The video discusses the evolution of the English language and how it would be difficult for a modern English speaker to communicate with people from medieval times. The language has changed significantly over the centuries, with influences from various invasions and cultural exchanges.
The video explains that if a modern English speaker were to travel back in time to the 6th century, they would encounter Old English, which would be difficult to understand due to its grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The language evolved over the centuries, with the Norman Conquest introducing French influences and the Great Vowel Shift changing the pronunciation of vowels.
By the 16th century, Middle English had given way to Early Modern English, which is closer to the English language we know today. However, even in the 16th century, there were still significant differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.
The video concludes that a modern English speaker would likely be able to communicate reasonably well with people from the 16th century onwards, but would still encounter some difficulties due to differences in dialect, accent, and vocabulary.
Additionally, the video mentions that the West Country accent, which was popularized by Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in the 1950s film "Treasure Island," is not an accurate representation of how pirates spoke in the Golden Age of Piracy. Instead, it was a regional accent from southwestern England that was adopted by Newton for the character.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The earliest use of punctuation started to be introduced in ancient times.
2. Cicero, a Roman orator, scorned the use of punctuation.
3. Spaces between words weren't used until approximately the 7th and 8th centuries.
4. Irish and Scottish monks popularized the use of spaces between words.
5. Charlemagne introduced lowercase letters to the masses in the late 8th century.
6. The monk Alcuin developed a unified alphabet, which included lowercase letters.
7. The speech patterns of young people often grate on the ears of adults because they're unfamiliar.
8. New words and phrases are used in spoken or informal language before they're used in formal written language.
9. Accents and language change over time.
10. If you traveled back in time to Shakespearean times, Shakespeare would have sounded more like a pirate than the refined accent associated with his work today.
11. The English language developed from a series of invasions, including the invasion of Germanic tribes in the 5th and 6th centuries.
12. The Viking invasions introduced words from Old Norse into the English language.
13. The Norman Conquest established Old Norman as the language of the elite in England.
14. The language of the Normans trickled down to the masses, adding words to the English language.
15. Middle English spans from the 12th to the 15th centuries.
16. The great vowel shift occurred primarily from the mid-14th century to the 16th century, changing the pronunciation of vowels in the English language.
17. Chaucer's writing in the 14th century is an example of what English looked like during that time.
18. The spelling of English words was standardized before the great vowel shift was complete, resulting in words whose spellings don't match their pronunciation.
19. The language was starting to become standardized around the 16th century, with London as the epicenter of standardization.
20. The West Country accent inspired the stereotypical way that pirates speak in Hollywood productions.
21. Robert Newton's portrayal of Long John Silver in the 1950s version of Treasure Island set the standard for the modern conception of how to speak like a pirate.
22. Pirate ships included people from various countries, including Scotland, Ireland, Africa, and France.
23. The largest number of English pirates were probably from London.