There is evidence that Old English was spoken in parts of England as late as the 14th century, but by this time the language was already quite different from the Old English of the Anglo-Saxon period. After the Conquest, the language continued to be spoken in some regions of the country, but its use was increasingly overshadowed by the rise of Middle English. However, we can say with some certainty that Old English was spoken in the centuries immediately preceding the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The question of when Old English was spoken is a difficult one to answer definitively, as the language was in a state of flux during the Middle Ages. Did they speak Old English in the Middle Ages? Either way, it is clear that by the time Old English was first written down in the late seventh or early eighth century, it was already a distinct language from its Germanic predecessors. Some scholars believe that this took place during the migration to Britain, while others argue that it happened after the settlers had arrived. There is also debate over when these Germanic dialects began to diverge from one another. Others have proposed that they were more distantly related, with the closest connection being to the North Sea Germanic languages, such as Frisian. Some scholars have argued that they were closely related to the continental Germanic languages, such as Gothic and Old Norse. However, there is some debate as to what these Germanic dialects were themselves derived from. It is generally accepted that Old English developed from a West Germanic dialect spoken by Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who migrated to the British Isles from continental Europe in the fifth century AD. The two languages coexisted for centuries, with people speaking bothOld English and Middle English at different times. Whatever the reason, the change from Old English to Middle English was a gradual one, and there was no sudden switchover from one to the other. Another theory is that the language simply changed over time as people began to move around more and came into contact with other languages. One theory is that the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 brought about a change in the language, as the Normans spoke a different form of French than the Anglo-Saxons. There are several theories about why Old English turned into Middle English. The exact date when this transition occurred is not known for certain, but it is generally thought to have happened around the year 1100. Old English was spoken from the 5th century AD up until the 11th or 12th century, when it began to evolve into Middle English. When did Old English turn into Middle English? How did Old English change into Middle English?.When was Old and Middle English spoken?.Did they speak Old English in the Middle Ages?.When did Old English turn into Middle English?.
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