Parchment books begin to replace papyrus scrolls as the Western Roman Empire crumbles. New Germanic Kingdoms emerge in the west, but Latin remains the dominant language in Western Europe. Latin itself begins to fracture without the Roman educational system to hold it together. Meanwhile, Gothic words begin to filter into early Spanish.
TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 27
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Episode 27: Broken Empire and Fractured Languages | The History of English Podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast