If I went back in time to the Elizabethan era...?

Question

...how easily would I be able to converse with the people there? Obviously, it wouldn't be a fluent conversation, but could I make myself understood - and could I understand them?

I know that we can understand Shakespeare etc, but that has been modified over the years to make it easier for us to understand.

Just to be clear - I'm currently reading Peter Ackroyd's biography of Shakespeare, and the original passages from the plays and sonnets that he uses are slightly different from the stuff I learned at school. That's what I mean by "modified".

Answer 1

As I understand it, it's not so much that the language has changed (although it clearly has in certain ways, eg the introduction of foreign words and phrases, or new words for new technologies), but that the accents are very different. From previous research, my understanding is that accents in the 16th and 17th Centuries were far more 'rustic' than today. For example, its believed that Londoners in the late 16th Century would sound to our ears like the most indecipherable country bumpkins imaginable. There would be different accents, different emphases, different nuances and usages of words, even if the majority of those words would in fact be recognisable to us.

Another factor hampering commmunication would be the question of manners and conventions in speech. You would presumably have to navigate a maze of conventions and norms which are completely unfamiliar to us today.

I think a far more important aspect would be that of hygiene. If you went back to the Elizabethan era you would find it appallingly unhygienic, disease-ridden, smelly, dirty and nausea-inducing. In an era where there were few if any personal hygiene products, and where public health and sanitation were not even recognised concepts, I think you would find it pretty hard going.

I answered a question earlier about going back in time to previous periods of history. I said then: nothing before the invention of penicillin. I could also have said: nothing before the invention of water closets and deodorant!

Answer 2

What version of Shakespeare have you read?

I would think that you would be able to converse quite well IF you READ books from that era. You need to adjust to THEM.

You also should read as much as you can about CULTURE. If you would speak first and are female you could be breaking laws depending on your location.

DO NOT, in any way shape or form, show any leg or ankle. But you should already know that, correct?

What class of people will you be in once you travel backward? Pehsant (not spelled correctly, I realize)? Socialite? Member of the royale court?

One would think that if you are observant, listen, and practice speaking as if you were someone from that era you would do just fine.

When I first read my first Shakespeare play I had no idea that it was written in iambic pentameter. Had a difficult time reading...I adjusted. The text was not rewritten to make it 'easier.'

If you go to the library or look on the net at the library of congress site, I would imagine you just might be able to find Shakespeare the way it was meant to be written. What version are you reading?

You could also try the Smithsonian Institute and look for Shakespeare or any of his plays.

Hope that helps!

DID YOU KNOW: That Sir William Shakespeare wrote one song in his lifetime? It is called, "Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind."
"Thou are not so as kind;
As man's ingratitude.
As man's,
ingratitude."
--Shakespeare, from "Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind"

Answer 3

Actually, Shakespeare hasn't been modified. It's the same Elizabethan English as when he wrote it. Another source of the same English is the King James Bible. There are some words that might cause modern people some grief (like "fardles" and "kisock" -- both from Hamlet).

But apart from the use of "Thee," "Thou," etc, if you feel comfortable with King James you'd be able to fake it quite well.

Interesting question.

Answer 4

as i understand it shakespeare didn't write using the same common language used in elizabethan society. He wrote in a theatrical verse. Most ordinary people of the time wouldn't have understood the language used by shakespeare easily either.

Answer 5

I think you would be able to understand them alot better than they could you because we have been educated in languages and converse with people of different countries etc which they didnt do so much in those days. They were used to what they knew and nothing else so our language would probably completely baffle them.

Answer 6

If you are familiar with Shakespeare, you would probably be able to understand the people living in those times. However, they would have difficulty understanding you.

Answer 7

Shakespeare invented 10% (1,700) of the 17,000 different words which he used, an he still managed to make himself understood.

So would you, unless you're from Aberdeen.

Answer 8

People have already got problems understanding people who speak English differently nowadays, no doubt you'll have trouble conversing with people in history - for one, there's a lot of words we find normal that they have never heard about.

Answer 9

Try to practice your shakespearian language. Then maybe...


you would really have a hard time. Even the Americans in the 18th and 19th centuries talked funny. They would be somewhat hard to understand.

Answer 10

In the uk most of us have rudimentary french in our vocabulary wit h the english we have ,also written english is not the same as spoken inflection etc would be different but yes i think you would be understood.