Who would be interested in speaking Old English?

Question

I've recently found a load of books on Old English language, so I decided to start learning Old English. Of course not many people speak the precursor to modern english. So I am wondering if enough people learnt to speak old english, would it be officially recognised as a proper spoken language, such as welsh etc? It would be great to have our own language rather than the generic modern english don't you think? And I feel it would give modern britons a link to their ancient past. It works for the welsh, and the scots are doing something similar, so I reacon its about time we english started speaking our old language again. Just imagine all the changes to road signs etc? It would be great.

Answer 1

You don't have to go back that far to discover English is a trash language today compared to how it was spoken by people circa 1700 - 1800.

If you read how people spoke around the time of Thomas Jefferson, Washington, and even pre-Revoluntionary times, you can easily see the beauty in how people spoke back then.

English has not evolved; it has regressed to something one might call "commoner language."

I wish people spoke as beautifully as they did back then. I would gladly speak that kind of language than the trash people speak today.

It is deplorable, even humiliating, to read and hear how young Americans speak and write the English language today. Most young people graduate from high school, yet cannot write a complete sentence, cannot conjugate verbs, cannot spell and know almost nothing about grammar.

The early Americans must be turning in their graves.

Answer 2

Many of your previous repliers have raised some interesting points,namely that the language HAS evolved.We have lost some of the more poetical references from the tongue,and we have equally lost some of the beauty ,though the language is less unwieldy than it was.Bear in mind also that English is essentially a Germanic language and it is a characteristic of this family of languages to cobble together two or more words to approximate a description when no more exact word exists within the corpus of available words.
one replied that old things necessarily lose their currency .You can't argue with that,if a thing( be it a language,poltical system,religion or mode of dress) no longer serves the desires,needs and aspirations of the community using it they WILL abandon it in favour of a more pragmatic approach;and remember,there are few languages if any that are based more closely on the principal of sheer bloody minded pragmatism and practicality than English.There are God alone knows how many words in the English language of foreign origin simply because the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants were such great traders and because these words often held a specific meaning that was absent from their own language,terms for specific measurements,terms for bits of equipment (yacht, a Dutch word),terms for different ranks and positions. and terms of abuse and endearment (wanker from the old German "wenke" meaning to pull or twist amongst others).
I'm a Scot.In our part of the world,the Scots spoken is closer to the English of Chaucer and is in fact mostly Northumbrian English dating back to the invasion of Scotland and the foundation of Edinburgh in the 10th century by king Edwin.We speak a mix of Old English,modern (or "Middle") English,Old Norse,Gaelic,old Celtic,Dutch and Shite.
So,in answer to your question.....no.

Answer 3

Old English is Old English, because it is old. An old woman is an old woman, because she is old. Old things lose their currency, in course of time. They are fit only for academic study and not for daily usage. Perhaps, if you have developed a liking for Old English, you may start a club of like minded persons and enjoy speaking in Old English. Let it be named after Chaucer.

Answer 4

Scotish, Gealic, Welsh, and Olde English are actually stil recognised languages, same as Latin.

There are people who have learnt these languages. and still speak them.

Answer 5

dude, what wrong with "modern" english???? the english language is a beautiful thing. It is constanly changing, eveloving just let it do its thing.

Answer 6

I say, not me - you are an absolute cad and bounder for suggesting such a thing

Answer 7

..maximum viets that were to college can talk a touch, examine and write lots extra.. yet its not likely your "choosing -up" anybody..its in simple terms no longer of their custom as i have considered it

Answer 8

How hast thou found thoust learnerd lesson to date?

Answer 9

sure sounds like a little bit of fun but there would be people whom be left thinking what on earth are you on about lol

Answer 10

I would do it just to annoy people. So yeah I would be intrested.