Great Vowel Shift

[hazeleyedgirl]

Hi

I have a word 'seat' and have to trascript it in Modern English just after GVS, is that correct:

if the word in present day english is : /siːt/ so looking back in Early Modern English just after GVS it was: /sɛ:t/ ????

[BobK]

Originally Posted by hazeleyedgirl

Hi

I have a word 'seat' and have to trascriBE it inTO Modern English just after GVS, is that correct:

if the word in present day english is : /siːt/ so looking back in Early Modern English just after GVS it was: /sɛ:t/ ????

I believe so*, in a very simplified view of the GVS. But most modern commentators would not see the Great Vowel Shift as a sudden event, so the phrase "just after GVS" is problematic as the GVS (if it makes sense to use the term at all - Wikipedia's happy with it but I seem to remember that Mugglestone's History of the English Language (OUP 2006) recorded a few dissenting voices) took place as a series of inter-related changes over 300-400 years. The /ɛ:/ -> /e:/ move happened around the 14th and 15th centuries, and the /e:/ vowel that represented the "ea" in seat didn't move all the way to /i:/ until some time in the 16th.

So, as usual, you need to question the terms of the question.

Read more here: Great Vowel Shift - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

b

PS * Perhaps not, on second thoughts. Wasn't /ɛ:/ the pre-GVS version?

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by hazeleyedgirl

Hi

I have a word 'seat' and have to trascript it in Modern English just after GVS, is that correct:

if the word in present day english is : /siːt/ so looking back in Early Modern English just after GVS it was: /sɛ:t/ ????

Now that's a tough one!
Here's some entries from Oxford:(and my suggested pronunciation) It doesn't look very stable!

c1200 ORMIN 11059 He turrnde waterr inntill win..Att an bridaless sæte. / sætə /
a1300 E.E. Psalter cxxxviii. 2 ou knew mi seete and mi risinge. /sɛːtə/
a1400 Octavian 1002 He fonde the boordys covyrde alle, And redy to go to mete;
The maydyn..In a kyrtulle there sche stode, And bowne sche was to sete. /sɛtə/
c1420 Chron. Vilod. 2747 is bysone mone full wery of sete he was. /sɛtə/
1545 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 5 Becaus of the fere of the pest that is laytlie risyn in the toun of Edinburcht, the seite of Sessioun may nocht surelie remaine thairin /seɪtə/
1560 J. DAUS tr. Sleidane's Comm. 150 Of the counsell, for that it is the hyghe judicial seate of the churche [ecclesiæ supremum tribunal]. ?
1567 Gude & Godlie Ball. 102 Full slyddrie is the sait that thay on sit. /saɪt/
1577 B. GOOGE Heresbach's Husb. III. (1586) 115b, The ridgebone ouer the shoulders being something hie, giues the horseman a better seate. ?
1667 DK. NEWCASTLE Meth. Dressing Horses 205 The Seat is so much..as it is the only thing that makes a Horse go Perfectly./siːt/
1693 LOCKE Educ. §186. 237 It conduces to give a Man a firm and graceful Seat on Horseback.