From 1400 to 1700, the Great Vowel Shift (GVS) changed the way people spoke English. As shown in the table below, long vowels were being pronounced using a different area of your mouth causing common words to sound completely different. And how, you ask, do we know about the GVS and the change in the articulation and sound of the English language? The ‘spelling errors’ found in old English books, rhyme schemes used by poets from this time, and early dictionaries that described how specific words were pronounced have allowed today’s historians to become aware of the GVS. To read more about the GVS visit http://facweb.furman.edu/~mmenzer/gvs/what.htm

Word	ME	1400	1500	1600	1700	RP today
how, house	u;	Uu	@U	@U à aU	aU	aU
food	o;	o;	u;	u;	u;	u;
boat	O;	O;	o;	o;	o;	oU, @U
size	i;	Ii	@I	@I à aI	aI	aI
green	e;	e;	i;	i;	i;	i;
meat	E;	E;	e;	e;	i;	i;
bake	a;	a;	&;	E; à e;	e;	eI