Comment on English, old
force@lemmy.world 3 months agoI would like to clarify that Chaucer is Late Middle English, and English standards were in large part based on his writing, so his writing is generally understandable for most English readers. Early & Middle Middle English, though, not so much…
Sanctus@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Wow, it goes from something that looks almost German to nearly readable modern English. That was crazy to see. Thanks for the information.
force@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I only speak German as a second language, so I can’t verify this, but I see a lot of German+English speakers say that some of Old English and earlier Middle English texts are actually quite readible for them. I imagine something similar would apply to people literate in Icelandic, but I haven’t seen that yet.
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 3 months ago
I’m a swedish native with decent german fluidity, the 12th century stuff reads like a hybrid between old norse and german, and by 15th century it just sounds like modern swenglish (look it up, it’s fucking hilarious)
wjrii@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Don’t forget Frisian.
“Brea, bûter en griene tsiis is goed Ingelsk en goed Frysk”