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How far back in time can you understand English? (www.deadlanguagesociety.com)
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by Chromebby@lemmy.world 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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[-] LordMayor@piefed.social 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days 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.

this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2026
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