Definition of the word came

The word "came" originated from the Old English verb "cuman," which meant "to come." This word had a complex evolution in the English language. In Old English, "cuman" was inflected to indicate different tenses and forms. For example, the simple past form was "cymde" (pronounced "kemde"), and the past participle form was "comen" (pronounced "kemn"). As English transformed into Middle English, the verb forms changed. The past tense and past participle forms became "cwem" (pronounced "kwem") and "comen" (both pronounced "kemn"). In early Modern English, the spelling of the word began to shift to more closely reflect its pronunciation. The past tense form became "cwem" and the past participle form became "comen." However, in the 16th century, English went through a major spelling reform called the Great Vowel Shift, which significantly changed the sound values of many English vowels. This led to a new pronunciation of the word "came," which was now pronounced "kemd" (as in "demand"). As a result, the spelling of "came" changed to match its new pronunciation. The word was now spelled "came" (as in "ame"), even though it no longer sounded like its spelling would suggest. This is a classic example of how the pronunciation of a word can change over time, leading to discrepancies between the word's spelling and pronunciation. Today, the word "came" is still spelled this way, even though its pronunciation has changed once again due to other linguistic shifts over the centuries.