VOWEL SHIFT
VOWEL SHIFT. A term in philology and phonetics for a process under which a set of VOWELS undergoes changes. The term GREAT VOWEL SHIFT is used for a number of longterm changes which affected the English VOWEL system during the 15c–17c. In this shift, the long vowels in reed, rood changed from [eː, oː] to [iː, uː], and close vowels became diphthongs, the vowels in five, house changing from [iː, uː] to [aɪ, ɑʊ]. The degree to which vowels have shifted varies from one variety of English to another: for example, conservative dialects of Scotland, Ireland, and the North of England retain a monophthong [eː, oː] in words like raid, road, whereas these vowels have generally become diphthongs elsewhere, as in RP [eɪ, əʊ]. See ABLAUT.
More From encyclopedia.com
Shift , shift / shift/ • v. move or cause to move from one place to another, esp. over a small distance: [tr.] I shift the weight back to the other leg | [in… blue shift , blue shift In astronomy, an effect in which the lines in the spectrum of a celestial object are displaced towards the blue end of the spectrum. It re… Red Shift , Skip to main content
red shift
red shift or redshift, in astronomy, the systematic displacement of individual lines in the spectrum of a celestial ob… Paradigm , A paradigm is a template, model, or framework. Paradigms can be used to create new objects, just as templates can be used as patterns when outlining… Downshift , down·shift / ˈdounˌshift/ • v. [intr.] change to a lower gear in a motor vehicle or bicycle. ∎ slow down; slacken off: well before the country slippe… Suffix , Suffix
SUFFIX
SUFFIX An AFFIX added at the end of a WORD, BASE, or ROOT to form a new word: -ness added to dark to form darkness; -al added to leg to…
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
VOWEL SHIFT