Over the course of the 1500s, English spelling started to become standardized, but the pronunciation of the language continued to change. By the early 1600s, English scholars noticed that spellings no longer reflected the way words were pronounced, and they recommended phonetic reforms. In this episode, we examine how English spelling reformers described the pronunciation of English in the early 1600s, and we also explore how Modern English spellings reflect the phonetic history of words.
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You didn’t have anything to say about F, but in past episodes you explained how we got the spelling of the word “of”. When was that?
It was in ‘Episode 159: Elizabethan Voices’ – about a third of the way through.
Has it really been thirteen years? Wow! I’ve been listening and learning for a long while. I think I found this podcast a couple of years in and “binge-listened” until I caught up. Thanks for doing what you do!
I want to say something about the a. In my accent sad and bad do not rhyme. Bad, glad, and mad are said with one version and all other words ending in ad rhyme with sad. On the other had, aside from man, can, and began, all other words ending with an use the vowel of man. Including the noun and non-modal verb can. I believe this is characteristic of the Philly accent. If I try to describe the difference, I might say bayd, glayd, mayd, fayn, mayn, tayn, etc.