chapter 4 word structure and word formation

Chapter3theDevelopmentoftheEnglishVocabularyInthestudyofwords,itisofgreatimportancetoknowsomethingabouttheoriginandgrowthofthevocabulary.TheEnglishlanguageisnotthelanguageoftheearlyinhabitantsoftheBritishIsles.Thenwheredoesitcomefrom?InwhatwayisEnglishrelatedtootherlanguages?AsynchronicoverviewoftheIndo-EuropeanLanguageFamilywillanswerthesequestions.3.1TheIndo-EuropeanLanguageFamilyTheworldhas3,000(someputit5,000)languages,whichcanbegroupedintoroughly300languagefamiliesonthebasisofsimilaritiesintheirbasicwordstockandgrammar.TheIndo-European,oneofthese,ismadeupofmostlanguagesofEurope,theNearEastandIndia.MostoftheIndo-Europeanlanguagesaredead.ThesurvivingIndo-Europeanlanguagesfallintotenprincipalgroups,whichfallintoanEasternset:Balto-Slavic,Indo-Iranian,ArmenianandAlbanian;aWesternset:Celtic,Italic,Hellenic,Germanic,Hittite,andTocharian.Amongthem,theGermanicfamilyisourchiefconcernasModernEnglishisderivedfromacollectionofGermanicdialects,thatwerefirstbroughttotheBritishIslandsinthefourthandfifthcenturies.Englishanditsnearestrelationsareallmembersofthisfamily.First,wehavethefourNorthernEuropeanLanguages:Norwegian,Icelandic,DanishandSwedish,whicharegenerallyknownasScandinavianlanguages.ThencomeGerman,Dutch,FlemishandEnglish.葡萄牙语Potuguese古法语OldFrench罗马尼亚语Romanian诺曼法语NormanFrench现代法语ModernFrench印欧语系Indo-European（消亡）意大利语族Italic奥斯干语支Oscan拉丁语支Iatin温布利安语支Umbrian（消亡）凯尔特语族Celtic盖尔语Gallic不列颠语支Brittanic盖尔语支Gaelic古爱尔兰语OldIrish古威尔士语OldWelsh哥特语Gothic东部语支East西部语支West日耳曼语族Germanic北部语支North东部语支East古诺尔斯语OldNorse冰岛语Icelandic挪威语Norwegian皮克特语Pictish威尔士语Welsh布列特尼语Breton科尼什语Cornish西部语支West德语German低地德语LowGerman高地德语HighGerman现代标准德语ModernGerman荷兰语Dutch佛兰芒语Flemish古撒克逊语OldSaxon古低地弗兰克尼语OldLowFranconian肯特方言Kentish诺森布里亚方言Northumbrian默西亚方言Mercian西撒克逊方言WestSaxon现代英语ModernEnglish南部方言SouthernDialect(盎格鲁人)Angles北部方言NorthernDialect中部方言MidlandDialect东中部方言EastMidlandDialect早期现代英语EarlyModernEnglish瑞典语Swedish丹麦语Danish苏格兰盖尔语ScottishGaelic爱尔兰盖尔语IrishGaelic曼克斯语Manx古英语OldEnglish苏格兰盖尔语ScottishGaelic爱尔兰盖尔语IrishGaelic曼克斯语Manx古英语OldEnglish西班牙语Spanish意大利语Italian盎格鲁·弗里西亚语Anglo-Frisian古弗里西亚语OldFrisian3.2ThreePhasesoftheHistoricalDevelopmentofEnglishEnglishhasbeenthelanguageofEnglandforacomparativelyshortperiod.Sinceitsintroductionintotheislandaboutthemiddleofthefifthcenturyithashadacareerextendingthroughonlysixteenhundredyears.ThefirstpeoplesknowntoinhabitthelandwereCelts.WhospokeCeltic.ThesecondmajorlanguageknowninEnglandwastheLatinoftheRomanLegions.In55-54B.C.,theRomans,headedbyJuliusCaesartheGreat,invadedtheBritishIslesandweretooccupythelandfromA.D.43until410.3.2.1OldEnglish(450-1150)ThewithdrawalofRomantroopsvirtuallyinvitedtheinvasionoftherichlowlandsbythePictsandScotsfromtheNorth.TheCeltsappealedtoGermanicwarriorsfromacrosstheNorthSeaforassistanceindefendingtheirland.SoontheseGermantribes,calledAngles,SaxonsandJutes,cameingreatnumbersandbecametheirconquerors.TheGermanicspeakerstookpermanentcontrolofthelandthatwaslatertobecalledEngland(thelandofAngles).Theirlanguage,historicallyknownasAnglo-Saxon,dominatedandalmosttotallyblottedouttheCeltic.ThoughtheSaxonswerenumericallysuperiortotheAngles,thelatterwereinfluentialenoughtoimposetheirnameonthewhole.ThatiswhythecountrywascalledEngland,andthelanguageEnglish.Itisfromthislanguage(Anglo-Saxon)thatourpresent-dayEnglishisderived.OldEnglish(theAnglo-Saxon)hasavocabularyofabout50,000to60,000words,whicharealmostmonogeneousandentirelyGermanicwithonlyafewborrowingsfromLatinandScandinavian.OldEnglishwasahighlyinflectedlanguage,Nouns,pronouns,adjectives,verbs,andadverbshadcomplexsystemsofendingsorvowelchangesorboth,whichdiffergreatlyfromthelanguagethatweusetoday.3.2.2MiddleEnglish(1150-1500)TheDanishrulecontinuedfrom1016to1042.ThentheSaxonDynastywasrestoredandEdwardtheConfessor,whohadnochildren,cametotheEnglishthroneandreignedoveraunitedEnglanduntil1066.Athisdeath,Haroldsucceededhimaskingofthecountry.Ashewasnotinthedirectlineofsuccession,hisrulewasopposedbyWilliam,DukeofNormandy,firstcousinofEdward,forWilliamconsideredhimselftherightfulheirtothethrone.TheEnglishnoblesdisagreed,soWilliaminvadedtheisland.AtthebattleofHastings(1066),thepowerofHaroldwascrushedandWilliambecamemasterofEngland.ThiseventwasknowninhistoryastheNormanConquest.However,theinfluxofFrenchwordsintoEnglishdidnotoccuruntilafter1300.NormanFrenchbecamethepolitespeech.Thenativetonguewasadespisedlanguagewhichwaslefttotheuseofboorsandserfs.Inthenexthundredyearsorso,withtheseparationofthetwonations,thenobilityofEnglandstillspokeFrench,butbitbybitEnglishcamebackintotheschools,thelawcourtsandgovernmentandregainedsocialstatus.ItmadethefinalstepbacktoapositionofimportancewhenitemergedonceagainasarespectedliterarymediumwiththeWyclifftranslationoftheBibleandthewritingsofChaucer,Langlandandothers.NormanFrenchwasaclasslanguage,neverthespeechofEngland.TheMiddleEnglishperiodwasoneofgreatchanges,changesmoreextensiveandfundamentalthanthosethathadtakenplaceatanytimebeforeandsince.ThesinglemostsignificantfactofthisperiodwasthesteadyerosionoftheOldEnglishinflection