"English as it was spoke" by Shakespeare

Here’s an Open Culture article cum video which talks about how English sounded 400 years ago: it gives excerpts of plays in Original Pronunciation side by side with modern English. Fascinating.

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The three clues to know old pronunciations are interesting.
The last one is related to rhymes and puns that do not work in contemporary English.

Fascinating!

Brilliant stuff!

(I have to say, though, that their reconstructed pronunciation sounds very like the way that many people still speak today in the West Country - especially away from the city.)

If you’re an Android user, you can now text like a Jacobean :smiley: http://ow.ly/10si7Z

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I agree. I felt immediately at home. My first place to live in the UK was Bristol and in the 1970s they really spoke Brizzle. Wonderful.

Yeah, but I’m thinking rural Somerset - right out in cider country! :slight_smile:

(Also interesting)

Yes! Home from home sounds for me.