| Great Vowel Shift n. A series of phonetic changes occurring in Early Modern English in which the Middle English low and mid long vowels were raised, (รค) and (  ) becoming ( ) and ( ), for example, while the high long vowels ( ) and () became the diphthongs ( ) and (ou). |
Great Vowel Shift
n
(Linguistics / Phonetics & Phonology) Linguistics a phonetic change that took place during the transition from Middle to Modern English, whereby the long vowels were raised (eː became iː, oː became uː, etc.). The vowels (iː) and (uː) underwent breaking and became the diphthongs (aɪ) and (aʊ)
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