In the 17th a massive sound change affecting the long
vowels of English (specifically: iː eː ɛː aː ɔː oː uː) named The Great Vowel Shift happened. The i:
and u: vowels became diphthongs (bite sounded like beet)
and the other ones increased in tongue height (the word meet in Modern
English sounded like meat).
There were four important changes in the pronunciation
of consonant sound during Early Modern English:
-Initial k- or g- before -n
weren't pronounced (knight), as -w after -r (write).
-After nasal consonants, final -b and -g
weren't pronounced (lamb).
-Also did medial -t in words such as
listen.
-Final -nd was reduced: laund -> lawn.
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