Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,7, Free University of Berlin (Institut für Englische Philologie), course: History of English II: Historical Linguistics, language: English, abstract: The Great Vowel Shift terms the change of sounds of long vowels in the English language within the period from 1400 to 1700. This period can also be referred to as the change from Middle English, hereafter ME, to Early Modern English, hereafter EModE. This paper investigates the very basic and commonly agreed on changes of the vowel system from ME to EModE. Additionally, works of Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare who serve as representatives for each period are being examined in order to proof the previously stated sound changes by means of English literature.