You have probably realized that languages change over time. They change slowly and subtly, but you may have noticed some of these changes. Your parents may use some old-fashioned words that you and your friends would never use. For example, if you want to say that something is really good, you may say dope or phat. Instead, your parents may say awesome or wicked … and your grandparents, groovy or hip! However, it is not only the vocabulary that changes over time. All aspects of a language, from sounds, to grammar, to how words and sentences are used during conversation, change with time. Have you ever read the original version of any of Shakespeare's plays? If you have, you will have found many strange words and phrases. For instance, in Act 2, Scene 2 from Romeo and Juliet, Romeo praises Juliet's beauty by saying: "But wait, what's that light in the window over there? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." However, what Shakespeare actually wrote (and what people from that period would have said) was: "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."

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