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Overview
Great Vowel Shift
Quick Reference
A change in the pronunciation of English that took place at the end of the Middle Ages: most long vowels, such as the vowel in see (which before the shift rhymed with the modern French thé), were raised, and the already close vowels in shine (which was pronounced like today's sheen) and mouse (which was pronounced like today's moose) became the diphthongs that they now are.
