Thank you very much for this, i was just asked about an inconsistency in the English language, and after watching this, i am able to explain it. Again, many thanks Sir.

[@Netherfly]

This is really helpful for understanding material I missed in my linguistics class while I was sick. Many thanks.

[@moonbug]

Excellent lecture. Clear, concise, and effective.

[@stateathletics]

Fabulous, thanks ever so much! Revision became a lot clearer! Life saver

[@kimseehorn]

Such a great and understandable lecture!

[@auroram1541]

This must be one of the best lectures I have watch. Congratulations for such a good work.

[@oer-vlc]

Thanks a lot!

[@Nikita35485]

It's quite charming to see how the modern vowel chart is emerging through a consequence of linguistical changes. Spells of tongue evolution are striking.

[@Selmancer]

Yes. I've also noticed this. In addition, another a vowel /au/ as in "mouse" and "house" is evolving where the first part of the diphthong has fronted giving /æu/ typical of modern London speech. In Cockney the second element is lowered giving /æa/ or continues it's evolution to /æə/ and monothongizing to /æ:/, this mirrors changes that occurred over 1600 years ago when Proto-Germanic /au/ became Anglo Saxon /ea/

[@summerweston8653]

Your lectures are very informative and easy to follow. Thank you.

[@robot273]

This is so useful in order to understand why different speakers of English will probably say any given word (a bit) differently from one another.

[@smith22969]

Fascinating. Thank you for posting.

[@kadrapperlwelwe2708]

Thank you sir. I did not understand my class teacher but for this lecture l have understood.mungu akubariki sana!

[@mariiatkachova570]

Thank you very much! That helped me a lot in preparation for the test

[@EllesCommeLinguistes]

Very clear explanation, thanks a lot!

[@shiny2493]

Thank you Professor. your lecture was immensely helpful.

[@Bruno-hd9qo]

It's really funny thing. Almost all of archaic ways of pronounce these vowels are exactly how we pronounce them in modern Portuguese. For the first time I'm hearing an Englishman pronouncing English with exactly the same mistakes I see Portuguese(br) speakers make in their earliest English classes.

[@troiscarottes]

Only he's not an Englishman, he's German.

[@Bruno-hd9qo]

troiscarottes im still true

[@troiscarottes]

Do you mean you're still right ? Probably, I wouldn't know. When I speak with Brazilians, which doesn't happen very often, we usually speak in Portuguese. All I'm saying is that Jürgen Handke is perhaps not the best model when it comes to the pronunciation of English sounds. For example, his "long" vowels are much too short.

[@gibran88]

I thought exactly the same way :D , much more understandable (RS aqui :))

[@petelobl]

pre vowel shift reveals the germanic heritage of eng

[@jackgibbons1939]

Very well communicated, good content, and much appreciated

[@dulciedavid]

Thank you for this video. It has really helped me A LOT!

[@zane2772]

I can't tell if middle english sounded more like modern scottish because of how the vowels were pronounced or because of the lecturer's accent :P

[@monologamist]

No accent on the demonstrated vowels though.

[@glenthemann]

I've often wondered how this sort of thing affects the reading of Shakespeare or other early verse.. rhyme scheme and rhythm in general can be drastically changed by pronunciation and I always felt like I was missing something..

[@oer-vlc]

+glenthemann You can find out by looking at our video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGrIeGukna-rZ8U

[@dorteweber3682]

look up Ben Crystal's original pronunciation for a great bit of research into what Shakespearean English sounded like.

[@AgTigress]

An excellent and very interesting exposition. Thank you!

[@roberthead9149]

Learned and fascinating. Thank you very much

[@grethi8110]

I LOVE YOU. everything so clear. thank you!

[@elisabettapasquale84]

great work, really much appreciated.

[@Spikastru]

I'm about to have a test about this... and no matter how I tried, I just couldn't understand it. Thank you so much for this lecture. I've even made a quick review of the cardinal vowel chart! :D

[@Tvianne]

Crystal clear, thank you!

[@friattmoooo]

Yes it helps a lot, thank you so much

[@katiedonovan4527]

Fantastic video. Thanks!

[@shadymaark7258]

Thank you so much you have helped me tremendously to develop my understanding of English

[@mirinae4313]

Wow! That was great! Thank you very much! You guys understand that Professor Handke is a german lector of a german university?

[@gabrielamorin5327]

Thank you! I really love your explanation!

[@edejan]

Cool! I minored in Linguistics in college, but this information is so much more detailed than I learned back then. And also another reason to think King Henry VIII rocked! Thanks for a most enjoyable experience!

[@jvincent6548]

It's changing rapidly now-a-days, but not so long ago (I'm talking of my grandfathers days when he was old in 1960s), you could go deep into the English countryside in Oxfordshire or Gloucestershire or Wiltshire and hear accents, certainly, and dialects still spoken which I believe were the direct (and not much altered) descendents of Anglo-Saxon. Meat for example was till pronounced as 'Maet' by my grandfather and uncles - all farmers and countrymen. Those three counties (shires) were staunchly part of the old Kingdom of Wessex and were never 'conquered' until all England was conquered in 1066. Even today I think that the accents used there are probably very close to how Anglo-Saxon sounded, even though used now with modern English and increasingly fewer local dialect words. I focus on Wessex because it was never conquered unlike all the other parts of England which was, by the Danes, for example.

[@jenelleg.8587]

Thank you. This is a wonderful lecture.

[@iLaRiettaiLoveYou]

Enlightening. Thank you so much for the lecture sir.

[@gabrieladziubek1907]

Thank you very much for the lecture!

[@michaelwatson113]

Clearly, this vowel shift did not occur uniformly across the English speaking world. My grandmother from Lancashire rhymed look and moon and book. We hear that in that in English spoken in Africa and the Caribbean. My old mother in law was from the Ozark mountains, and used archaic verb forms and pronunciations more akin to Elizabethan English, e.g. Git ye a-goin', instead of Get going.

[@gorgondrifter458]

Northerner's retain more of the original sounds. I'm from Lancashire and many of the previous generation pronounce moon and look but the current one don't. We still have a lot of the old vowels.

[@orkaoskar2144]

Excellent lecture! Thank you!

[@2deadly748]

Great lecture, easy to follow and much better than the text our lecturer gave us in university

[@stefaniegondorf9101]

This helped me soooo much! Thank you!

[@demos113]

A lovely lecture, very informative... and i'm only seeing this by mistake! Interesting to see the lecturer saying words that i instantly recognise as specific regional pronunciations. :)

[@zeedo666]

A very valuable content!

[@Eduarodi]

Thank you very much! That was very interesting indeed!

[@kurtjansen239]

Great lecture and excellent presentation. thanks!

[@DarrenRBaker]

They really should've called it "The Great Vowel Movement"...

[@GlobalIn2015]

I mean, they're pretty synonymous... :P And I'm also certain I've heard it referred to as that as well.

[@petelobl]

never decry a substantial (or minor) VM !

[@rajendrasingh977]

For non-native speakers, learning these is like The great bowel movement

[@dirkbastardrelief]

POOP REFERENCE!

[@zeldadinosaur]

*Bowel Movement

[@FloydofOz]

Thank you for your effort in developing and presenting this incredibly informative and interesting content. I would very much like to understand the impact of Language Contact on North American English accents. Do you have any information on that? For example, I’ve often wondered if the New York accent can be attributed to the Dutch language, the Appalachian accent to the Scots-Irish English accent, and the affect of German/Scandinavian immigration on the upper Midwest accent. How about the Southern US accent? Why are their vowels so different and why do some versions of that accent involve speaking really slowly (e.g. Mississippi/Alabama) and some involve speaking extremely fast (e.g. any NASCAR driver from North Carolina). The ultimate would be to understand why some versions of the Southern US accent whistle their S-sounds (e.g. West Texsasssss). Also, is there any research on the impact of English speaker immigration on the accents of non-English speakers (e.g. the Quebec French accent)? I'd also really like to understand the impact (if any) of the Vikings on language in England, Spain, Normandy, Russia, Turkey, and everywhere else those people visited. Now that I’ve written all this out, maybe I should just go ahead and watch all of your videos. This is so interesting!

[@francoisedubruille]

Hiberno-English - at least until quite recently - featured several pre-GVS long vowels.

[@zakayohombo7075]

Extremely amazing lecture...got it

[@patrickuitslag4670]

Hey! Going to enroll in university to obtain my Master's Degree in English. This may be very useful material :D Thanks a lot Mr. Handke!

[@gatheringwithin]

Fascinating subject. Did similar shits take place in other languages? It would be nice if you could make a video like that about German, or how did the split between let say Italian, Spanish and French pronunciation occur. Thanks for a great video.

[@josb8247]

So amazing lecture. Thank you very much

[@catalinapalomanes7433]

Thanks a lot for this video!

[@markryount]

Awesome lecture! Very informative.

[@AdmiralHalsey100]

The Dutch language has undergone similar chages too. MiddleDutch Tied, became ModernDutch Tijd, MiddleDutch Huus became ModernDutch Huis. While in the low Saxon dialects these old germanic vowels are still retained, for example Tied and Hoes. The Twents low Saxon still retains the old germanic long oo, like Hook, Good, Voot. In ModernDutch Hoek, Goed and Voet. High German has also undergone similar vowel shifts during the late midle ages.

[@timoloef]

these are also interesting as I know them from dutch nedersaksian: kobold --> kabouter aiver --> ooievaar (omg, what an ugly word!) laif --> lief gold --> goud wold --> woud hold --> houd (as in: ik hold van die)

[@benavraham4397]

Outstanding! Make more!

[@rafaelacarla]

Thank you (from Brazil!).

[@tweepixie]

+rafaelacarla Thank you from Brazil 2

[@troiscarottes]

Quite interesting and useful, as it sheds a light on one of the reasons for the differences in pronunciation from one region to another. However, if you're planning another version of the same, it might be a good idea to insist a bit more on the length of long vowels.

[@mlmohlere]

Really helpful and informative!

[@elmerdaserdmannchen2604]

This channel's lit.

[@rogerwilco2]

This was well explained.

[@cindyhuerta6877]

Excellent!!

[@danchisholm1]

Very interesting and educational. Thank you from LA!

[@oer-vlc]

Daniel C Thank you. Spread the word, too few people know about this channel.

[@sariputraa]

thank you sooooo much. i m french and we struggle so much with the vowels pronunciation. Your presentation is crystal clear :) I think than before this shift the pronouciation sounded veeery french. actually if we read english with french vowels pronunciation, it resembles the previous english pronunciation a lot :) do you think it was due to the french kings period?

[@veenap9042]

very clear and informative thank you

[@user-ng2wc9yk5t]

Thank youuuuu very much for your help ❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@fikatrouvaille3670]

Thank you so much!

[@17writing]

Thank you!

[@vvuullppeess]

I will start like this, as an English person, I can see all the discrepancies in English pronunciation, but I accept them as normal. I was born in Enfield, North London to parents from Staffordshire, and in turn who's parents came from Stafford via Bethnal Green (East London), Hull (Humberside), Hanley (Stoke-on-Trent) and Pruszcz (Swiecie, Poland). I myself have lived in Enfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Liverpool and Boston Mass.(briefly). Jag talar engelska, lite franska, lite tyska och lite svenska. I am an incredibly good mimic of dialects and phonology in general. I'm also an incredibly good 'by ear' musician with perfect pitch. Every time I have spoken to a native speaker, they always say that my pronunciation is perfect, even if my sentence structure and vocabulary isn't. I have always wondered if the two are linked, that is; whether or not I can understand it, I can still mimic the sounds, because I can also mimic the sounds in music too? One big thing for me is that I can mimic the sounds better if I can see it written down in latin script, if I can see how the words are formed, as my 'ability to mimic' also applies to Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese too, and I have been tested in mimicry to 'wows'. Anyway, onwards to the point of me posting this! My natural accent is what would be perceived as being 'English', but certainly not RP, and not dialectical. It's neutral and hard to locate, although I have been told that I sound 'posh'. I frequently switch between dialects dependent upon whom I am talking to. I also find myself pronouncing things in Gen. Am. more and more frequently, just because of the prevalence of American television shows. As a person who frequently vowel, consonant and even dialect shifts himself personally dependent on context, who isn't really 'from a place' other than England. I can actually see how the vowel changes occurred implicitly, and I can mimic them all perfectly. Although my accent is incredibly muddled, the one thing I find that I still maintain in my natural pronunciation, my natural accent, is words such as dance, bath, path etc with the long (almost ar) a. Whilst I am aware of every other change in my natural accent and dialect due to context, even the different pronunciations of 'u' (buck, book), for some reason that long 'a' pronunciation has always stuck with me, in any dialectical switch. In most cases it's what gives me away as being a(n English) southerner. I find it strange that that one particular aspect of speech would stick with me, when seemingly everything else is always fluid.

[@oscarj0231]

Everywhere you have mentioned your family coming from uses long A in words, even Hull with an 'ar' noise. As I said above, West Country English is very odd and proper hard to mimic due to random sound slides and incredibly specific regional sounds (e.g Dorset pronounced by a person from Dorset as 'Darrsit' from a foreign ear, however in Devon it would be pronounced 'Derset' or something similar

[@MrsLufova]

Thank you very much ;) I hope that It helps me with preparing to my history of linguistics classes and to the exam.

[@oer-vlc]

Very interesting comment. There are many varieties of English whose vowels are at least to some extent similar to those of EMnE. Take Northern English, for example: my house comes out as /mi hus/. And in Scottish English? The upgliding diphthong in "now" has a central onset resulting in /əʊ/ or take "bow" where the vowel is not dipthongal at all but is realized as a plain /o:/. So, some varieties of PDE are pretty close to EMnE.

[@Flingeline87]

Es gibt ja bekanntlich viele Ansichten darüber, wie genau der Great Vowel Shift abgelaufen ist (Jespersen, Luick, Görlach, Barber, ....). Darf ich fragen auf welchen Autoren/Werken die hier dargestellte (und für mich sehr logisch erscheinende) Reihenfolge der einzelnen Verschiebungen basiert?

[@veronicalido4765]

Very very useful, thank you ☺

[@alessandrap.3662]

Vielen Dank, Herr Professor Handke! Sie haben mir fuer die Vorbereitung meines Geschichte der Englischen Sprache Exams wirklich geholfen. Planen Sie auch E-Vorlesungen ueber die Geschischte der Deutschen Sprache zu posten? Noch vielen Dank und freundliche Gruesse aus Italien.