8/25/00: This applet should be working.  We are continuing to work on the best way to ensure you get the right plug-in. Mac-Netscape users, please go to the instruction page to find out how to download the necessary plug-in. Mac-Internet Explorer users are best off using seehear2.htm.  PC users should get to the right place automatically.

How to Use the Great Vowel Shift Applet:
You will need a Java plug-in to run this applet.  The buttons on the left run the applet. You can study the GVS by Middle English phoneme or by step. If you want to know what happens to a particular long vowel, click on one of the phoneme buttons to see and hear it go through the shift. If you want to study a particular step of the shift, click on one of the step buttons. Note that you must click the Reset button between steps (or weird things will happen).

Warning!  Unfortunately, sometimes this applet can take over your sound card and keep you from hearing other sound files.  This is a problem we cannot fix from our end.   If this happens to you, you will need to shut down your browser and reopen it.  We hate this and apologize for the inconvenience.

What is this trapezoid? | What do these funny letters mean?