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Oure fadir that art in heuenes,
halewid be thi name;
thi kyngdoom come to;
be thi wille don, in erthe as in heuene.
Yyue to vs this dai oure breed ouer othir substaunce,
and foryyue to vs oure dettis, as we foryyuen to oure dettouris;
and lede vs not in to temptacioun, but delyuere vs fro yuel. Amen.
If Italian, can you read The Divine Comedy in its original dialect?
If French, can you read The Song of Roland in Old French?
Old Chinese? Middle Chinese? Old English? Middle English? Etc?
To me, Shakespeare and King James are an utterly foreign language. On the other hand, probably because I studied Latin, I have, or had, an easier time with "middle period" romance languages. But I'd rather read historians and theologians in Latin and Greek than poets, playwrights and philosophers in any contemporary language.
I believe that average contemporary Greek-speakers without at least some training in philology, broadly speaking, find ancient, hellenistic, koine and katharevousa Greek pretty much foreign, but personally I find the first three general periods more useful. But, again, I'd rather read historians and theologians than poets, playwrights and philosophers.
The first text when it is more Portuguese than Latin (1.000 years ago) I think if I have never studied Latin I can't understand.
But in the same epoca or before we found music (trovadas) in old Portuguese and yes it is easier to understand the main idea. So we imagine that they use Latin to write and formal occasions but the Latin speak informal it was closer to the language that we speak nowadays.
I – DOCUMENTO LATINO-PORTUGUÊS DE 1008
« ... et illa alia mediatate reserbam(us) pro nos. Et nec vindamus nec donemus ad alio omine nisit ad ti ou tu a nos. Abeas fÃrmiter de nostro dato ( ... ) et fauolastis proa me ad meo marito Uirterla et dimisit mici illa merze et rezebit me pro sua muliere et consudunasti nos todos tres in tua kasa ad tua bcmfeitoria ( ... ) nos illa devindigare non potuerimus pos tua parte ou tu in uoci nostra ... »2.
Li reis Marsilie out sun cunseill finet,
Sin apelat Clarin de Balaguet,
Estamarin e Eudropin, sun per,
65E Priamun e Guarlan le barbet
E Machiner e sun uncle, Maheu,
E Joüner e Malbien d’ultremer
E Blancandrins, por la raisun ****er.
Des plus feluns dis en ad apelez :
70« Seignurs baruns, a Carlemagnes irez.
Il est al siege a Cordres la citet.
Branches d’olives en voz mains porterez, (des branches d'olives dans vos mains vous porterez)
Ço senefiet pais e humilitet.
Par voz saveirs sem puez acorder,
75 Jo vos durrai or e argent asez,
Teres e fiez tant *** vos en vuldrez. »
Dient paien : « De ço avun nus asez ! »
I can understand a bit but certainly not pronounce it.
This the Divine Comedy, Canto I, vv. 1-12.
While it's a very complex syntax and vocabulary it is perfectly understandable, also because Italian is an extremely conservative language.
Looks a lot better too ! When I was in school we had to read them, the teacher would explain some words and grammatical structure to us but the rest was OK, it just sounded like some stuck up people were speaking, is all lol.
Looks a lot better too ! When I was in school we had to read them, the teacher would explain some words and grammatical structure to us but the rest was OK, it just sounded like some stuck up people were speaking, is all lol.
I still remember the monologue by Harpagon in L'Avare that I had to memorize in high school:
Yes, I speak Orwellian Oldspeak American English. Some examples of Newspeak words and the Oldspeak I still use:
Attendance Center -- School
Correctional Institution -- Jail
Medical Health Plaza -- Hospital
Sanitary Landfill -- Dump
Law Enforcement Officer -- Cop.
Retail Outlet -- shop
Render -- Torture
Peace -- War.
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