Late Old Japanese
Many changes took place to the way the language was pronounced during this period. Consonants that had been spoken through the nose became voiced, some long vowels were added, some consonants slid into one another. The syllables became simpler: instead of 88 there were only 66. Instead of two types of -i, -e, and –o there were only one. Some verbs ended in a consonant, others in a vowel. The changes in grammar included different ways that adjectives could be declined.