The historical lineage of Standard English has been a locus of scholarly research for over a century. And although the strong influence of the East Midlands dialect on Standard English has never been questioned, little agreement has been reached on how this dialect shaped the standardized language. This study takes a new approach to long-standing problems by recontextualizing the concept of a standard language in light of contemporary linguistic theory and through analyzing the vocalic sound systems of six texts that represent the East Midlands dialect from the early Old English period through 1250. Throughout the investigations into the separate texts, the problem of analyzing continuity between synchronic stages is emphasized, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives.