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How far back in time can you understand English? (www.deadlanguagesociety.com)
submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by to c/neat@lemmy.world
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Very entertaining. I’m totally lost around 1400. I don’t even recognize 1200 as English lol.

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[–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

Same here, 1300 was a slog, but I got through it. 1200 was like trying to read German, I got a few phrases here and there but that's it.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago*

    That’s exactly what’s happening. If you read the author’s explanation, around 1250 is when English starts picking the up the Latin and French loan words that modern English speakers are used to.

    English is a Germanic language. So, without the loan words, it is very much more like German.

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