Every time I see an ancient text translated, it always sounds like it was spoken by a classy Englishman from the 1800s. Is there a reason it’s translated that way instead of modern English?

  • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.de
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    7 months ago

    My aunt moved from Germany to France in the 50s or 60s or so. When she speaks German she doesn’t have a French accent or anything but it still sounds slightly off because her language stopped evolving. It’s eerie and cute.

    • isles@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      7 months ago

      My grandmother took me to her birthplace in Denmark and kept saying she couldn’t speak Danish with the locals, despite having spoken Danish with her family in America semi-regularly. I never thought it was because her vocabulary and accent was stuck in 1940s and she didn’t feel confident speaking that way.