CHANGES IN THE SOUND SYSTEM

There has been changes that led to the alteration of the English Sound System. 

There has been changes in both consonants and vowels. 

 

Consonants 

From Old English to Modern English there have been the addition of 5 consonants. These include /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/ and /ŋ/.  On the other hand, there has only been the the elimination of one consonant in English being /x/. The addition and elimination of these consonants has made the system more balanced and symmetrical.

 

 

In Modern English the /h/ is in danger. Talking about symmetry and the system being balanced, this is done by the sounds being put in pairs. Yet, the /h/ stands alone without a voiced partner. The only reason that this sound has stayed is due to social pressure. 

 

Vowels

Again with the movement towards symmetry, there has been the addition of long vowels to occupy the system as balanced. 

There is a very important event that happened to the English Language in the 15th century. This is The Great Vowel Shift.

The Great Vowel Shift was when the pronunciation of the vowels in English altered in a systematic and profound way. This is why some words in the English language are pronounced differently to the way they are spelt. They are spelt according to the way that they were pronounced before The Great Vowel Shift.  In Middle English there were 7 long vowels. There were 4 front ones /iː/, /eː/, /ɛː/ and /əː/ and 3 made in the back of the mouth /uː/, /oː/ and /ɔː/. All of these 7 long vowels all progressively came to be made with a higher tongue position. It was sometime between Chaucer and Shakespeare (more about them in additional information) that the 7 long vowels assumed a higher tongue position.

No one is really sure as to why vowel shifts happen but we are certain that they occur to either maintain or enhance the vowel system as being symmetry.