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1、 Chapter 2The sources of the English VocabularyThe English people are of a mixed blood. At the beginning of the fifth century Britain was invaded by three tribes from the Northern Europe: the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. These three tribes landed on the British coast, drove the Britons west and north a
2、nd settled down on the island. These three three tribes merged into one people: the English people and the three dialects they spoke naturally grew into a single language: the English language.A Historical Overview of the English VocabularyEnglish can be roughly divided into: Old English, Middle Eng
3、lishModern English.Old English (450-1150)Middle English ( 1150-1500)Modern English (1500-Now)Early: 1500-1700Late :1700- presentThe Germanic tribes called angles, Saxons, and Jutes came in about 450 AD. Soon they took permanent control of the land, which was to be called England. Their language, his
4、torically known as Anglo-Saxon, dominated and almost totally blotted out the Celtic. Celtic made only a small contribution to the English vocabulary with such words as crag(颈,喉) and bin and some place names like Avon, Kent, London. Now people generally refer to Anglo-Saxon as old English.Two events
5、in the Old English Period:in the 6th century:Latin speaking Roman missionaries came to spread Christianity in Britain. The introduction of Christianity had a great impact on the English vocabulary. It brought many new ideas and customs and also many religious terms: abbot(大修道院男住持), candle, altar, am
6、en, apostle.In the 9th century: the land was invaded again by Norwegian and Danish Vikings. They came first to plunder, then to conquer. Finally they succeeded in placing a Danish king on the throne of England. With the invaders, many scandinavian words came into English.It is estimated that at leas
7、t 900 words of Scandinavian origin have survived in modern English, such as skirt, skill, window, leg, grasp, birth, they ,their, them and egg.Old English has a vocabulary of about 50,000 to 60,000 words. It was a highly inflected language just like modern German. Therefore, nouns, pronouns, adjecti
8、ves, verbs and adverbs has complex endings or vowel changes, or both.Foreign Influence on the old English The Celtic The Latin The Scandinavian Influence the invision of the VikingsGermanic Influence For-, in-, -ful, -dom, -hood, - ship, -ness, -the, -ful, -ishInfluence of Latin altar, candle, disci
9、ple, hymn, martyr, nun, priest, pope, shrine, temple -able, -ible, -ent, -al, -ous, -iveScandinavian Influence are, they, their, them, till, call die, give, take, skin, sky, window, ill , weak -skFeatures of Old English Vocabulary Purely Germanic Rarity of Latin and absence of French Grammar Synthet
10、ic language: Old English Analytic language: Modern EnglishMiddle EnglishOld English began to undergo much change when the Normans invaded England from France in 1066.The Norman conquest started a continual flow of French words into English.The English were defeated, but not killed off, nor were they
11、 driven from their country. They were reduced to the status of an inferior people. Norman French became the polite speech. By the end of the 11th century, almost all of the people who held political or social power and many of those in powerful church positions were of Norman French origin.By the en
12、d of the 13th century, English gradually came back into the schools, the law courts, and government and regained social status thanks to Wycliff translation of the Bible and the writings of Chaucer. Between 1250 and 1500 about 9,000 words of French origin poured into English. We can find words relat
13、ing to every aspect of human society, e.g. Government, social scales, law, religion, moral matters, military affairs, food ,fashion, etc.For example: state, power, prince, duke, judge, court, crime, angel, mercy, peace, battle, pork, bacon, fry, roast, dress, coat.Borrowings from French (after Norma
14、n Invasion). Sometimes both versions survived:French English porkswine beefcowGovernmental and Administrative words state, royal, authority, court, council, parliament, treaty, tax, public, exile, liberty, prince, princess, sir, madamWords about Religion religion, prayer, lesson, passion, chapter, f
15、aith, virgin, miracle, mystery, salvation, immortality, preach,prayLaw justice, judgment, advocate, attorney, bell, complaint, fine, punishment, accuse, sue, imprison, property, innocentArmy and Navy army, navy, peace, enemy, arms, battle, defense, soldier, guard, spy, bannerFashion, Meals and Socia
16、l Life habit,train, garment, lace, button, blue, brown, scarlet, pearl, diamond, crystal, dinner, supper, feast, taste, appetite, cream, sugar, salad, date, grape, orange, cherry, roast, boil, fryArt, Learning, Medicine art, painting, sculpture, music, beauty, color, figure, image, palace, tower, prose, romance, story, tragedy,
