Re: About icelandic

Brian M. Scott wrote:
On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:56:12 -0800 (PST), Sébastien de
Mapias<sglrigaud@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
<news:52d17c38-5f00-465e-b513-13ac1d132b46@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
in sci.lang:

Hi,
I was once told that people from Iceland can read very
old tales/stories written kind of a thousand years ago
(for example take the Eddas and more or less be able
to read them right away without to much difficulties)...

Is that true ?

Pretty much, yes.
...
In short, the language has changed less than most, partly
because there's been a deliberate effort to preserve it, but
it's changed more than is often supposed.

I don't know, but... with just a little training I think a german or french or portuguese speaker could read texts written in those languages a thousand years ago.
--
António Marques
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Representing futuristic English
    ... >> Brian M. Scott wrote: ... around the coasts of Iceland, Dutch, English, Spanish and Hansa ... language there, even among Icelanders was Danish or other foreign ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: About icelandic
    ... I was once told that people from Iceland can read very ... old tales/stories written kind of a thousand years ago ... (for example take the Eddas and more or less be able ... ENOTHER NAME 'TALES AFTER BED' ...
    (sci.lang)
  • About icelandic
    ... I was once told that people from Iceland can read very ... old tales/stories written kind of a thousand years ago ... (for example take the Eddas and more or less be able ... for centuries that they can afford to read very old texts? ...
    (sci.lang)