Understanding and Teaching the Pronunciation of English.pdf

and they’re always in a state of change. Linguists do their
best to analyze this amazing mess, but rules often have
exceptions, and what is true today might not be true 50 years
from now. Even the experts often disagree on the details of
what’s happening and why.

So when you see a nice, neat chart like this:

Remember that the reality is probably more like this:

Language and its sounds are not as neat and tidy as we

sometimes imagine, but that just makes them more

interesting.

Internet Links

These videos show how English sounded many years ago.

Old English: This is a riddle from the Book of Exeter, a

collection of poems and other writings from over 1,000 years

ago, read by Michael D. C. Drout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI3H9qAgdxk

Middle English: Prologue to the Canterbury Tales by

Geo"rey Chaucer, written in the late 14th century, and read

by Diane Jones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahuT-JwxIa8

Early Modern English: Linguist David Crystal and his son

Ben demonstrate how the language in William Shakespeare’s

plays would have been pronounced around 1600 A.D.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?

feature=player_embedded&v=gPlpphT7n9s

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