history of English 英国历史简介

IntroductionInthestudyofEnglishvocabulary,itisimportanttoknowaboutthehistoryofEnglish.WewilllookatthemajorhistoricaleventsthathaveshapedtheEnglishlanguage.WepayspecialattentiontothedevelopmentofthenativeGermanicvocabulary,andtotheforcesthatintroducedalargenumberofforeignwords,especiallyfromLatin,Greek,andFrench.ThiscombinationmakesEnglishvocabularyextremelyrichandheterogeneousamongtheworldlanguages.TheWorldLanguagesItisestimatedthatthereareabout5000languagesallovertheworld,whichcanbegroupedintodifferentlanguagefamilies,suchasSino-TibetanFamily,Indo-EuropeanFamily,AltaicFamily,AustronesianFamily,andsoon.ChineseisamemberintheSino-TibetanFamily,whileEnglishisamemberintheIndo-EuropeanFamily.TheIndo-EuropeanFamilyLinguistshavedividedtheIndo-Europeanlanguagesintoseveralgroups,orbranches.Forexample,theItalicbranchincludesLatinanditsdescendantstheRomance(‘originatinginRome’)Languages(Italian,French,Spanish,Portuguese,andRomanian),aswellasotherextinctlanguages.OthergroupsimportantinthehistoryofEnglishincludeCeltic(e.g.,Welsh,Irish,andScotsGaelic),Hellenic(Greek),etc.TheGermanicBranchThebranchofIndo-EuropeanthatincludesEnglishiscalledtheGermanicgroup.Proto-GermanicwasprobablyspokeninnorthernGermanyandsouthernScandinavia.Proto-GermanicdevelopedintonotonlyEnglish,butalsoseveralotherlanguageswearefamiliarwith.SomeGermanictribesmovedeastward,intowhatisnowRomaniaandUkraine,anddevelopedthelanguagebranchknownasEastGermanic.ThemostimportantlanguageinthisgroupwasGothic.AllspeakersofEastGermaniclanguageseventuallyabandonedtheminfavorofotherlanguages,sotheEastGermanicbranchisnowextinct.TheGermaniclanguagethatremainedaftertheEastGermanicsplitoffdevelopedintotwonewgroups,NorthGermanicandWestGermanic.TheWestGermanicgroupincludesEnglish.TheNorthGermanicbranchincludesVikingNorse,whichdevelopedintoOldNorseandeventuallyintomodernScandinavianlanguagessuchasIcelandic,Norwegian,Swedish,andDanish.TheGermanicBranchOldEnglish(450-1100)Inthefifthcentury,theGermanicinvadersconqueredandoccupiedtheeasternpartoftheBritishisland.TheCelticlanguageoriginallyspokeninthatareawasreplacedbytheWestGermanicdialectsspokenbytheinvaders,astheoriginalinhabitants(theCelts)werekilled,wererelocated,oradoptedthelanguageofthenowdominantsociety.Roughlyspeaking,thetribesthatsettledinBritaincomprisethreegroups:theAngles,theSaxons,andtheJutes.TheAnglesandtheSaxonsoccupiedthegreatestpartofthecountry,sothattheGermaniccivilizationthatemergedinBritainisoftencalledAnglo-Saxon.TheAngleslenttheirnametothelanguage—English,andtotheland—England(thelandofAngles).OldEnglish(450-1100)Theperiodfrom450to1100isknownastheOldEnglishortheAnglo-Saxonperiod.Inthesixthcentury,theRomanmissionariesheadedbySt.AugustinebroughtChristianitytotheGermanictribes(mainlytheSaxons).TheEnglishlanguageadoptedmanywordsfromLatin,theofficiallanguageofthechurch.Latinprovidednotonlyreligiousvocabulary(e.g.,abbot,altar,disciple,hymn,nun,mass,pope,andpriest)butalsoasurprisingnumberofwhatarenoweverydaywords(e.g.,candle,cap,school,andspend).ScandinavianInfluencesThroughouttheninthandtenthcenturiesandintotheeleventh,NorwegianandDanishVikingsinvadedlargepartsofEngland.Asaconsequence,EnglishborrowedwordsfromtheNorthGermanictongueoftheinvaders,VikingNorse.Thiscreatedaninterestingmixture,becauseOldEnglishwasverysimilartothiscloseGermanicrelative.Forexample,OldEnglishNorseloanshrubscrublendloanrearraiseshirtskirtcraftskillManywordsbeginningwithsc-/sk-areborrowedfromScandinavianlanguages,e.g.score,scorch,skill,skin,skirt,sky.ScandinavianInfluencesSeveralhundredNorsewordswereborrowedintoOldEnglish,amongthemtill,flat,they,skin,egg,etc.Nounsbirth,bull,gap,quest,leg,egg,sister,skinPronounsboth,some,their,them,theyPrepositionsfro,tillAdverbsaloft,seemlyAdjectivesflatConjunctionsthoughVerbsare,call,die,drown,get,give,lift,raise,takeMiddleEnglish(1100-1500)TheMiddleEnglishperiodisfrom1100to1500.ThemostimportanteventtoaffectthehistoryofEnglish,theNormanConquest(1066),tookplaceattheendoftheOldEnglishperiod.ThebigchangesthatthisinvasionproducedintheEnglishsocietywereaccompaniedbyequaleffectsinthevocabularyofMiddleEnglish.Aftertheirvictoryin1066attheBattleofHastingsunderWilliamtheConqueror,theNormansquicklyassumedleadershipandprivilegeinEngland.TheNormanswereoriginallyVikings—theirnamecomesfromNorthman(i.e.,‘Norse’).Inasense,theNormanconquestcanbeseenasyetanotherGermanicinvasion.Buttherewasadifferencethistime.TheNormanshadearlierbeengiventhecontrolofalargepieceoflandalongthenortherncoastofFrance—Normandy.AsFrenchsubjects,theyhadadoptedFrenchculture.SothelanguagetheybroughtwiththemwasnotaGermaniclanguage,butFrench.TheNormandialectofFrenchbecamethelanguageoftheupperclass,whileEnglishcompletelylostitsscholarlyandliteraryimportance,andwasusedonlybythepeasantsandpeopleoftheworkingclass.ThisresultedinamassiveborrowingofFrenchwordsintoEnglishvocabulary.Duringthisperiod,EnglishassimilatedalargenumberofOldFrenchwords.Crystal(1988:174)givesthefollowinglistofFrenchborrowingduringtheMiddleEnglishperiod.Government:cou