Written language as such seems to have less of a conservation effect than you'd think - German also undergoes a lot of changed between Old High and modern German - the key factor is an accepted and binding standard.
I suspect it's a coincidence that so many shifts happened in English while it wasn't being written (again, you can track comparable processes in German, where there was no disruption in literary production). The other factor is that an influx of French speakers must have had some sort of impact on the language beyond the suspension of literary activity in English.
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regna
(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-25 01:58 pm (UTC)I suspect it's a coincidence that so many shifts happened in English while it wasn't being written (again, you can track comparable processes in German, where there was no disruption in literary production). The other factor is that an influx of French speakers must have had some sort of impact on the language beyond the suspension of literary activity in English.