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Old English, also known as Anglo-Saxon, was a Germanic language brought to what is now England in the first millennium AD, by invaders from what is now Germany. While we call it "Old English" because it eventually morphed and developed over centuries into what we now call "English," it is completely incomprehensible to even the most educated English speakers. The epic poem Beowulf is the most famous example of Old English literature. Following the Norman invasion of England in 1066, the "English" of the lower classes was influenced by the French-speaking ruling class. As much as 60% of words we use today in modern English are traced to French. This new mixed language is called Middle English, and it was spoken until around 1500 AD. Modern English is said to have emerged around this time with the "Great Vowel Shift," which was a radical change in the way the language was pronounced. This shift is the main reason English today has such a disconnect between the letters in a word and the way it is pronounced. For example the words "for" and "four" are pronounced identically but the words "four" and "hour" are very different. Of course, even today the language continues to evolve. Even though Shakespeare and even Thomas Jefferson wrote in Modern English, today's readers often struggle to fully understand their texts.

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Q: What changed from old English to new English?
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