When we think of language change we often focus on new words but languages also change by sound. For example, the sounds of English today are very different than they were 600 years ago. Changes in the sounds of English between 1400 and 1700 are known as "The Great Vowel Shift."
Next: Chaucer, The Pardoner's Tale but keep reading
Listen to the way The Lord's Prayer sounded about 1000 years ago
Fæder ure,
þu þe eart on heofonum,
si þin nama gehalgod.
Tobecume þin rice.
Gewurþe ðin willa
on eorðan swa swa on heofonum.
Urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg.
And forgyf us ure gyltas,
swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum.
And ne gelæd þu us on costnunge,
ac alys us of yfele.
Soþlice.
Our Father,
which art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
in earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
But deliver us from evil.
Amen
Lord's Prayer, as written in about 1380.
Oure fadir
þat art in heuenes
halwid be þi name;
þi reume or kyngdom come to be.
Be þi wille don
in herþe as it is doun in heuene.
yeue to us today oure eche dayes bred.
And foryeue to us oure dettis þat is oure synnys
as we foryeuen to oure dettouris þat is to men þat han synned in us.
And lede us not into temptacion
but delyuere us from euyl.
Now, watch a video on the way that Shakespeare's plays originally sounded:
And then, if you feel like it, check out this, from Ryan North's Dinosaur Comics.
