[SOC] Fw: Englisch

[Richard Brunner]

 Gobschmacked, Ja, Wohl!
 An old dictionary from my father had a thumbnail history of English, which
 was very interesting.  If you go back a few hundred years it sounds a bit
 strange but is perfectly understandable.  When you go back a few more
 hundred years there are some characters we don't recognize, like the
 "Thorn," and it is incomprehensible to the modern reader.   When you go
back
 before the Norman conquest it becomes an Old German and is perfectly clear
 to me.  For comparison, Russian and Arabic have not changed in a thousand
 years.  Today a Russian and Arab can read text a thousand years old without
 difficulty.  This means not much has happened in those cultures in a
 thousand years.  A Russian immigrant told me that change came very slowly
in
 Russia.  One could see changes coming and everyone had time to discuss them
 before they eventually arrived, and in comparison everything happens with
 great velocity here.  How 'bout that.  Language would be a big problem for
 time-travelers, speaking acceptable sprache.

 Gr��e
 Richard Brunner, AA1P
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