Describe how sounds changed from Old to Middle English.

In Old English, the sounds were more similar to the sounds found in modern German. The vowels were pronounced more distinctly and the consonants were pronounced more sharply. There were also more vowel sounds in Old English compared to Middle English.

In Middle English, the sounds began to shift and change. The vowels became more centralized and the consonants became softer. This shift in pronunciation is known as the Great Vowel Shift, which occurred between the 14th and 18th centuries. This shift resulted in many of the vowel sounds in Middle English becoming closer to the vowel sounds found in modern English.

Overall, the sounds in Middle English became more similar to the sounds found in modern English, with some notable differences in pronunciation and spelling.

Vowel Changes:

- Great Vowel Shift: Most long vowels shifted to higher positions, creating new sounds.
- Old English long /aː/ became Middle English /ɔː/ (as in "law")
- Old English long /eː/ became Middle English /iː/ (as in "feet")
- Old English long /uː/ became Middle English /uː/ (as in "moon")
- Monophthongization: Diphthongs became single vowels.
- Old English diphthong /au/ became Middle English /ɔː/ (as in "law")
- Old English diphthong /iu/ became Middle English /uː/ (as in "moon")
- Breaking: Long /eː/ and /iː/ became diphthongs before certain consonants (e.g., /r/, /l/).
- Old English long /eː/ became Middle English /ea/ before /r/ (as in "earth")
- Old English long /iː/ became Middle English /ia/ before /r/ (as in "fire")

Consonant Changes:

- Voicing of Consonants: Many voiceless consonants became voiced in certain environments.
- Old English voiceless /f/ became Middle English voiced /v/ (as in "voice")
- Old English voiceless /s/ became Middle English voiced /z/ after nasal vowels (as in "is")
- Palatalization: Certain consonants became palatalized before front vowels.
- Old English /k/ became Middle English /tʃ/ before /iː/ (as in "church")
- Old English /g/ became Middle English /dʒ/ before /iː/ (as in "judge")
- Loss of Consonants: Consonants were sometimes lost in certain positions, especially at the end of words.
- Old English /n/ was lost after /m/ (as in "him")
- Old English /h/ was lost after voiceless consonants (as in "night")

Other Changes:

- Loss of Inflectional Endings: Old English had a rich system of inflectional endings for nouns, adjectives, and verbs. These endings were gradually lost in Middle English, simplifying the grammar.
- Development of Diphthongs: New diphthongs developed in certain environments, such as /ei/ (as in "may") and /ou/ (as in "house").
- French Influence: The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 introduced many French words and sounds into Middle English.