Change In Pronunciation:

Assigned by: Sir Saqib Buriro

• Names of Group members:
• Sidra Asghar (Roll # 121)
• Jasia Khan (Roll # 56)
• Yumeen Hussun (Roll # 139)
• Farah Shahid (Roll # 151)
• Sana Khan (Roll # 105)
• Kokab Nadeem (Roll # 65)
• Faiza Sulemani (Roll # 36)
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH:
• The difference between the pronunciation of middle English and
modern English is in the value of the long vowel called Great Vowel
Shift.The Great Vowel Shift was a major change in the pronunciation
and was first studied by Otto Jespersen, a Danish linguist in fifteenth
century.The two highest long vowels became diphthongs. Short
vowels were largely unaffected by the shift.
• Front vowel . A vowel sound produced with the tongue in a position
near the front of the mouth.Back vowel . A vowel sound produced
back of the mouth .
• Sound changes in vowels between related or closed sounds took
place through front mutations.
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH:

• Change In Pronunciation: The early Modern English period underwent a

number of substantial changes In all phonological sub systems which
transformed the Middle English period into distinctly a modern one.
The changes turn in a lexical stress pattern. Reduction of un stressed
syllables, changes in the distribution of certain consonant cluster and
allophones. The reduction of Consonant cluster and also the changes in the
vowel system. The biggest series of changes between Middle and Modern
English is often called the great vowel shift.
The vowel system of early Modern English was very much different from
present day English. At the beginning of the period the system was largely
based on quantity contrast that were inherited frok Old and Middle English.
Many monophthongs occurred in pairs of short and long members.
 Change In Pronunciation:
• The lengthening and shortening created by Middle English sound changes
persisted. But even within individual word families, eg. Keep, kept and child,
children.
• The short vowel distinguished three height and the long vowel four heights (both
front and back)
• The short vowels little changed which continued in Early Modern English be
pronounced in much the same way as in the Middle English.
• In the early 17th century “e” changed into short “U” Likein put
Middle English had this sound in it and not the sound that it has in cut.
In phonological context the new creation of new vowel phonemes, one short and
one long. Short U lowered and rounded to O in a condition taking place at the
beginning of 17th century. However, U remained in many cases after labial
consonants ( /p/, /b/, /f/, and /w/ ) Like pull, bull, full, wolf and bush etc.
Change In Pronunciation:
• The lexemes comtaining shortened u increased the number of both
/u/ eg. Good, stood, hood etc and for /O/, flood, blood, glove, etc.
• As a result of this the first short U split into O and u For example, Look
and Luck.
• The changes in the consonants in the transition from Middle English
to Modern English were also relatively un important.
• Talking again about the vowel shift, the three vowel rounds like in
‘mite’, ‘meet’ and ‘mate’ were long vowels (roughly the vowel sounds
of Thief, fets and palm.
Change In Pronunciation:
• After the shift
• The Long i became a diphthong. Probably in 16th century pronounced
/ai/ with the first element like the /a/ of the first syllable in ago.
• Long e: took its place with the value [i:]
• Long /a/ became a front vowel more like that of air to beign with but
later e:
• During the period a number of sets of vowel sounds that had been
distinct was largely maintained, resulting in a further mismatch of
spelling a pronunciation.
Change In Pronunciation:
• Example: The long vowel a in mane and the diphthong ay or ai in may
and main.
• The long mid vowel o in sloe, so and the diphthong ow or ou in slow,
sow.
• The diphthong represented by “u” in “due” and the diphthong “ew”,
“eu”, in dew.
 Change In Pronunciation:
Change In Consonants: Although consonants seem less important to Charles
Barber, yet they are inevitable to much extent. The alteration in consonant in
pronunciation in the early Modern English is not immense but noticeable.
The w sound vanished and it was no longer pronounced like in the words “two”,
“answer”, “sword” etc.
Final b sound was lost in the words like climb,comb, lamb,tomb, etc.
Word of Middle English fader became father with the gradual process.
The gh sound was almost gone in the words like light, might, Tigh, high, night, eight
etc.l
In thr beginning of 17th century a new change arrived and it was the loss of initial K
sound in different words like knee, knowledge, knight,knife.
Mostly the change on consonants was the disappearance of some of them but they
were accepted by the English people and they hugely use these changes.