Totally useless facts!

[Linda]

This was part of it, too.  Showing how language evolves.  I had to translate the whole flaming book into understandable English before I could comment on it with some authority!!

THE NONNES PREESTES TALE
A povre wydwé, somdeel stape in age,
Was whilom dwellyng in a narwe cotáge
Biside a grevé, stondynge in a dale.
This wydwe, of which I tellé yow my tale,
Syn thilké day that she was last a wyf,
In paciénce ladde a ful symple lyf,
For litel was her catel and hir rente:
By housboundrie of swich as God hire sente
She foond hirself and eek hir doghtren two.

Isn't 'eek' a great word!! 

[technomc]

I loved Chaucer...and the olde English...i used to thoroughly enjoy reading it out loud..
Can you imagine how XXX rated the language would be now if it was translated...

[biggerbirdbrain]

Yes, it is. Wyf/lyf are wonderful, too.

You might have posted "The Paomnnehal Pweor Of The Hmuan Mnid" once, too , but I don't really remember either.

Thanks for bringing the poem up, LL -- I love it!

I'm no authority, but I just was so enamoured of those tales when I first read them, even though I had no concept of the true pronunciations. Our teachers didn't either, in high school. I did get to read some more with Beowulf in college, and not only was the language so amazing, but so was the story. It is amazing to see how you can understand a lot of the words, even though the spellings are so quaint. You can really see the old Latin/French/Welsh roots emerge, that give so much colour to the language.

[birdy]

Hi Threeb,

Did you read Beowulf in translation or in the Old English/Anglo-Saxon?  I took 2 semesters of O.E. and the second semester we read most of Beowulf - not bad for a class reading a new language!  I've forgotten most of the vocabulary by now, but since I didn't take German, it was my closest contact with one of the major roots of the English language.  I loved the course!

I liked Chaucer too - we had to memorize the Prologue with the original pronunciation in order to help us understand later selections, and still recite it at the drop of a hat.  Aside from that, the only quote I remember (probably misspelled) is
   "Teehee!" quod she, and clapped the window shut.
Yes, T, it wouldn't get by most school boards now!

Re: "The Paomnnehal Pweor Of The Hmuan Mnid":  I've always wondered if it would work with a person for whom English is a second language, and how skilled they would have to be before it made sense.

[biggerbirdbrain]

Lucky you, birdy! We really did try to read Beowulf and Chaucer in their original language, with translations provided as well. I just wish then I could have heard it read aloud by someone skilled, but that was in high school, so our teachers, the (H)nuns, tried but weren't quite up to it, either. They were used to teaching French and Latin, which in some cases, did help a bit in other areas.

As to "TPPOTHM", that would be an interesting query. I imagine it also might depend which other language the people already knew, and how close they were to English roots. IQ might also be a factor, and facility with language as a whole, rather than someone better at math. Hmmm.