#  Middle English Pronunciation 

 



 Press 'Play' in the player below to listen to a recording from *The Prose* *Brut* (14th Century) as you read along with the text.

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 *The Prose Brut*

 And þo sayd Albyne:  
“ful wel y wot, fayr sustres, þat oure housbandes  
haue playned vnto owre fadir vpon vs,  
wherfore he hath þus vs foul reproued & despised.  
Wherfore, sustres, my counseil is þat, þis nyght,  
when owre housbandes ben abed,  
all we with on assent cutten here throtes,  
& þan we mow be in pees of hem,  
& better we mowe do þis þing vndir our fadres power  
þan elles-where.” & anon All þe ladyes consentid  
and graunted vnto þis council.  
And whan nyght was comyn, þe lordes & ladies  
wente to bedde, & anon as here lordes were in slepe,  
þei cutte all here housbandes throtes,  
& so they slowen hem all.

 [Additional Readings from Chaucer](https://alanbaragona.wordpress.com/the-criyng-and-the-soun/)

 Alan Baragona and others read from Chaucer. This WordPress site hosts a number of recordings of Chaucer's poetry under the heading "The Criying and the Soun: Chaucer Audio Files." Select the lines you want to hear and then scroll down for the audio player. This could be a useful tool for practicing your own pronunciation.

 Here you can listen to Chaucer's "Shipman’s Tale" and "Prioress’s Tale" from *The Canturbury Tales*. You can follow along in the interlinear translation of ["Shipman’s Tale"](http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/shippar1.htm) and ["Prioress’s Tale"](http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/pri-par.htm) found on The Geoffrey Chaucer Page.

  [Play \[NB: sounds starts at 20 sec\]](/file_url/215)