How far back is English understandable?

For most native English speakers who are reasonably educated, that point usually seems to be around Shakespeare’s time or a bit before him. That puts the time around 500 years ago (ca. 1500s-1600s). We know we understand the stuff from Victorian times (1820s-1900s) such as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, etc.

Could old English speakers understand Modern English?

It depends, in that Late Middle English, that is, the language of Chaucer and that which most English-speakers think of as Middle English, tends to be quite readable to literate native speakers of Modern English once they get used to the orthographic differences present in it relative to written Modern English, even …

How was English spoken in the 1700s?

Fortunately, English spoken in the 1700s is quite similar to what is spoken today. “You” and “ye” were used only when multiple people or respected figures were being spoken to. “Thou” and “you” are used as the subject of a sentence while “thee” and “ye” are used as direct or indirect objects.

How far can you go back in time before you could not understand an English speaker?

The Bard did much to shape the English language and how people express themselves and invented many words and figures of speech in common use today. So, we could probably go back to around 1500 or so and communicate with contemporary English speakers — and they with us.

Why should we all speak the same language?

When it comes to natural language, speaking the same language would reduce our creative scope and innovativeness, and it would press us all into the same mould. Knowing different languages allows us to give expression to different cultural identities and it keeps us in touch with our heritage.

When was late Modern English?

Late Modern English. It is now normal to divide the time since the end of the Middle English period into the Early Modern English period (1500-1700) and the Late Modern English period (1700-1900).

What English do we speak today?

Modern English (sometimes New English or NE (ME) as opposed to Middle English and Old English) is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England, which began in the late 14th century and was completed in roughly 1550.