Shakespeare: Original pronunciation (The Open University)

Why HN readers recommended it

Frequently linked as a short, accessible demonstration of how Shakespeare actually sounded.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

OpenLearn from The Open University

Topic

original pronunciation of shakespeare

Format

explainer

Level

general

HN recommenders in dataset

4

HN mentions in dataset

20

Recommendation years in dataset

2013–2025

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• A bit OT but hopefully interesting nevertheless. This is apparently the original pronunciation for the works of Shakespeare [VIDEO] The entire video has some nice information but if you want to skip to an example of the original pronunciation, you can jump to 2:50.

• I very much enjoyed this quick introduction to Shakespeare in Original Pronunciation (the sound of speech at the time) and how many puns and much interpretation is lost in modern accents. From the Open University: [VIDEO]

• The vowel shift is one of the major reasons why Shakespeare's poetry doesn't rhyme when spoken with modern English. There was a rather fascinating video that went around awhile back of a father and son demonstrating the changes.[1] [1] [VIDEO]