Phonological history of English vowels

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

In the history of English phonology, there have been many diachronic sound changes affecting vowels, especially involving phonemic splits and mergers.