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Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2018 October 8 Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives/Language/2018_October_8

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October 8

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New question about English sounds

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How come the oi (as in oil) sound exists in English but (in general) the diphthong eh+oo doesn't?? Georgia guy (talk) 12:23, 8 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

See Great Vowel Shift and Phonological history of English diphthongs. The /ɛu/ eh+oo shifted eventually into /juː/ yoo (which yod-dropping turns into /uː/ oo), while the /ɔɪ/ oi remained so. --Theurgist (talk) 14:04, 8 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]