Chapter-2-Sources-of-English-Vocabulary

ThesourcesoftheEnglishVocabularyGeneticclassification谱系分类•Sino-Tibetan汉藏语系•Indo-European印欧语系•Semito-Hamitic闪含语系：阿拉伯语、希伯来语、豪萨语和阿姆哈拉语Bantu班图语系赤道非洲和南部非洲国家的主要居民班图人Uralic乌拉尔语系芬兰语▪匈牙利语Altaic阿尔泰语系阿尔泰语系包括突厥、蒙古、通古斯3个语族Malayo-Polynesian马来-波利尼西亚语系包括高山语，马来语，印度尼西亚语，爪哇语Indian印第安语系TheEnglishpeopleareofamixedblood.AtthebeginningofthefifthcenturyBritainwasinvadedbythreetribesfromtheNorthernEurope:theAngles,SaxonsandJutes.ThesethreetribeslandedontheBritishcoast,drovetheBritonswestandnorthandsettleddownontheisland.Thesethreethreetribesmergedintoonepeople:theEnglishpeopleandthethreedialectstheyspokenaturallygrewintoasinglelanguage:theEnglishlanguage.Theworldhasnearly3,000languages,whichcanbegroupedintoroughly300languagefamiliesonthebasisofsimilaritiesintheirbasicwordstockandgrammar.TheIndo-EuropeanismadeupofmostofthelanguagesofEurope,thenearEast,andIndia.Indo-EuropeanLanguageEasternSetWesternSetArmenianAlbanianEasternSetBalto-SlavicIndo-IrannianBalto-SlavicCzechRussianPrussianPolishSlovenianLithuanianBulgarianIndo-IranianPersianBengaliHindiRomanyDerivedfromSanskritArmenianAlbanianArmenianAlbanianWesternSetCelticItalicGermanicHellenicCelticScottishIrishWelshBretonItalicItalianPortugueseSpanishFrenchRomanianNorwegianIcelandicDanishSwedishGermanicGermanDutchFlemishEnglishHellenicGreekAHistoricalOverviewoftheEnglishVocabularyEnglishcanberoughlydividedinto:OldEnglish,MiddleEnglishModernEnglish.OldEnglish(450---1150)MiddleEnglish(1150---1500)ModernEnglish(1500---Now)Early:1500---1700Late:1700---presentAftertheRomans,theGermanictribescalledangles,Saxons,andJutescame.Soontheytookpermanentcontroloftheland,whichwastobecalledEngland.Theirlanguage,historicallyknownasAnglo-Saxon,dominatedandalmosttotallyblottedouttheCeltic.CelticmadeonlyasmallcontributiontotheEnglishvocabularywithsuchwordsascragandbinandsomeplacenameslikeAvon,Kent,London,Themes.NowpeoplegenerallyrefertoAnglo-SaxonasoldEnglish.TwoeventsintheOldEnglishPeriod:inthe6thcentury:LatinspeakingRomanmissionariescametospreadChristianityinBritain.TheintroductionofChristianityhadagreatimpactontheEnglishvocabulary.Itbroughtmanynewideasandcustomsandalsomanyreligiousterms:abbot(男修道院院长）,candle,altar,amen,apostle(传道者).Inthe9thcentury:thelandwasinvadedagainbyNorwegianandDanishVikings.Theycamefirsttoplunder,thentoconquer.FinallytheysucceededinplacingaDanishkingonthethroneofEngland.Withtheinvaders,manyscandinavianwordscameintoEnglish.Thesenewwordsdidnotidentifynewideasandobjects.TheywereeverydaywordsforwhichtheEnglishhadtermsandexpressions.Manywordswereexactlyalike,suchasfather,husband,house,life,man,mother,summerandwinter.Otherwordsweresomuchalikethattheywereusedinterchangeably.Itisestimatedthatatleast900wordsofScandinavianoriginhavesurvivedinmodernEnglish,suchasskirt,skill,window,leg,grasp,birth,they,their,themandegg.OldEnglishhasavocabularyofabout50,000to60,000words.ItwasahighlyinflectedlanguagejustlikemodernGerman.Therefore,nouns,pronouns,adjectives,verbsandadverbshavecomplexendingsorvowelchanges,orboth.MiddleEnglishOldEnglishbegantoundergomuchchangewhentheNormansinvadedEnglandfromFrancein1066.TheNormanconqueststartedacontinualflowofFrenchwordsintoEnglish.TheEnglishweredefeated,butnotkilledoff,norweretheydrivenfromtheircountry.Theywerereducedtothestatusofaninferiorpeople.NormanFrenchbecamethepolitespeech.Bytheendofthe11thcentury,almostallofthepeoplewhoheldpoliticalorsocialpowerandmanyofthoseinpowerfulchurchpositionswereofNormanFrenchorigin.Bytheendofthe13thcentury,Englishgraduallycamebackintotheschools,thelawcourts,andgovernmentandregainedsocialstatusthankstoWyclifftranslationoftheBibleandthewritingsofChaucer.Between1250and1500about9,000wordsofFrenchoriginpouredintoEnglish.Wecanfindwordsrelatingtoeveryaspectofhumansociety,e.g.Government,socialscales,law,religion,moralmatters,militaryaffairs,food,fashion,etc.Forexample:state,power,prince,duke,judge,court,crime,angel,mercy,peace,battle,pork,bacon,fry,roast,dress,coat.MiddleEnglishretainedmuchfewerinflections.Endingsofnounsandadjectivesmarkingdistinctionofnumber,cameandoftenofgenderlosttheirdistinctiveforms.IfwesayoldEnglishwasalanguageoffullendings,MiddleEnglishwasoneoflevelledendings.ModernEnglishbeganwiththeestablishmentofprintinginEngland.IntheearlyperiodofModernEnglish,EuropesawanewupsurgeoflearningancientGreekandRomanclassics.ThisisknowninhistoryastheRenaissance.LatinandGreekwererecognizedasthelanguagesoftheWesternworld’sgreatliteraryheritageandofgreatscholarship,buttranslatorswererapidlymakinggreatliteraryworksavailableinEnglish.TranslatorsandscholarsborrowedheavilyfromtheLatinvocabularyoftheirsourcematerialsduringthisperiodandmanyLatinwordsbecamepartofEnglishvocabulary.Inthemid-seventeenthcentury,EnglandexperiencedBourgeoisRevolutionfollowedbytheIndustrialRevolutionandrosetobeagreateconomicpower.Withthegrowthofcolonization.Britishtentaclesbeganstretchingouttoeverycorneroftheglobe.Sincethebeginningofthelastcentury,esp,afterWorldWarII,theworldhasseenbreathtakingadvancesinscienceandtechnology.Manynewwordshavebeencreatedtoexpressnewideas,