Lecture 2 Sources of English Vocabulary

Chapter2ThesourcesoftheEnglishVocabularyTheProblemsThatWeAreGoingToSolveinThisChapter•WheredoestheEnglishlanguagecomefrom?•InwhatwayisEnglishrelatedtootherlanguages?•WhyisthislanguageknownasEnglishnow?•Whatisthesizeofthevocabularyofthefirstsettlers?•Howhasitdevelopedintowhatisnowahugemodernvocabulary?•WhatinfluencedootherlanguageshaveonEnglish?TheOriginsoftheEnglishLanguage•TheEnglishpeopleareofamixedblood.•AtthebeginningofthefifthcenturyBritainwasinvadedbythreetribesfromNorthernEurope:•TheAngles,SaxonsandJutes.TheOriginsoftheEnglishLanguage•ThesethreetribeslandedontheBritishcoast,drovetheBritonswestandnorthandsettleddownontheisland•Thesethreetribesmergedintoonepeople:theEnglishpeople.•Thethreedialectstheyspokenaturallygrewintoasinglelanguage:theEnglishlanguageTheIndo-EuropeanLanguageFamily•Theworldhasnearly3,000/5000/7000languages.•Groupedintoroughly300languagefamiliesonthebasisofsimilaritiesintheirbasicwordstockandgrammar.•TheIndo-EuropeanismadeupofmostofthelanguagesofEurope,thenearEast,andIndia.Indo-EuropeanLanguageEasternSetWesternSetArmenianAlbanianEasternSetBalto-SlavicIndo-IranianBalto-SlavicCzechRussianPrussianPolishSlovenianLithuanianBulgarianIndo-IranianPersianBengaliHindiRomany孟加拉语吉卜赛语DerivedfromSanskritArmenianAlbanianArmenianAlbanianWesternSetCelticItalicGermanicHellenic凯尔特意大利日尔曼希腊CelticScottishIrishWelshBreton（法）布列塔尼地区语ItalicItalianPortugueseSpanishFrenchRomanianNorwegianIcelandicDanishSwedishGermanicGermanDutchFlemishEnglish佛兰芒HellenicGreekAHistoricalOverviewoftheEnglishVocabularyEnglishcanberoughlydividedinto:OldEnglish,MiddleEnglishModernEnglish.OldEnglish(450---1150)MiddleEnglish(1150---1500)ModernEnglish(1500---Now)Early:1500---1700Late:1700---presentOldEnglish450--1150TheFirstInhabitants•Celts•Theirlanguage----CelticisstillanotherbranchoftheIndo-Europeanlanguagefamily.TheRomanInvasion•In55—54B.C.JuliusCaesartheGreatinvadedtheBritishIsles.•TheLatinoftheRomanLegionsbecamethesecondmajorlanguageknowninEngland.TheInvasionofthePictsandScots•ThewithdrawalofRomantroopsinvitedtheinvasionoftherichlowlandsbythePictsandScotsfromtheNorth.CeltsMadetheWrongDecision•TheCeltsappealedtoGermanicwarriorsforassistanceindefendingtheirland.•SoontheGermanictribes,calledAngles,Saxons,FrisiansandJutescameingreatnumbers.•TheCeltswerepushednorthandwestoracrosstheEnglishChanneltoFrenchBrittany布列塔尼orremainedtobesubjectedtotheruleofthenewcomers.TheGermanictribescalledAngles,Saxons,FrisiansandJutestookpermanentcontroloftheland,whichwastobecalledEngland,“ThelandoftheAngles”Theirlanguage,historicallyknownasAnglo-Saxon,dominatedandalmosttotallyblottedouttheCeltic.CelticmadeonlyasmallcontributiontotheEnglishvocabulary.Withwordslikecrag（峭壁）andbinandsomeplacenameslikeAvon,Kent,London,Themes.NowpeoplegenerallyrefertoAnglo-SaxonasoldEnglish.TwoeventsintheOldEnglishPeriodInthe6thcentury:LatinspeakingRomanmissionariescametospreadChristianityinBritain.TheintroductionofChristianityhadagreatimpactontheEnglishvocabulary.Itbroughtmanynewideasandcustomsandalsomanyreligiousterms:abbot（男修道院院长）,candle,altar（圣坛）,amen,apostle（使徒，耶稣12门徒之一）.Inthe9thcentury:thelandwasinvadedagainbyNorwegianandDanishVikings.Theycamefirsttoplunder,thentoconquer.FinallytheysucceededinplacingaDanishkingonthethroneofEngland.Withtheinvaders,manyScandinavianwordscameintoEnglish.•Thesenewwordsdidnotidentifynewideasandobjects.•TheywereeverydaywordsforwhichtheEnglishhadtermsandexpressions.•Manywordswereexactlyalike,suchasfather,husband,house,life,man,mother,summerandwinter.•OtherwordsweresomuchalikethattheywereusedinterchangeablyItisestimatedthatatleast900wordsofScandinavianoriginhavesurvivedinmodernEnglish.Suchasskirt,skill,window,leg,grasp,birth,they,their,themandegg.CharacteristicsofOldEnglish•OldEnglishhasavocabularyofabout50,000to60,000words.•Itwasahighlyinflected(曲折变化的）languagejustlikemodernGerman.•Therefore,nouns,pronouns,adjectives,verbsandadverbshascomplexendingsorvowelchanges,orboth.(Buch)•OldEnglishdiffersgreatlyfromthelanguageweusetoday.MiddleEnglish(1150---1500)•TheNormansinvadedEnglandfromFrancein1066.•TheOldEnglishbegantoundergomuchchangewhenNormanconqueststartedacontinualflowofFrenchwordsintoEnglish.•TheEnglishweredefeated,butnotkilledoff,norweretheydrivenfromtheircountry.•Theywerereducedtothestatusofaninferiorpeople.NormanFrenchbecamethepolitespeech.MiddleEnglish•Bytheendofthe11thcentury,almostallofthepeoplewhoheldpoliticalorsocialpowerandmanyofthoseinpowerfulchurchpositionswereofNormanFrenchorigin.•Bytheendofthe13thcentury,Englishgraduallycamebackintotheschools,thelawcourts,andgovernmentandregainedsocialstatusthankstoWycliffetranslationoftheBibleandthewritingsofChaucer.MiddleEnglish•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.TheCharacteristicsofMiddleEnglish•MiddleEnglishretainedmuchfew