Once the Great Vowel Shift was underway, people who used to spell words by how they sounded, which allowed linguists to study the natural process of change in the pronunciation of the English language, changed to become standardized. Standardization created a challenge to understanding phonology because spelling can no longer be used as evidence for phonological change. However, reviewing rhymes and wordplay can help author's to understand how words were pronounced.  

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The Great Vowel Shift occurred in the twelfth century until the eighteenth century, but had its main effect in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the sounds of the long stressed vowels in English changed their places of articulation or how sounds are made. Old and Middle English were written in the Latin alphabet. After the shift, many thought that the pronunciation of English had changed dramatically from its visual representation and a new alphabet was needed. Therefore, in the sixteenth century, the first attempts to reform the English spellings occured.

The Great Vowel Shift 

Menzer, M. J. (2022). The Great Vowel Shift. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from http://facweb.furman.edu/~mmenzer/gvs/index.htm 

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