ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Phonological history of English

Okay kiddo, let me try to explain this in a way you'll understand!

The phonological history of English is all about how the sounds of English have changed over time. In the past, people in England spoke a different version of English than we do now. Some of the sounds they made when they talked were different from the sounds we make today.

One big change that happened was the pronunciation of vowel sounds. For example, the "a" sound in the word "father" used to be pronounced differently in Old English, the language spoken a long time ago. Instead of saying "fah-ther," people back then said "fah-dur." Can you hear the difference?

Another big change was the way people pronounced certain consonants. The letter "th" used to be pronounced differently than it is today. Instead of saying "the," people would say "dee." And instead of saying "this," they would say "dis." Can you practice saying those words with a "d" sound instead of a "th" sound?

Over time, the pronunciation of English continued to change. As people from different parts of the world began to speak English, they brought their own accents and ways of pronouncing words. That's why English now has so many different accents, from British to American to Australian, just to name a few.

So the phonological history of English is all about how the sounds of the language have evolved and changed over time. Pretty cool, huh? Keep practicing those "d" sounds for "th" words and you'll be speaking like an Old English pro in no time!