>> http://www.studyrussian.com/MGU/general_about_Russian_language.html
>>
>> Perhaps, like German, the Russian language has changed significantly in
>> the last few centuries...
>
> AFAIK that's not true. Orphography has, for sure (a few letters got
> eliminated), but the language itself, not so much. It is amazing to me th=
at
> I can read the Tale of Bygone Years in the original Slavonic (12th centur=
y
> proto-Russian), and understand much of it:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_Chronicle
>
> Compare this to Old English from about the same time, which looks like to=
tal
> gibberish to the modern English reader:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf
> http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~beowulf/main.html

That's "a bit" beyond me.
I can do Chaucerian English almost maybe, if I squint hard, and pucker
my brain, but somehow the extra 700 years or so (nobody knows for
sure) has made a vast difference.

The difference in rate of change between English and Russian is
probably vastly influenced by the "melting pot" nature of England by
dint of its geographical location. Y'All come Y'here.

Chaucer - Shipman;s talde  - interlineated wity "modern" English

   http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/teachslf/shippar1.htm

Note - Chaucer oft bee a bawdy read.

Chaucer, as did The Bard, made up quite a lot of new words:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaucer%E2%80%99s_special_manuscript_words

Chaucer is considered to have introduced or be ghe first known user of
 the following words into the English language

absent, accident, add, agree, bagpipe, border, box, cinnamon, desk,
digestion, dishonest, examination, finally, flute, funeral, galaxy,
horizon, infect, ingot, latitude, laxative, miscarry, nod, obscure,
observe, outrageous, perpendicular, Persian, princess, resolve,
rumour, scissors, session, snort, superstitious, theatre, trench,
universe, utility, vacation, Valentine, veal, village, vulgar, wallet,
and wildness.

This may simply mean in many cases that the relative avaialbiity of
his manuscripts make him a good source.

Big Will largely introduced more interesting terms.



               Russell

>
> Russian from the 17th century onwards is basically modern Russian with so=
me
> archaic words.
>
> Vitaliy
>
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