🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <6f04pc$j6@enews4.newsguy.com>
vjp2@dorsai.org @smtp.dorsai.org (Vasos Panagiotopoulos +1-917-287-8087 Bioengineer-Financier) writes:
 
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>        The differences in English <Beowulf: Chaucer: Shakespeare:
>KJV: Modern> compare roughly to those in Greek <LinearB: Homer:
>Aristotle: Koine: Kathomilumeni>, as the governing force seems to be
>that developing a common body of literature greatly slows down changes
>in a language. Moreover, this comparison system also shows the level to
>which a native speaker understands predecessor toungues. A Greek today
>may complain about having to work at understanding Aristotle, whereas
>a Brit will make a big stink about pretending to understand
>Shakespeare, but that is more an indication of the differences between
>the laid-back, cantankerous Mediterranean attitude and the stuck-up,
>workaholic, Nordic attitude than about differences in toungues.
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>                                - = -
>Vasos-Peter John Panagiotopoulos II, Columbia'81+, Bioengineer-Financier, NYC
>   BachMozart ReaganQuayle EvrytanoKastorian http://WWW.Dorsai.Org/~vjp2
>               vjp2@{MCIMail.Com|CompuServe.Com|Dorsai.Org}
>   ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}---
 
 
Interesting comment, Vasos.  One nitpick, if I may ...  There is very little
difference in language between Shakespeare and the KJV, and they also overlap
slighly in date--since the KJV was published in 1611 and Shakespeare died
in 1616.  There is more difference both in date and in language between
Homer and Aristotle, plus there is an important difference in _place_ and
therefore dialect (or dialect mix):  Homer, a poetic mix of dialects (Ionic
with Aeolic and Doric forms); Aristotle, Attic.  By the 17th century,
the dialect shared by Shakespeare and the KJV is the standard (or polite)
dialect, drawn from the South of England, especially upper- and middle-class
speech in London.  Increasingly, I think, we are considering this state
of the English language as distinct from our own (alas!), as Early Modern
English.  So we have four major periods:  Old English (until 1066 or really
about 1200), Middle English (c. 1200-c. 1500), Early Modern English (c. 1500-
c. 1700), and Modern English (c. 1700-present).
 
Amittai F. Aviram
(Columbia College '78)