Episode 136: The Real Robin Hood
The History of English Podcast
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The Great Vowel Shift in Middle English
Robin Hood's poem ends with a reference to his status as a yomun. The rhyme points to something that was happening in the language at the time, says David Frum. In Middle English, letters Y and E represented completely different vowel sounds. He will delve into the great vowel shift in some detail two or three episodes from now.
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