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How far back in time can you understand English? This site goes back by centuries allowing you to test yourself.
(www.deadlanguagesociety.com)
this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2026
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It was often used for "f" as well, specifically in print to save money.
Towards the end of the article, they explain the same thing was done with using "y" to replace the letters that make the "th" sound (ð and þ) so instead of "the" or "ðe" you got "ye"