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One of the ways can be through poetry. Since many poems tend to include rhymes, the pronunciation of a word can sometimes be gleaned by comparing it to its rhy
by tvmalsv 9y ago
One of the ways can be through poetry. Since many poems tend to include rhymes, the pronunciation of a word can sometimes be gleaned by comparing it to its rhyme pair (there's probably an actual word for that). Of course, that presupposes you know the pronunciation of the other word.
Edit: Pretty much what edanm said. I really should do a page refresh before replying when the tab has been open for a while :)
- lainga 9y agoAs Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It: And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot / And thereby hangs a tale Which is wittier when you realise that hour was pronounced like whore in his day.
- JacobAldridge 9y agoThe quote I learned about the Great Vowel Shift from was Henry IV, Part I. If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, where the prof explained it was a pun because "reasons" was pronounced more like "raisins" in 1597.
- petercooper 9y agoA video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPlpphT7n9s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPlpphT7n9s (with examples)