Vowel length

I am your host, Josh Linsk.

This show is part of History Podcasts, where you can discover more podcasts at historypodcasts.com. Today, we’re diving into why English’s long vowels shifted in a sweeping change that reshaped pronunciation.

Let’s explore how this shift happened.

You know how English today sounds so different from Chaucer’s rhymes, right? The Great Vowel Shift is the culprit that turned long vowels into the sounds we recognize now.

But figuring out why it happened feels like chasing a ghost.

I’ve spent years trying to untangle the social and phonetic forces behind it.