Which historical phenomenon involved a major vowel pronunciation change between roughly 1400 and 1700?

• A. The Great Vowel Shift
• B. The press standardization
• C. The singular they
• D. The clipping

Answer: (A)

The main idea being tested is a big, historical shift in how English vowels sounded. The Great Vowel Shift describes a group of systematic changes to the pronunciation of long vowels as English moved from Middle English to Early Modern English, roughly between 1400 and 1700. Vowel sounds moved to new places in the mouth, and several vowels ended up with different qualities, so many familiar words began to sound quite different from how they were written. Because the spelling of English words often remained tied to the older pronunciations, this created many of the spelling–pronunciation mismatches we see in modern English. This phenomenon is about sound change in pronunciation, not about how language is written (standardization), not about pronoun use, and not about shortening words (clipping).