When people get into contact with other civilizations they need a common language to communicate. During the Age of Exploration European navigators simplified their language to communicate with the natives of North and South America. Such languages are called pidgin languages. 

Even standard languages change over centuries. English during the time of Shakespeare was much different from the English we speak today. 

Here is a sample from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream :

Original Version Modern English Version

Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour
Draws on apace. Four happy days bring in
Another moon. But oh, methinks how slow
This old moon wanes! She lingers my desires,
Like to a stepdame or a dowager
Long withering out a young man’s revenue.

Oh,beautiful Hippolyta, our wedding day is coming nearer
We will be getting married in four days, at the start of a new moon
But the old moon is passing too slowly
It doesn't let me get what I desire,
Like a stepmother or widow who makes me wait
to get the money I deserve.



Words

  • century = a period of a hundred years
  • civilization = culture, people , society
  • common = here: single
  • natives = people who are born in a place and have  always lived there 
  • navigator = person on a ship who decides which route to take 
  • simplify = to make easier