They were smart to name it "The Great Vowel Shift" rather than "The Great Vowel Movement."

@YamnayaSintash

Жыл бұрын

Haha 💩 fuuny

@wolfman_jack

Жыл бұрын

👏 Bravo!

@cobracommander8133

Жыл бұрын

😂😂

@FJWoods007

Жыл бұрын

Ten points.

@DavidLimKP

Жыл бұрын

@@YamnayaSintash 9999

I've heard it phrased. "A tomato is technically a fruit, but nutritionally a vegetable." (Same with Avocado) "Intelligence is knowing tomatoes are a fruit, but common sense is knowing they don't belong in a fruit salad."

Yes, please. All this is so interesting and instructive and gives a logical sense to so many peculiarities of pronunciation typical of the English language. Thanks so much, cheers!

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

My pleasure. Glad you liked the video

@foodengineer1763

Жыл бұрын

hi Alice, your English sounds perfect.

@foodengineer1763

Жыл бұрын

@@linda99091 hi marina, where are you from?

@2299arthur

Жыл бұрын

@@foodengineer1763 Stop simping bro, they don't want anything to do with you

@foodengineer1763

Жыл бұрын

@@2299arthur mind your business my friend, we are all aware of what we do.

The way you pronounced the "before GVS" words, sounds so much like how we Norwegians pronounce the exact same words (the meaning are also the same). We pronounce house like "Hoos", bite like "Beet" and knife like "Kneev" with the K pronounced. Everything sounded incredibly Norwegian to my ears which baffled me! I would gladly hear more English in GVS pronunciation because it probably would sound very close to Norwegian or Scandinavian.

@voxveritas333

Жыл бұрын

don't forget about the Danelaw period in Britain's history and the Norse influence on English!

@SiriusMined

Жыл бұрын

At the end of the day, both Norwegian and the other Scandinavian languages (except Finnish) and English are Germanic at their roots.

@herrbonk3635

Жыл бұрын

@@SiriusMined And both Scandinavian (especially Swedish) and English were affected by French, although in different ways. English was almost replaced by the Norman French language, while the Swedish people took in a great number of French words during the 1400s to 1700s more voluntarily. It was still totally top down though, but more by fashion than oppression. However, unlike in English, the French loans did not affect the vowels of germanic words. Also unlike English, they usually kept some (modern/Paris-) French sounding qualities. Their spellings were also largely adopted to the Swedish system, with some exceptions. Their "French melody" affected some other words though, and were also used for new words. It basically became a third stress pattern and melody in Swedish. Grave accent, acute accent and French end-syllable stress (which technically counts as accute accent, although very different sounding).

@larsutzenbisgaard6397

Жыл бұрын

Likewise in danish: hus, bid and kniv. Especially in the peninsula of Jutland, many words are pronounced like english before gvs.

@emmabraem1729

Жыл бұрын

It also sounded like Flemish. Aspecialy West-Flemish.

House and mouse are still written and pronounced "hus" and "mus" in Scandinavian languages. And English actually does it too, in a commonly used compound word: "husband". Which is a word imported from Scandinavian, which roughly translated means something like the "man of the house" or "master of the house" (as opposed to other men or boys who might live on the same farm for example as hired farmhands). In Scandinavian languages the word is more archaic these days, but the Swedish translation of the famous record label "His Master's Voice" for example is "Husbondens Röst"

My mum’s parents were British. She grew up in the States. My dad was American. He grew up in England. Guess what? I pronounce tomato both ways! 😉 Seriously, I love the history of language! More please! I am reading The Loom of Language because you recommended it. Thank you!

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

Thanks, I hope you're enjoying the Loom of Language

@phoenixmassey

Жыл бұрын

@@LetThemTalkTV I am!

@sophitsa79

Жыл бұрын

Have you noticed a pattern to when you use either pronunciation?

@yunuscurrie3410

11 ай бұрын

Similar happened to me, so instead i have my own pronounciation of tomato. The 'a' is pronounced like the 'a' in bath (american pronounciation) or the way 'a' was pronouced before the vowel shift

Yes more history please, I found this very interesting.

@thomassunkel9229

Жыл бұрын

Oh my god: B‘nana vs. Bänänah.

@walterweiss7124

Жыл бұрын

@@thomassunkel9229 strange enough in Spanish it's platano

In Mexico we have green and red tomatoes. The red ones are called (mainly in central Mexico) "jitomates" (from the nahuatl "xictitomatl", which means "navel tomato"). The green ones are a completely different species and are called "tomates verdes" or just "tomates" or "tomatillos" or "miltomates" (from the nahuatl "miltomatl" which means "tomatoes from the corn fields").

@walterweiss7124

Жыл бұрын

lovely nahuatl, once I tried that corn schnaps, forgot the name (I don't mean mezcal or tequila of course)

@MeAndI845

Жыл бұрын

@@walterweiss7124 Maybe tejuino? (náhuatl tecuin - beating heart)

@walterweiss7124

Жыл бұрын

@@MeAndI845 similar indeed, but it was pulque (both look milky)

@MeAndI845

Жыл бұрын

@@walterweiss7124 OK but pulque is made from the sap of the maguey or agave.

@walterweiss7124

Жыл бұрын

@@MeAndI845 I see, you're right, didn't know that, I was convinced it's made of corn, bec my friend told me so

The Great Vowel Shift is an absolutely fascinating subject. An episode on this would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks for sharing this outstanding piece of English pronunciation history. I would like to know more of them. I feel that it is a wonderful way to understand and set apart the different sounds of English for the same vowels. Which is quite tricky by the way!!! Not only are you an excellent teacher, but also a good communicator!! 🤓

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

It's very kind of you to say that. I'll do more for sure.

As is often said, the Yanks and Brits are separated by a common language. But a very interesting way of separation. More videos like these would be would be greatly appreciated indeed.

I think it's the great strength of English that we have all these variations in speaking. It makes us more receptive to hearing and attuning ourselves to understand all the ways that other people are learning and speaking our language, for all its difficulties and wackiness! We are so fortunate that others want to learn English, difficult as it may be.

Very interesting! I'm from a small and isolated valley in Northern Majorca. We got a road to the other parts of the island in the midle of XIXth century. So we have more relations with Southern France. We spoke a local dialect mixed of catalan and french ( now it's almost extinct). Nor catalans or french could understand us. This dialect has survived for about 200 years, growing and changing very fast, until the arriving of mass media and massive standard education. Now it's finishing its time of life. It has been an amazing and interesting experiment with language. Now I'm trying to make english my second language, with some people here, to avoid the growing of spanish in our land. We prefer to learn english, a far language, than spanish, too nearer to us. I follow all your videos. I'm learning more english than at school. Thank you very much, sir!

It's fascinating to listen to you. Please give us a video on the GVS with examples. I'm sure it will be interesting.

@vickivaughnmorrison6170

Жыл бұрын

Yes, I agree! I'd love to learn more about the GVS! I'm from the USA. My son -in-law is from Australia. He says we have lazy vowels in the USA. I reply that they have lazy consonants in Australia, especially the R. Then we all have a big laugh.

Yes your videos about history of language and pronunciation are great. Keep doing it

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

You inspire me to do so.

From Brazil, it was amazing, a history lesson too, fantastic!! Thanks!!!! I’m always interested about how the languages changed throw the time!

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it

@dinkster1729

Жыл бұрын

Through time. @Carlos Nitz THROW is a verb.

Please, please give us more about the history of the English language! The GVS is fascinating, and nothing like that was ever taught in my achools. What a helpful clarifier that would have been while learning and accepting all the irregularities of English! Thank you for what you do!

Hello, Gideon! Your videos about history of English language, accents and pronunciation are absolutely stunning, it's such a pleasure to know more about beautiful English language and culture! Thank you for your work 🤩 That would be just awesome to watch more ☺

Absolutely loved this. It’s incredible how learning a language (or learning more about your own language) is also a lesson in history! Thanks, Gideon.

@dinkster1729

Жыл бұрын

Except Gideon's comments about Canada are off. Gee! He got a Norwegian to speak Norwegian. He should have gotten a Canadian to say "about" and "boot". The American kids up at the lake used to ask my daughter to talk because they thought she talked funny. They were from Pennsylvania. An teacher from Florida used to correct my pronunciation: VAY-hickel not VE hicle! Honey, there's an E in vehicle not an AY.

Very interesting video! As a South African, our "aspirational" accent when speaking English is RP. School kids are influenced by American TV and KZread videos, and teachers often correct them when they pronounce words like "grass" like an American. What I find interesting though, is that the dialects in the North of England pronounce the "a" in "grass" similar to the Americans. I've read that this pronunciation was common throughout England until the Southerners starting changing the vowel to sound more posh, but the Northerners and Americans either didn't get the memo, or they just didn't care! 😂 I'd like for you to talk about "archaic" English pronunciations that survives in the USA.

@jameshitselberger5845

Жыл бұрын

That would be a great idea...the word yonder is still used in some places, though by an older generation generally...

@harrynewiss4630

Жыл бұрын

More complicated than that. West country English pronounciations of words like 'grass' are different again, with a different vowel quality.

Never heard about the GVS before, to know a bit more about it would be absolutely brilliant. Also always wondered about the differences between the pronunciations of tomato and this video explains it very well. Thanks

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

Thanks, I'll do more about the GVS

@dinkster1729

Жыл бұрын

My Canadian husband says his Canadian grandmother used to say, "tomato" not toMAYto. Modern Canadian say "To MAY to" and would think that "tomato" was British. Perhaps, that song from the Gershwins indicates that some Americans did say, "Tomato" at one time.

If you haven't already, make a video about the great vowel shift. I think advanced learners will love it

Language history is so interesting! More videos about this topic, please!

I'm feeling a bit puzzled now! as both German (Haus, Maus) and Dutch (Huis, Muis) diptongue those words, sounding much more similar to current English than to the older pronunciation 🤯

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

German and Dutch vowels have changed too though not necessarily in the same direction. It could be a coincidence. I'm not an expert on Dutch/German vowel changes.

@phillipirwin7746

Жыл бұрын

A lot of that can be explained in the German vowel / consonant shift, as mapped and comment on by the Brothers Grimm. The farther north and west you go (in Germany) the deeper you get into Plattdeutsch territory.

@larsrossle8576

Жыл бұрын

Hus and Mus, without the diphthong, is how these words are pronounced in scandinavia.

@wysslukas

Жыл бұрын

Hus and Mus are also pronounced without diphtongue in Alemanic, i.e. Swiss German (and Vorarlberg, Luxemburg, southern parts of Swabia, Baden and Allsace). There are surprisingly many similar words between Scandinavian and Alemanic that are different in standard German.

@emmabraem1729

Жыл бұрын

The old Flemish dialects might give an answer. Hus, mus also sound West-Flemish.

This channel is fascinating! I could hear you talk aaall day... Plus I've noticed significant difference to my pronanciation... As a music teacher I guarantee you have an exquisite music ear... It's a wonder you're not a soloist, with that ability... But then again, in fact you are...your instrument is the language... I can only feel gratitude for your lessons...

I really like the videos about history. You make a great job for the english learners around the world. Thank you.

Couldn't thank you enough for this intriguing lesson ; would appreciate more of the same ilk,dear Sir.

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

More to come! Thanks

Love learning the origins of words. Do prepare more lessons like this one, please!

The wonderful Gershwin song is really a comment on how some upper class or upper class want to be Americans would affect some aspects of posh British speech in the early to mid twentieth century. You covered this in your brilliant video on the "mid- Atlantic" or "transatlantic" accent. These people would sometimes over compensate and say things like "po-taahto" believing this was how the British aristocracy would say it to rhyme with "tomaahto" I certainly remember people in my grandmother's generation going this. Would love to hear more about the GVS. Thanks for the wonderful videos.

@dinkster1729

Жыл бұрын

I think some people decades ago just said, "tomato", not "to MAY to". My husband's Grandmother apparently did. She would have died in the 1960s or so, I think. My husband just remembers that she did because it wasn't the usual pronunciation in Eastern Ontario. She wasn't English either.

The most amazing English history video I've seen. As a native Spanish speaker, British pronounciation make more sense seeing the GVS and the historical development. Delightful!

I'm fascinated by etymology - more please.

Yes please. I would love to watch more history about English language. Thanks

I got so caught up in the GVS explanation, I forgot the potatoes until you came back to it later on the video. And yes, please make a whole video about the great vowel movement 😁🤣

That was fascinating! I didn't know "po-tah-to" was an actual thing before the Great Vowel Shift, because no-one speaking modern English ever says it that way. I'd also never thought of Geordie pronunciation being akin to Middle English, but on reflection, you're quite right 😊 Cheers from Australia (where we definitely don't sound Geordie 😅)

@dinkster1729

Жыл бұрын

I read Chaucer once with my boyfriend who was doing an exam in Middle English. I did find myself using a kind of Scottish accent while reading the Chaucer out loud.

First time I hear about the great vowel shift. Thank you very much

Dear Gideon, you made me very curious about the GWS in this amazing video. It would be just fantastic if you could expand on this topic. Many thanks!

You almost fooled me with the werewolves. 😀 And you're right to add a caveat to the bit about the Canadian pronunciation of "about" -- "aboot" is indeed a cliché. Actually it sounds pretty close to the SSBE pronunciation of "a boat." Since both "boot" and "boat" have distinct vowels, there's no way to confuse them.

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

I was very careful not to offend Canadians....or werewolves

@TimBee100

Жыл бұрын

Only idiots in Canada pronounce "about" like that. Maybe some from the small Maritimes provinces do but they make up a small minority.

@cathygillies7271

Жыл бұрын

@@LetThemTalkTV Americans tend to hear the Canadian 'about' as 'aboot' which to our ears is very exaggerated. A theory about this Canadian pronunciation may be rooted in the influence of Scottish English -- Canadians of Scottish heritage are the third largest European group after English and French. The English of Newfoundland has preserved a great deal of 17th century English which was when the early migrations started.

@girthbloodstool339

Жыл бұрын

Exactly. This is how American comedians poke fun at us Canadians - I have NEVER heard this pronunciation spoken seriously by a Canadian, and it always provokes eye-rolls here at Yankee ignorance.

@jwolfe01234

Жыл бұрын

@@girthbloodstool339 I can always tell a Canadian by the way they say "about". I have had this conversation before: "Oh, you're Canadian." "What, did I say, 'eh'?" "No, you said, 'about'." When I hear "a boot", though, I don't think Canadian, I think Scottish. To me, the Canadian "about" sounds like a cross between "a boat" and "a boot". Quite distinct from the OW of standard American English. Another dead giveaway is a word like "organization". Canadians emphasize the "I", as in or-guhn-EYE-ZAY-shun. Whereas, Americans go with or-guh-nuh-ZAY-shun. I follow ice hockey, so I have a lot of opportunities to hear someone speak and say to myself, "Oh, they're Canadian."

Following your channel is one of the best decisions I've made. It is not anymore about learning English but understanding it together with a pinch of history. In school we learned english english. (From sussex )

I'm America, so I say tamayto. I just found your channel and I have really been enjoying it.

Yes, make more videos, they are excellently made and very informative - thank you for your work making them.

Yes please! More history 🤩

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

coming soon...

I would definitely love to see more of these historical videos; this one was pretty awesome! Many thanks for making and sharing it :)

Keep these types of videos coming, pls. I love them.

Please make a video on the great vowel shift. It would be much appreciated.

Fabulous! Keep them coming, Gideon. Thank you ever so much

Yes. Definitely. I'd like more on the Great Vowel Shift. Very interesting.

Yes, please. Give us more about like this. 🕊

This lecture is fascinating. I watched it in one breath. Thanks a lot for your hard work.

Fascinating! Would be happy to watch more, I stumbled on this video by chance and I am in love with this content ! You are great !

Yes love to hear more of the history of accents, and GVS. Also how the accents in the British colonies esp. South Africa and Australia developed.

That's what I needed and for many years i couldn't manage to search the philosophy of the words. Thx for sharing your knowledge with us.🌹🙏

This is awesome! Keep up the good work :)

More videos please. Your presentation and content are terrific.

I find it so interesting that you took the time to do this video! Hard work! Very good indeed! Thank you! I used to wonder about this old song (of course I am a huge Fred Astaire Fan!) and also I have always been curious about the English pronunciation variations.

lovely. A calm way to think about language. The history of words is endlessly fascinating.

Gideon, this is fabulous, thank you so much for such an interesting, captivating history lesson! Please make more!

So interesting! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Love your brilliant, instructive and entertaining videos. Keep ‘em coming!

This video reminded me of my English classes at University. I really enjoyed watching it ☺️☺️☺️ thank you

Awesome video. Thanks Definitely waiting for more of them.

Wow! Excellent video! I'ver learnt history and English at the same time. Congrats and keep up the excellent work!

Thank you, so interesting,as always.. More history would be great..

Really interesting, would love to see more videos on the Great Vowel Shift (plus other stuff on the history of the English language & others)

Yes, the Great Vowel Shift is so interesting I’d absolutely love to see a video from you! Thank you for the education!❤️

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

Ok, will do. thanks.

Fascinating indeed, thank you so much!

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

my pleasure.

Hi Gideon!! Yes please!!! Loved this history class , would live to hear more ❤❤❤

I loved the explanation. thank you so much

Thank you very much for your videos, they are captivating. I am from Uruguay.

Yes, for sure! I love history and It really helps the learning process

Yes, please. A video about the great vowel shift will find a ready welcome. I am looking forward to the ride.

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

Hold on tightly...coming soon.

Absolutely fascinating videos. So, yes! Would love to see more of them.

It's interesting because here in Iran in some regions they are still called patates and tomata (or variations of it). If I'm not mistaken it was the Portuguese who first brought them over here during the war with -then called Persia in 16th century. While the standard names would be a direct translation from French which literally means "apple of the earth" for potatoes and an entirely made up name for tomatoes

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

very interesting

@SiriusMined

Жыл бұрын

Yes. They also brought them to India

@Pedram_k

Жыл бұрын

@@SiriusMined Really? That must've been a funny scene where Portuguese shipmen show these wired vegetables to the people: We know we are in fight and all but you really should try these! They just came from the finest farms in America!

Another request (this one from an American) for a GVS video. I've read about it a few times, but I can't "feel" it. I have a feeling your approach would finally get it to sink in for me and make it seem less impenetrable. Thanks!

Fun and interesting piece. More, please!

Yes please I'd love a video with more about the GVS. It's absolutely fascinating!

Absolutely amazing!! Gracias!

Yes, please, go ahead and make more of this kind of videos. You are an expert on languages! It is good to learn from you. Thank you a lot.

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

You're too kind. More coming soon

As always, had a great pleasure watching another video of yours!

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

And a pleasure reading your comment

Very interesting and instructive ! Thank you !

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it.

I remember reading “ Lark Rise” by Flora Thompson, and she refers to the introduction of love apples into rural England.

Thank you. I always enjoy watching your videos.

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

I always enjoy reading your comments

Yes please! I enjoyed this video immensely and I am curious about the Great Vowel Shift.

I am from the Appalachian mountains of the Eastern USA. We just say "Mayters" and "Tayters". "Picked some fresh mayters for lunch and fixin' mash tayters for supper." 😊

I like so much your explanations. Greetings from Brazil! 🇧🇷

This was fun! I'm enjoying your videos.

Brillant ! Thanks Gedeon !

Very educational. Love these videos.

Love it, yes please provide more!

However, unlike the word 'tobacco' itself, the island of Tobago-named for tobacco-does seem to have undergone the GVS: It's pronounced /təˈbeɪɡoʊ/ in English. How did _that_ happen! 😵

@LetThemTalkTV

Жыл бұрын

Not sure why that happened. I'll investigate

@ValkyRiver

Жыл бұрын

@@LetThemTalkTV Maybe spanish voiced the /k/ to a /g/?

@benhetland576

Жыл бұрын

In "tobacco" the 'a' is a short vowel, while in "Tobago" it is a long 'a:' in many languages (modern Spanish does not retain a long--short vowel distinction). The GVS only affected the long vowels in English, not the short ones. This could also explain why "tomato" is affected while "tobacco" is not. It then remains to be explained why some of the words got borrowed with a long vowel while others got a short vowel.

@dinkster1729

Жыл бұрын

@@ValkyRiver Yes, but the a in Tobago is like the A in To MAY to (American) and the "a" in "tobacco" is like the "a" in "tomato (British). And I knew a girl from Trinidad and Tobago and that's how she pronounced it like the A in to MAY to.

Hi this is really fascinating, spelling frozen before vowel pronunciation change makes this nonsense much more logical. I love your videos and particularly those about language history, easy linguistics and language / history interactions. Please do send even more of this excellent material.

I am delighted with this video! I am from Venezuela, and lived in London for many periodos during the 80's. This is the first time I see your videos and at last understand some reasons for vowels pronunciation. Bye the way, your pronunciation un Spanish is perfectly correct. 👏👏👏

@velindaarteaga2861

Жыл бұрын

By...

I can stay here for hours! Of course I want more videos, and( I almost forget ) thanks for this content!

yes!! we want more like this videos!!! are so interesting!!

Yeah, definitely! I thoroughly enjoy your videos.

Just a quick comment regarding Italian. In Italian, tomato is called "pomodoro", but in some dialects of northern Italy (Italian dialects are not really dialects, but languages that evolved independently from Latin, with their own grammar, lexicon, and sounds) the popular word is "tomato". My mom, from Lombardy, says "tumates"

I love these video dissertations !

very interesting indeed ! I would appreciate more videos about History of English language, thanks

Dearest Gideon, I just came across your channel and I love the content here. A very satisfying mixture of philology, ancestral origins, and regional history. Where, kind sir, does your family hail from? Thank you!😊

So interesting. I'd love to hear more!

I would love seeing more videos about the history of words' pronunciation