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Encyclopedia > Vowel shift

A vowel shift is a systematic change in the pronunciation of the vowel sounds of a language.


The best-known example in the English language is the Great Vowel Shift, which began in the 15th century.


Other examples of ongoing vowel shifts are the Southern Vowel Shift in the southern United States or the Northern cities vowel shift in Michigan, Chicago, and parts of upstate New York.


The Greek language also underwent a vowel shift near the beginning of the Common Era.


A vowel shift can involve a merger of two previously different sounds, or it can be a chain shift, where vowels play "musical chairs".


External link

 This linguistics article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vowel_shift&action=edit).

  Results from FactBites:
 
California English: Information from Answers.com (2053 words)
Front vowels are raised before velar nasal [ŋ], so that the near-open front unrounded vowel /æ/ and the near-close near-front unrounded vowel /ɪ/ are raised to a close-mid front unrounded vowel [e] and a close front unrounded vowel [i] before [ŋ].
As with other vowel shifts, several vowels may be seen moving in a chain shift around the mouth.
As with many vowel shifts, these significant changes occurring in the spoken language are rarely noticed by average speakers; imitation of peers and other sociolinguistic phenomena play a large part in determining the extent of the vowel shift in a particular speaker.
What is a Vowel? (496 words)
Vowels can be contrasted with consonants, which are sounds for which there are one or more points where air is stopped.
Vowels in many languages are not crucial to the general meaning of the word.
Since a vowel refers to a specific type of sound, orthographically some letters may represent a consonant in some circumstances, and a vowel in others.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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