Middle English Pronunciation Guide

        As is the case with most things that appear over time on my website, what you see is the backbone.  This starts out with a pronunciation guide from Jacksonville State University.  At the bottom of the page will be a copy of the pronunciation of the first 18 lines of the General Prologue, as I have typed out.  I based my pronunciation on this guide and audio's that I have listened to.  It is the product of about an hour to an hour-and-a-half.  Over time, I will add more stuff.  For the benefit of anyone who wants to learn Middle English, I plan to eventually put up a complete copy of the Canterbury Tales with side by side translation.  This will occur as soon as I find a good one to use.

I found an audio file online from Harvard University of Larry D. Benson reading the first 18 lines out loud!  Check it out at the bottom of the page with the translation.  His pronunciation matches mine, so it will serve as a good guide to understanding my rendition.

(as found at http://www.jsu.edu/depart/english/treed/chpronounce.htm)

When pronouncing consonants, pronounce those that have become silent in Modern English:

• pronounce all of them. Yes! Kind of as the French knights in Monty Python's The Holy Grail do!
• say gh with lots of breath, like the ch in German ich;
• say the l before an f;
• say the w before an r.
• Sound Examples
  • Knyght
  • Write
  • Gnawen
  • Halve

• ch as in chivalrie always has the sound in church;
• gg usually represents a hard g, but in words where the Modern English equivalent has a sound like that in judge it is pronounced as in Modern English;
• the ending -ion or -ioun is always said with two syllables, never like shun;
• roll R's.
• always pronounce s's as in hiss, not as a z
• Sound Examples
  • Chivalrie
  • Juggen
  • Passioun
  • Resoun
  • Has

The Pronunciation Project

Pronunciation note:  This doesn't follow a standard pronunciation system.  Instead, I have tried to approximate this as much as I can to actual speech.  Every time you see a bar over a letter, that gives you the long vowel sound.  For example, ō is the same o that is found in goat.  If I were to write goat in this guide for you to pronounce, I would write gō-t. The dash ( - ) is simply a reminder that all consonants are pronounced in Middle English, which is vastly different from Modern English.  It is not a pause or glottal stop; it is just a reminder to enunciate.  Aprill becomes Ah-prill here to show that you say the AH sound followed by prill, rather than making a sound out of 'ahp'.  There are a few cases, such as eek (eke) that I use the closest English word that sounds the same.  Note that in the case of eek, this doe not necessarily denote the meaning.  Eek, in Middle English, means also.  The one instance of Rr in this means to roll your R, like in Spanish.  'Thuh' is meant to keep you from pronouncing it "properly" as 'thē'.

Chaucer's "The General Prologue" -- Lines 1-18
Hear it read aloud by Larry D. Benson

16r -- *enduf: "end of" slurred It's written small to show that its barely spoken -- the lines read together as a phrase "Ah-nd spa-sh’lly from ā-vree sheer-ess enduf Āngh-longd tuh Counter-bury they wend-uh."