Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Medieval Language

In medieval times, most people did not read or write. Perhaps that is why it is sometimes easier to hear and understand medieval english than to read it. Still , there are many words in medieval english that we do not use today.

Durst: Dare: The nessessary boldness or courage for something.
Whence: From where: '' Whence comest thou?"
Whience: To where: "Whither thou goest I'll go."
Wit: To know: Canst thou wit what the day shall bring


Although medieval english is at the root of modern english, it does not look like what we use today

Williams,Marcia - title : Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - Cambride,Massachusetts- Candlewick Press-Copyright,2007.

3 comments:

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  2. I thought that the language would be something other than English.But I would say it is a more difficult English to speak.
    How did this language change over time?

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  3. It was interesting to know that there was a word called "Whither". the weird thing is that I still use "Whence". What other words are there that we don't use today?

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