The Great Vowel Shift was a dramatic change in the pronunciation of vowels
in the English language between 1350 and 1700; similar shifts took place in the
languages of German and Dutch. Nobody really knows why it happened, but it is
sometimes attributed to the changes that took place during and after the Black
Death, which peaked in between 1348 and 1350 (so the timeline fits). After the
Black Death, many people living in more rural areas of England moved to cities,
most particularly to the south-east of England. This meant a mingling of
northern and southern accents, which might account for a change in the way
people spoke, as a collective accent would have eventually been created.
As well as this, the aristocracy began to speak English instead of French,
as England and France were almost constantly at war (the Hundred Years' War
took place between 1337 and 1453). It is thought that the pronunciation of
English words may have become more French, or perhaps simply more distinctly
pronounced.
This vowel shift essentially changed the part of the mouth we used to
pronounce each vowel. For example, 'ee' sounds, which are at the front and top
of the mouth, became 'eye' sounds in the middle of the mouth. To simplify the
considerable changes, 'ar' (as in car) sounds became 'ay' (as in say) sounds,
'or' became 'oh', 'eh' became 'ee', 'ee' became 'eye' 'oh' became 'oo' (like boot),
and finally 'oo' became 'ow' (as in mouse).
The most notable exception is the 'ay' sound in 'break', 'great', and
'steak'; this sound did not change, due to the vowel sounds being followed by
plosives and the vowels having been previously shortened.
Thanks to Marco for suggesting I write about this -- it's very interesting
if you look into it. This website is very useful to listen to the vowel shifts:
http://eweb.furman.edu/~mmenzer/gvs/seehear.htm
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