INTRODUCTION:

If any of you have ever read anything in Middle English (Chaucer, for example), then you know how different that version of the English language sounds and appears in comparison to the version(s) of English we are now familiar with. In fact, the differences are so great that it is hard to believe that contemporary GenAm and RP actually developed out of Middle English--but they did. The purpose of this unit is to better understand how Middle English turned into GenAm and RP.

In this unit, we will learn about the sound changes that occurred via the Great Vowel Shift. Make sure you understand these processes because you will be asked in the discussion to identify pre-GVS elements in Chaucer's writings that later changed via the GVS. As you work through the readings for this week, use the discussion board to post questions to the class. Help each other understand these concepts--they might seem difficult at first.

You will read about the following GVS processes:

  • NG Coaleescence
  • Velar Fricative Changes
  • THOUGHT Monophthonging
  • Long Mid Mergers
  • FLEECE Merger
  • FOOT-STRUT Split
  • NURSE Mergers (1st & 2nd)
  • Pre-Fricative Lengthening
  • Yod Dropping
  • PRICE & CHOICE Changes
  • Long Mid Dipthonging

You should recognize these processes from the "Derived From" Column of the Lexical Sets Handout in the previous unit. After doing the reading assignment listed below, you may find it helpful to review the Lexical Sets Handout in order to better understand these processes.

READINGS:

Read: Wells, Accents of English 1, pp. 184-212.

DISCUSSION:

Try to identify where in Chaucer's writings the historical shifts that you read about in Wells later occurred via the Great Vowel Shift by listening to online readings of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Look at both spelling and pronunciation. For example, where you see a 'gh' in a word, notice how it is pronounced. Is it pronounced with a voiceless velar fricative / x / in a word that would now either leave the 'gh' silent (dough) or or be pronounced as a labiodental fricative / f / (cough)? If so, then this is an example of the velar fricative shift described by Wells on pp. 189-190.

You can listen to excerpts from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales on "The Chaucer Metapage":

http://academics.vmi.edu/english/audio/audio_index.html

Listen to lines 1-18 of the general prologue (read by Tom Hanks)

Listen to lines 3271-3306 of the Miller's tale (read by Alfred David)

If you have trouble understanding what the modern equivalents of the word are, you can also look at at interlinear translations of these excerpts on the "Geoffrey Chaucer Page":

http://icg.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/gp-par.htm (The General Prologue)

http://icg.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/milt-par.htm#TALE (The Miller's Tale)