Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare’s most popular plays and one of the most popular plays ever written. In this episode, we examine the language of the play to see how it reflects the English of Elizabethan England, and we identify evidence of emerging pronunciations that would become common over the following centuries.
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Great episode! So, in modern English, the long vowel sounds “a”, “i”, “o”, and “u” are actully diphthongs, right? Which of these long vowels would have been pronounced as diphthongs in Shakespeare’s time? (I think at least the “i”, right?) Thanks!
Only letter I would have been a diphthong at the time. It was probably pronounced similar to its modern diphthong /ai/, but the onset was higher and more of a central vowel like schwa. In modern usage, the ‘long’ sound of letters A, I and O are diphthongs in most English accents. The modern ‘long’ sound of letter E is not a diphthong, and letter U is often pronounced with a slight ‘y’ glide (as ‘yoo’), but I don’t think it is classified as a diphthong.
Are the episodes no longer available through Apple Podcasts? I started listening last years and have finally caught up with them and was wondering when 175 will be available through the podcast app.
Thanks
The episode shows normally in my Apple Podcasts app. And I haven’t received any feedback from other listeners about its absence. You might try unsubscribing and re-subscribing in the app.
Tybalt heard Romeo speak 10 lines and then said “This, by his voice should be a Montague.” How did he know? They both live in fair Verona, same race, class, etc. Shakespeare gives us no hints.
So. Romeo won’t fight his wife’s cousin, Mercutio steps in and is killed, then Romeo kills Tybalt and is exiled to Mantua, soon Romeo and Juliet are dead. Allso Paris.
So. How did Tybalt know he was a Montague?
I’m not sure. Maybe it was addressed in one of the earlier versions of the story that Shakespeare used as a source. Or maybe it’s simply a plot hole.
I always imagined that Tybalt was the kind of person who memorized everything about Montagues because he hated them so much. Romeo is about Tybalt’s age, and “Montague who doesn’t usually fight” might rile up someone as fragile as Tybalt.
Probably best not to know. My personal theory is that the Montagues made their money in Mantua, where Romeo went in exile, and so the Montagues were in some sense “immigrants.”
I’ve noticed that you pronounce “length” somehow like [lɪŋθ]. I may have misheard it, of course. Is such a pronunciation common now, or is it your personal accent? I’m not a native speaker, but I’m accustomed to [lɛŋθ].
Greetings from Poland!
I’m from Texas, and Kevin is from the Carolinas (North and South Carolina). Our accents are different from one another but both are included as ‘Southern’ accents. My region and I’m sure his pronounce the word as ‘leength.’
I notice many people now say shtrenth, often put an sh in front of the str combination. Not just Southern, Michelle Obama does this.
I love accents. My family’s on my dad’s would have morphed a lot, from N England to N Ireland, Maryland, Texas, Arizona with an input from Polish Jew in the 1850s. Surrounding communities of Phoenix had discernible accents- cowboy-Western, Mormon.
Here’s a good discussion about the ‘shtrenth’ phenomenon you mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2X1pKEHIYw
Neil is correct. In my accent, the short vowel in “length” is pronounced slightly higher.
Thanks, it’s nice to know it.
Thanks Kevin for walking me thru the story of Romeo and Juliet
and its impact on English today. i truly enjoy your episodes, and appreciate your research, organization, and flow of concepts Thanks so much.
Barry.
Another fascinating episode, thanks Kevin! One very minor quibble: I would point out though that RP holds very little weight in the UK these days and if anything has been the subject of ridicule for some time, as well documented in Geoff Linsey’s most recent YT video on the subject: https://youtu.be/jIAEqsSOtwM
I remember watching a movie a few years ago where the three brothers had vastly different English accents and no obvious reason for why that was the case. I mean brothers aren’t identical and the ages of the brothers did vary quite a bit from oldest to youngest, but still…
Thank you! That was fascinating.
Thanks for another very informative and interesting programme. The discussion of g and k reminded me of my time marking exam scripts from English school students when not infrequently I came across “somethink” – which is just how many of them speak (some think!)
Great episode but very difficult to follow all the vowel changes! More example words please. I’m listening to some early episodes again which seem to have more.
I was interested in your description of American versus RP vowel sounds.
FYI, there’s an expression, used in Scotland and Ireland, and believed to originate in Glasgow, to be used when the Sun comes out: Tops Off. (It just means: take your T-shirt off)
But when rendered phonetically it becomes: Taps Aff. Which is literally how it sounds in a broad Scottish or Northern Irish accent.
It even has a website: https://www.taps-aff.co.uk/belfast/