Could you speak in your homeland if you went back to 1300AD?

[Martim Silva]

As to the question in the OP, I think if I had to go back to 1300 London, I'd just learn Latin and try to pass myself off as Italian.

The eventual use of Latin would be actually interesting.

In Timeline, Crichton (who was clearly aided in his work by historians), writes this exchange: one of the American academics is being questioned by a noble Englishmen, but he cannot articulate a proper phrase.

The local, assuming he may be an Earwashman (Irishman), asks him:

Loqurisquide Latine?

("Do you speak Latin?")

The Academic, which had had some classes in it, feels he can answer a little:

Non, Senior Danielis, solam parpaululum. Perdoleo.

("No, sire Daniel, I only speak a little. Please excuse me")

To which the local looks stunned and replies:

"Per, per... diciendo ille Ciceroni persilimis est."

("But, but... he speaks like Cicero.")

This is a nice touch, because in the Middle Ages people learned Medieval Latin, while today Academics teach Classical Latin, a language that was only used by the uppermost Romans during their heyday.

So, anyone who uses his modern knowledge of Latin would cause great surprise amongst learned Medievals.

In Portugual it depends. I've heard that brazillian is supposed to sound like old portuguese. if so i would be able to read it (slowly ), but have no idea what they're saying.

Here, HVC, a portuguese text written in 1296 AD in Santarém. Read it aloud to get the meaning:

Sabham quantos este estrumento uirem e leer ouirem que eu Maria Soariz molher de Johanne Afonso Caualeyro de Lanioso e madre de Joham martijz trobador per outoridade dua procuraçom que eu reçebj do dicto meu marido ffeyta per maao de Joham da Pedra Tabelliom de pena da Raya de mynho.

E'nome do dicto meu marido cuja procurador suu e no meu nome vendo ao muyto alto Senhor don Denis pela graça de Deus Rey de Portugal e do Algarue (...)


Btw, HVC... want to read someting interesting?

Here is part of an Occitan text (the language of Southern France in the 14th century and later), written at the time by the Count of Foix and Béarn (read it aloud):


Aquelas montanhas
Que tan nautas son,
M'empachan de veire
Mes amors ont son.

Se canta, que cante,
Canta pas per ieu,
Canta per ma mia
Qu'es al luènh de ieu.
   
Baissatz-vos, montanhas
Planas, auçatz-vos
Per que pòsca veire
Mas amors ont son.

Aquelas montanhas
Tant s'abaissaràn,
Que mas amoretas
Se raprocharàn.

Noticed something?

[Sheilbh]

Yeah Latin's hugely important in Medieval England, at least, but not very widely learned or understood.  It was a common cure for illnesses actually.  Because Latin was the language of God and associated with what was proclaimed a miracle and so on scraps of Latin text were sold which a person would then tie around the area of their body that felt unwell. 

[Syt]

I am not sure Mazovia, tbh, since it had its own fucked up dialect - but I think I could in, say, Greater Poland. I definitely can read 16th century Polish stuff, and it couldn't have been that much different 200 years earlier.

I don't know. Having had to interpret 16th century and 13th century texts I have to say the former were infinitely easier.

A royal pain in the butt was the Hildebrandslied from 9th century.

[Jaron]

Yes, I'm fluent in Greek and Latin.

[Eddie Teach]

Yes, I'm fluent in Greek and Latin.

But do you speak Nahuatl?

[Jaron]

Yes, I'm fluent in Greek and Latin.

But do you speak Nahuatl?

You god damn son of a BITCH!

[Crazy_Ivan80]

How does one prove that the pronounciations are the same?

Note that, while one cannot "prove" a pronounciation, there were no grammar rules in the Middle Ages. People just wrote in a way that made the word sound like the ones they heard. You can know the region where a text was written by reading it aloud and hearing how it sounds like.

that's spelling, not grammar. Every language has grammar rules.

[Eddie Teach]

You god damn son of a BITCH!

[Martinus]

Let us make a test. Let us say you are in a tavern in Poland, and they started to sing:

Bogurodzica, dziewica, Bogiem sławiena Maryja,    
Twego syna, Gospodzina, matko zwolena Maryja,
Zyszczy nam, spuści nam.    
Kyrieleison.
      
Twego dziela krzciciela, Bożyce,    
Usłysz głosy, napełń myśli człowiecze.    
Słysz modlitwę, jąż nosimy,    
A dać raczy, jegoż prosimy,    
A na świecie zbożny pobyt,    
Po żywocie rajski przebyt.    
Kyrieleison.    

Nas dla wstał z martwych Syn Boży,       
Wierzyż w to człowiecze zbożny,       
Iż przez trud Bog swoj lud odjął diablej strożej       
      
[...]
   
Amen...       
... tako Bog Daj,       
Bychom szli szwyćcy w raj.

How was that? Could you understand it?

Well I know the song from history and literature lessons, but yeah, this one is pretty easy. Most words are identical as used today, others are "Old Polish" but pretty understandable (the Polish equivalent of, say, "giveth" instead of "give" and "thou" instead of "you" and the like).

[Martinus]

We had a thread about Turkish Delight and how nobody knows what that is except we all read about it in the Narnia books. 

Heh, I'm the opposite, I haven't read the Narnia books and I know what Turkish delights are (only because I've been to Turkey three times though)

I haven't been to Turkey and I haven't read the Narnia books. I know what Turkish delight is because I've been to Marks & Spencer. 

[Tamas]

Unlike Polish,  our language has undergone evolution and in the 19th century, a centralized effort of streamlining, so I think I would have serious problems.

I can't recall 14th century examples, but I do know that the earliest written memory of our language (1075 or so) is very hard to understand, the only help is if you know/adopt to the different 'accent' then you can make out some of the basic words.

We had quite many dialects, most only had minor differences but I remember from documentaries that I had a hard time understading the old people speaking some of the more extreme ones.

Then in mid-late 19th century linguists started to organize official grammar rules, and selected the dialect my region spoke as the etalon and now the various dialects only remain as curiosities.

[Richard Hakluyt]

To add to the side discussion on Turkish Delight. I think everyone in Britain will know what Turkish Delight is, if only the debased form produced by the Fry's chocolate firm. I guess its introduction into Britain must have happened fairly recently as the NA posters seem not to have heard of it. ie maybe by the Victorians rather than a 17th century traveller to Turkey.

[Duque de Bragança]

However, I find it hard to believe that other languages havent also changed over time.  For example I often heard that the French spoken in Quebec is archaic compared to the French spoken in France as the continental French changed with other influences that did not affect the provincial French of Quebec.

Well, to be honest, I and my friends don't see Québéquois as being that different from mainland French...

I mean, yes, there are different expressions and the pronounciation changes a bit, but we consider those to be very minor. One of my gaming buddies is even bethroted to a girl from Qébéc, and he doesn't see much differences from the "official" French (yes, we notice the differences, but they seem *very* minor to us). She can't even speak anything but Québécquois, but we all undestand her just fine.

I suppose that is because Continental French is really recent. I only see it emerging in force in the 16th century (I can read French books from 1500 AD without problem), and thus for us in Southern Europe the changes it underwent are not significant.

But Occitan is a different story... oh, how what the French are doing to Occitan hurts me. It hurts A LOT. It is absolutely NOT a patois of French.

Of course, all languages get influenced, but at least over here what we do is add the new words to our vocabulary, instead of changing the language. I know the English did otherwise and actually rewrote a lot of their language in the 17th century, though).

Martim

Québécois = Brasileiros do Francês

As for me, given that I'm from Northern Portugal, it would be even easier than for Martim. We would  be even in great trouble if we go to pre-1147 Lisbon

HVC

Brazilian Portuguese does not sound like Old Portuguese which is Galaico-Portuguese. The closest thing to Galaico-Portuguese now is spoken in Northern Portugal.

[HisMajestyBOB]

I think I could get used to 1300 English pretty quickly, since I've gotten used to understanding non-native speakers who sometimes completely butcher the language.

But as has already been said, I can't even understand people from several places in Britain now.

[Brazen]

To add to the side discussion on Turkish Delight. I think everyone in Britain will know what Turkish Delight is, if only the debased form produced by the Fry's chocolate firm. I guess its introduction into Britain must have happened fairly recently as the NA posters seem not to have heard of it. ie maybe by the Victorians rather than a 17th century traveller to Turkey.

It was introduced to the West by a, unknown Briton in the 19th Century.

As to the language question, Middle English would be a lot easier to understand spoken than written, I imagine. But there'd be dialects that varied so hugely within a relatively small distance, you wouldn't have to go far to experience a difference as great as English and Welsh, for example.