The History of English Podcast

Currently Playing: Episode 190: Union, Division and Unusual U

During the decade of the 1640s, England was divided by Civil War. At the same time, the sound of letter of U was also experiencing its own division, ultimately resulting in two distinct ‘long’ sounds and two distinct ‘short’ sounds. In this episode, we explore those developments and examine how the English Civil War shaped the English language. TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 190 (https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/HOE-Transcript-Episode190.pdf)