SC - don't cringe too bad....

[Sue Clemenger]

'Lainie is right, when you see Old English, you'll know it. I own a reprint 
of an Old English herbal that might as well have been written in a foreign 
language. Middle English on the other hand is not difficult at all once you 
get past thinking in terms of modern spelling. I compare it to my son's 
spelling (1st grade!) who has been taught in his "Writer's Workshop" at 
school to spell phonetically if the word is not one of the handful he is 
supposed to know. If you sound a Middle English word out in most cases the 
modern equivalent is quite apparent, and if you read a fair amount of Middle 
English you soon reach the point where you only occasionally need to look up 
a definition.

Amanda
Acanthus Books

In a message dated 3/23/2000 12:15:37 PM Central Standard Time, lcm at efn.org 
writes:

> Old English/Anglo-Saxon- looks like German or Norse. Weird letters. Only
>  a few familiar-looking words.
>  
>  Middle English- a few weird letters, a handfull of German-looking words,
>  quite a few French-based words. An extra 'e' on the end of words. You
>  can read portions of it at sight.
>  
>  Early Modern English- fairly easily read, especially if you read OUT
>  LOUD and think 'Shakespeare'. Few funky spellings, but pretty
>  strightforward