If I were to travel back in time in England, at what date would I be able to start to understand, in any resemblance, the English language.

When you say "understand" do you mean able to conduct limited conversation? To read?

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Originally Posted by Gadgetman

If I were to travel back in time in England, at what date would I be able to start to understand, in any resemblance, the English language.

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Hi, Gadgetman!

If you mean modern English like we have today, what I found on the following site might be helpful to you.

History of the English Language

Below, is a quote from that site.

By clicking on the following search, you'll also find lots of other sites where the history of the English language is addressed.

History of the English Language - Google Search

Thanks!

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Modern English

Early Modern English (1500-1800)

Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact with many peoples from around the world. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published.

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Thank you for your replies.

What I mean to "understand" would be by some form of conversation other than reading text, which I know up into the middle ages were in Latin.

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Originally Posted by Gadgetman

Thank you for your replies.

What I mean to "understand" would be by some form of conversation other than reading text, which I know up into the middle ages were in Latin.

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I think that around the start of the 16th century for the spoken, if again you're asking about the modern, spoken English. There isn't any absolute to that though because language, both spoken and written is something that evolves over a great length of time and can greatly depend on specific locations as well as how communications are over the span of land or water is.

Elizabethan English (think Shakespeare) would still be difficult to understand conversationally. Lots of unfamiliar vocabulary, etc. By the 18th century you'd be able to converse with relative ease (though you'd still get thrown from time to time).

I agree with all above.

Also slang and colloquialism would make a difference.

I also suspect that where you were in England might make a difference. Set your Wayback Machine for dead center City of London.

Also, where the person you would be speaking to stood on the social ladder would likely make a difference... Liza Doolittle versus Henry Higgens.