Chapter 3 the Development of the__ English Vocabulary
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unit 1 Mr. Doherty Builds His Dream LifeIn America many people have a romantic idea of life in the countryside. Many living in towns dream of starting up their own farm, of living off the land. Few get round to putting their dreams into practice. This is perhaps just as well, as the life of a farmer is far from easy, as Jim Doherty discovered when he set out to combine being a writer with running a farm. Nevertheless, as he explains, he has no regrets and remains enthusiastic about his decision to change his way of life.在美国,不少人对乡村生活怀有浪漫的情感。
许多居住在城镇的人梦想着自己办个农场,梦想着靠土地为生。
很少有人真去把梦想变为现实。
或许这也没有什么不好,因为,正如吉姆·多尔蒂当初开始其写作和农场经营双重生涯时所体验到的那样,农耕生活远非轻松自在。
但他写道,自己并不后悔,对自己作出的改变生活方式的决定仍热情不减。
Mr. Doherty Builds His Dream LifeJim Doherty1 There are two things I have always wanted to do -- write and live on a farm. Today I'm doing both. I am not in E. B. White's class as a writer or in my neighbors' league as a farmer, but I'm getting by. And after years of frustration with city and suburban living, my wife Sandy and I have finally found contentment here in the country. 多尔蒂先生创建自己的理想生活吉姆·多尔蒂有两件事是我一直想做的――写作与务农。
chapter3-4-6讲义MicrosoftWord文档第三章政论翻译Warm-up exercises政府工作报告全国人民代表大会国务院全国政协委员会邓小平理论三个代表三农工作三资企业科学发展观改革开放中国特色社会主义国际金融危机节能减排西部大开发双赢一国两制菜篮子工程科教兴国可持续发展report on the work of the governmentthe National People’s Congressthe State Councilthe National Committee of t he Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)Deng Xiaoping TheoryThree RepresentsThe party must always represent the requirements of the development of China’s advanced productive forces, the orientation of the development of China’s adv anced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people in China.three kinds of foreign-invested enterprises/venturessino-foreign joint enterprise; sino-foreign coorperative enterprise; foreign-funded enterprisethe work related to agriculture, rural areas and farmersthe Scientific Outlook on Developmentreform and opening upthe socialism with Chinese characteristicsinternational/global financial crisisenergy conservation, emissions reductionthe large-scale development of the western regionwin-winone country two systemsvegetable basket projectrevitalizing/invigorating the nation through science and educationsustainable development促进文化大发展大繁荣文化是人类的精神家园,优秀文化传承是一个民族生生不息的血脉。
…2012级(1)班Chaper1 The Basic Concepts Of Words and Vocabularyof the statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the one that would best complete the statement.1. ______is the most important of all characteristics of the basic word stock. Stability national character2. Nonbasic vocabulary includes all of the following except_______ .words3. According to the origins of the words, English words can be classified into…_______ .words and functional words words and borrowed wordswords and dialectal words words and dialectal words4. Borrowings can be divided into________., semantic loans, translationloans, denizenswords, notional words, form words, content words, portmanteau words, acronyms, initializes, compounds, converted words and clipped words-5. Apart from the characteristics of basic vocabulary, native words have two other features, namely_________.and stability in style and high frequency in useand polysemy and arbitrariness6.The word beaver(meaning“girl”)is_______ .dialectal word archaism7. AIDS as a nonbasic word is_______ .archaismwords include the following word classes except_______ .^9. Vocabulary can refer to the following except_______ .total number of the words in alanguagethe words used in a particular historical periodthe words of a given dialectwords a person knowsis a loan word from_______ .【11. _______ form the mainstream of the basic word stock.words B. Frenchwords words wordshumor is_______ .translation loan semantic loan denizen alienand numerals are semantically_______ and have limited_______ .;use and stability ;collocability and stability;use and productivity ;productivity andcollectabilityis_______ .(archaism,words fall into functional words and content words.frequency formation16. The symbolic connection between sound and meaning is almost always_______ .17. _______ are loan words that have become assimilated in English.A.Denizens loans loans, which means “police”,is a(n) _______ word.[19. Wherein which means “in what”is a(n)word. _______difference between sound and form due to all the following except _______. phonemes than lettersB. stabilization of spelling by printingof spelling by early scribesof pronunciationthe following statements with proper words or expressions according to the course book\1. Lexicology is a branch of linguisticsstudying the origins and_______ of words .2. A word is a minimal free form of language that has a given sound, meaning and_______ function.3. In spite of the differences between sound and form,at least_______ percent of the English words fit consistent spelling patternsthe words in language make up its_______ .word stock is the foundations of the vocabulary accumulated over centuries and form the common core of the language.,begin is a native word.7. _______ vocabulary include cant,jargon and argot.8. There is no_______ relationship between the sound which stands for a thing or an idea and the actual thing and idea itself.{9. _______ are the basic units of sentences.10. Early borrowings are mostly_______ whereas later loan words remain foreign in sound and spelling.whether the following statements are true or false( ) word can be defined in different ways from different points of view.( ) no circumstances can sound and meaning be intrinsically related.( ) introduction of printing press resulted in a lot more differences betweensound and form.( ) words a person can use in speaking and writing form his active vocabulary. ( ) principles by which to classify words are usage, notion and origin.(( ) words are more popular than foreign words.( ) words enjoy the same features as the basic word stock and more.( )(meaning “old”)is an instance of archaism.( ) a loan word known as an alien.( ) time no see is a case of translation loan.a term for each of the following definitions.1.Sub-standard words often used on informal occasions.( )2.Specialized vocabulary common in certain professions.( )3.>4.Words used by sub-culturegroups, particularly by understood society.( )5.Words that have clear notions.( )6.Words of Anglo-Saxon origin.( )7.Words borrowed by way of translation. ( )8.Old words with new meanings.( )9.Words which have become assimilated.( )10.Native forms whose meanings are borrowed.( )11.Words essential to native speakers’ daily communication.( ):the following questions .Your answers should be clear and short.1.What is the relationship between sound and meaning2.Why are there so many differences between sound and form3.What are the criteria for classification of words4.What are the characteristics of the basic word and word stock[Answers](eighty) 10assimilated!2. Fwords words loans loan word stockV.1.The relationship is almost always arbitrary and conventional ana there is nological connection between sound and meaning.2.There are four major reasons.(1)The internal reason:the English alphabet wasadopted from the Romans,which have more phonemes than letters,so there is nota separate letter to represent each sound.(2)Pronunciation has changed morerapidly than spelling.(3)The spelling forms were changed by the early scribes to make theeir writing more recognizable.(4)Borrowing.3.There are mainly there criteria for may fall into:the basic word stock andnonbasic vocabulary by use frequency;content words and functional words by notion;native words and borrowed words by prigin.4.The basic word stock has five charecteristic:(1)all nationalcharacter,(2)stability,(3)productivi-ty,(4)polysemy,(5)productivity.)Chapter2 The Development Of the English Vocabularyof the statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the one that would best complete the statement.1.It is assumed that the world has 3000 languages, which can be grouped intoroughly_______ language families on the basis of similarities in their basic word stock and grammar.2. The following languages all belong to the Eastern set except_______ .3. In the Eastern set,Armenian and_______ are the sole modern languages in the two respective families.(language does not belong to the Italic.early inhabitants of the British Isles spoke_______ .Germanic speakers took permanent control of the land that was later called_______ (the land of Angles).English has a vocabulary of about 50000 to 60000 words,which is entirely Germanic with only a few borrowings from_______ and Scandinavian.·influx of French words into English did not occur until after_______ .the Middle English period,the three main dialects of the land were Northern, _______ and Midland.10. _______ is the chief ancestor of Modern English,not Southern.Norman Conquest started a continual flow of_______ words into English.*is an_______ dialect,as its name implies, and intelligible to Northerner and Southerners alike.number of_______ words that poured into English was unbelievably great and covered every realm of culture and society in the Middle English period.English regained social status in Middle English period,those imposer spoke French;those who were literate read and wrote _______ ;those who could educate their children taught them in _______ ;and any young man who sought to earn his living as a scribe learned_______ or_______ .;French;Latin;French ;French;French;English;French;Latin;French ;French;Greek;French…the early period of modern English,Europe saw a new upsurge in learning ancient Greek and Roman classic,which is known in history as the_______ .the beginning of the 20th century, particularly after World War II,although borrowing remains channel of English vocabulary expansion,more words are created by_______ .Anglo-Saxon in the Old English period was almost a “_______ ”language,which created new words from its own compound elements with few foreign words.one scholar notes,old English was characterized by “_______ endings”,Middle English by “leveled endings”,and Modern English by “_______ endings”.;lost ;full ;pure ;lost—English which was a_______ language has evolved to the present_______ language.;synthetic ;analytic;analytic ;syntheticall the foreign languages from which we have borrowed words,Latin ,Greek,French,and_______ stand out as the major contributors.the Pre-Anglo-Saxon period,the words borrowed naturally from reflected the new experience in_______ and _______ .;economy ;agriculture ;shrinethe Old English period,borrowings from Latin came in because of the introduction of Christianity,such as, _______ and _______ .…;candle ;sack ;shrine ;circlecenturies were especially prolific in Latin borrowingsunder the influence of Renaissance.and 13th and 14th and15th and 16thlate borrowings from Latin still retain their Latin of the following was borrowed in the Modern English periodB . Focusof the following does not come from Greekis from_______ and tatami is from_______ .:;African ;Japanese ;Turkish ;JapaneseEnglish vocabulary develops through_______ .,analogyand ,semantic and borrowing,archaisms,and semantic change,denizens and argotof the following contemporary English vocabulary is from the rapid growth of science and technologysuit belt jacketsScandinavian languages:Norwegian,Swedish,Danish,and Icelandic,constitute the_______ branch of the Germanic group.^archaic or_______ words also contributes to the growth of English vocabulary though insignificant.II.Decide whether the following statements are true or false.( ) is more closed related to German than French.( ) languages refer to Icelandic,Norwegian,Danish,and Swedish( ) English was a highly infected language.( ) early Middle English period,English,Latin,and Celtic existed side by side. ( ) introduction of printing into England marked the beginning of Modern English period."( ) English is considered to be an analytic language.( ) four major foreign contributors to English vocabulary in earlier times are Latin,French,Scandinavian and Italian.( ) modern times,borrowing brings less than percent of modern English vocabulary. ( ) three major factors that promote the growth of modern English vocabulary are advances in science and technology,influence of foreign cultures and languages. ( ) most important mode of vocabulary development in present-day English is creation of new words by means of word-formation.( ) English vocabulary was in essence Germanic with a small quantity of words borrowed from Latin and Scandinavian.( ) English absorbed a tremendous number of foreign words but with little change in word endings.the following terms.1.,2.the Indo-European Language Family3.Old English4.foreign elements5.creation6.semantic changefollowing answers should be clear and short1.Why did Middle become the chief ancestor of Modern English2.What are the characteristics of Modern English3.、4.What are the reasons for the growth of contemporary English vocabulary5.What are the general characteristics of the world-wide appeal of Englishand comment on the following.1.Soft drinks and minerals sold here.Tell what“soft drink” and “mineral” mean respectively and explain why they take on those meanings in modern American English.2.“Moon”was originally written as “moan”and the pronuncia tions of the twowords are different,too .Explain the reasons for the change in spelling and pronunciation.AnswersI./II.III.1.The Indo-European Language Family is made up of most languages of Europe,theNear East,and to the geographical distribution,these languages fall into ten principal groups,belonging to two sets,namely an Eastern set and a Western Eastern set consists of:Balto-Slavic,Indo-Iranian,AmericanandAlbanian; the Western set comprises:Celtic,Italic, Hellenic, Germanic, Hittite and Tocharian.2.Old English grew out of the Anglo-Saxon,which has a vocabulary of about 50000to 60000 vocabulary is almost monogamous and entirely Geomantic with only a few borrowings from Latin and Scandinavian.3.English vocabulary owes most of its words to foreign words borrowed from otherlanguages are known as foreign elements in the English vocabulary.4.Creation refers to the formation of new words by using the existingmaterials,namely roots,affixes and other modern times,this is the most important way of vocabularyexpansion.5.Semantic change refers to an old form whichtakes on a new meaning to meet thenew does not increase the number of word forms but create many new usage of the existing words.IV.1. There are several reasons:(1)The midland included London,which was then the capital of England,naturally the political,economical and cultural center.(2)Two great writers Wycliffe and Chaucer employed the Midland dialect in their writings.(3)Midland is an intermediate dialect,as its name implies,and intelligible to Northerners and Southerners alike,whereas these speakers could not often understand each other using their own dialects respectively.(4)When Caxton introduced the printing press in 1477, the printerspatronized theMidland dialect, and any English man who wanted to be published had to write in that dialect.2. Modern English has a huge vocabulary of different elements. Most of the words have actually been borrowed from other languages. Word endings are mostly lost with just a few exceptions.3. Generally there are three main sources of new words:the rapid development of modern science and technology;social,economic and political changes;the influenceof other cultures and languages.4. The more obvious and striking features are summed up as follows:(1)receptivity, adaptability and heterogeneity;(2)simplicity of inflection(3)relatively fixed word-order.V.1.(1) “soft drink” means “carbonated drinks” and “mineral” means “mineralwater” in present American English.(2)“soft drink” means “non-alcoholic beverage” and “mineral” means “ore”in British English, but these words no longer have such meanings in present British English.(3) American English has revived the old meaning of “soft drink” and that of“mineral”. This is because it is easy to understand and remember.2. (1) “Mona” is an early borrowed word but the original form did not conform to the English way of pronunciation and spelling.(2) In later development, the word became well assimilated into English languages.(3) At present “mona”is written as “moon”, conforming to the English way of pronunciation and spelling.。
托福阅读真题第183篇TheDevelopmentofPrinting(答案文章最后)The Development of PrintingParagraph 1:Printing with movable type, a revolutionary departure from the old practice of copying by hand, was invented in the 1440s by Johannes Gutenberg, a German goldsmith. Mass production of identical books and pamphlets made the world of letters more accessible to a literate audience. Two preconditions proved essential for the advent of printing: the industrial production of paper and the commercial production of manuscripts.Paragraph 2:Increased paper production in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was the first stage in the rapid growth of manuscript books—hand-copied works bound as books—which in turn led to the invention of mechanical printing. Papermaking came to Europe from China via Arab intermediaries. By the fourteenth century, paper mills were operating in Italy, producing paper that was much more fragile but much cheaper than parchment or vellum, animal skins that Europeans had previously used for writing. T o produce paper, old rags were soaked in a chemical solution, beaten by mallets into a pulp, washed with water, treated, and dried in sheets—a method that still produces good-quality paper today.1. According to paragraph 2, which of the following is true of papermaking?O In fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Europe, it was restricted to Italy, which was the only country with the technology to build paper mills.O It was brought to Europe from China.O Its development ended the practice of copying books by hand.O It produces a superior writing material that is stronger than parchment.2. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about the process of making paper in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Europe?O It was based on the process previously used to make parchment and vellum.O It was replaced by a process that added steps to create a better quality of paper.O It was dependent on the availability of discarded or used cloth.O It produced paper that was more fragile than paper made in China.Paragraph 3:By the fifteenth century, a brisk industry in manuscript books was flourishing in Europe’s university towns and major cities. Production was in the hands of merchants called stationers, who supplied materials, arranged contracts for book production, and organized workshops known as scriptoria, where the manuscripts were copied, and acted as retail booksellers. The largest stationers, in Paris and Florence, were extensive operations by fifteenth-century standards. The Florentine Vespasiano da Bisticci, for example, created a library for Cosimo de’ Medici, the head of Florence’s leading family, by employing 45 copyists to complete 200 volumes in 22 months. Nonetheless, bookmaking in scriptoria was slow and expensive.3. The author mentions “Vespasiano da Bisticci” in order to emphasizeO the process by which stationers obtained the necessarymaterials for book productionO the equal importance of Florence and Paris in the rapidly developing book industryO the superiority of Florentine libraries to those in other European citiesO that making books was a commercial enterprise in Europe before the invention of printing4. All of the following were mentioned in paragraph 3 as functions of stationers in fifteenth-century Europe EXCEPT O the creation of contracts for production of booksO the provision of materials for copying booksO the hiring of authors to compose new booksO the organization of scriptoriaParagraph 4:The invention of movable type was an enormous technological breakthrough that took bookmaking out of the hands of human copyists. Printing was not new: the Chinese had been printing by woodblock since the tenth century, and woodcut pictures (in which an image is cut on wood and then transferred to paper) made their appearance in Europe in the early fifteenth century. Movable type, however, allowed entire manuscripts to be printed. The process involved casting durable metal molds to represent the letters of the alphabet. The letters were arranged to represent the text on a page and then pressed in ink against a sheet of paper. The imprint could be repeated numerous times with only a small amount of human labor. In 1467 two German printers established the first press in Rome and produced 12,000 volumes in five years, a feat that in the past would have required one thousand scribes working full time for the same number of years.5. According to paragraph 4, which of the following occurredbecause of the invention of movable type?O An increase in the cost of book productionO An increase in the popularity of the techniques of woodblock and woodcutO The creation of a large number of printing jobsO A decline in the importance of human copyistsParagraph 5:After the 1440s, printing spread rapidly from Germany to other European countries. The cities of Cologne, Strasbourg, Nuremberg, Basel, and Augsburg had major presses, and many Italian cities had established their own by 1480. In the 1490s, the German city of Frankfurt became an international meeting place for printers and booksellers. The Frankfurt book fair, where printers from different nations exhibited their newest titles, represented a major international cultural event and remains an unbroken tradition to this day. Early books from other presses were still rather exclusive and inaccessible, especially to a largely illiterate population. Perhaps the most famous early book, Gutenberg’s two-volume edition of the Latin Bible, was unmistakably a luxury item. Altogether 185 copies were printed. First priced at well over what a fifteenth-century professor could earn in a year, the Gutenberg Bible has always been one of the most expensive books in history, both for its rarity and its exquisite crafting.6. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 5 about the Gutenberg Bible?O It was printed in Frankfurt.O People with average incomes were not likely to own it.O Numerous copies of it were sold at the Frankfurt book fair.O It was one of the first expensive books to be sold to aninternational population.Paragraph 6: Some historians argue that the invention of mechanical printing gave rise to a communications revolution as significant as, for example, the widespread use of the personal computer today. The multiplication of standardized texts altered the thinking habits of Europeans by freeing individuals from having to memorize everything they learned; it certainly made possible the speedy and inexpensive dissemination of knowledge.It created a wilder community of scholars, no longer dependent on personal patronage or church sponsorship for texts. Printing facilitated the free expression and exchange of ideas, and its disruptive potential did not go unnoticed by political and church authorities. Emperors and bishops in Germany, the homeland of the printing industry, moved quickly to issue censorship regulations.7. The author mentions "the personal computer" in the passage in order toO compare the importance of the development of mechanical printing to the development of the computer O contrast the superiority of communications technology in the modern era to that of the fifteenth centuryO emphasize the sophisticated social and economic growth of fifteenth-century societyO emphasize the conflicting views of historians about the significance of new technologies8. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways of leave out essential information.O European ways of thinking were affected by the newmultiple sources of knowledge that became available through the standardization of texts.O Once standardized texts became widespread, people could acquire knowledge in faster, more affordable ways because they no longer had to memorize texts.O Individuals were increasingly free to take advantage of the large number of standardized texts that became available.O It became easier for people to increase their knowledge in many areas because books were significantly cheaper than they had previously been.Paragraph 6: Some historians argue that the invention of mechanical printing gave rise to a communications revolution as significant as, for example, the widespread use of the personal computer today. ■The multiplication of standardized texts altered the thinking habits of Europeans by freeing individuals from having to memorize everything they learned; it certainly made possible the speedy and inexpensive dissemination of knowledge. ■It created a wilder community of scholars, no longer dependent on personal patronage or church sponsorship for texts. ■Printing facilitated the free expression and exchange of ideas, and its disruptive potential did not go unnoticed by political and church authorities. ■Emperors and bishops in Germany, the homeland of the printing industry, moved quickly to issue censorship regulations.9. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence can be added to the passage.For such leaders, the uncontrolled expression of ideas was clearly unwelcome.Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square [■] to add the sentence to the passage.10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some answer choices do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points. Drag your choices to the spaces where they belong. To review the passage, click on View Text.The invention of printing was a revolutionary development that brought about profound social change in Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.Answer ChoicesO Printing with metal type rather than woodblocks was the invention of a German goldsmith living in Rome, the center of printing in the fifteenth century.O A precondition for the successful production and distribution of mechanically printed books was the earlier commercial organization of hand-copied book production by merchants known as stationers.O Because movable type made it more economical to produce many copies of a single book, the invention of mechanical printing had an immense effect on the spread of knowledge.O The expansion of the paper making industry in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries made it possible to fully and economically use the invention of movable type in book production.O In the fifteenth century, printed books were internationally distributed through the Frankfurt book fair, although few people in the fifteenth century could afford books or were able to readthem.O The most important and expensive early mechanically printed book was Gutenberg’s two-volume Latin Bible, produced in an edition of only 185 copies.。
Chapter 3 the Development of the English Vocabulary In the study of words, it is of great importance to know something about the origin and growth of the vocabulary. The English language is not the language of the early inhabitants of the British Isles. Then where does it come from? In what way is English related to other languages? A synchronic overview of the Indo-European Language Family will answer these questions.3.1 The Indo-European Language FamilyThe world has 3,000 (some put it 5,000) languages, which can be grouped into roughly 300 language families on the basis of similarities in their basic word stock and grammar.The Indo-European, one of these, is made up of most languages of Europe, the Near East and India. Most of the Indo-European languages are dead. The surviving Indo-European languages fall into ten principal groups, which fall into an Eastern set: Balto-Slavic, Indo-Iranian, Armenian and Albanian; a Western set: Celtic, Italic, Hellenic, Germanic, Hittite, and Tocharian.The Germanic family, which is our chief concern as English and its nearest relations are all members of this family. First, we have the four Northern European Languages: Norwegian, Icelandic, Danish and Swedish, which are generally known as Scandinavian languages. Then come German, Dutch, Flemish and English.3.2 Three Phases of the Historical Development of EnglishEnglish has been the language of England for a comparatively short period. Since its introduction into the island about the middle of the fifth century it has had a career extending through only fifteen hundred years. The first peoples known to inhabit the land were Celts. Their languages Celtic were dialects of still another branch of the Indo-European language family. The second major language known in England was the Latin of the Roman Legions.葡萄牙语 Potuguese 古法语 Old French 罗马尼亚语 Romanian 诺曼法语 Norman French 现代法语 Modern French 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 Old Irish 古威尔士语 Old Welsh 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 Old Norse 冰岛语 Icelandic 挪威语 Norwegi 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 Low German 高地德语 High German 现代标准德语 Modern German 荷兰语 Dutch 佛兰芒语 Flemish 古撒克逊语 Old Saxon 古低地弗兰克尼语 Old Low Franconian 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 West Saxon 现代英语Modern English南部方言 Southern Dialect (盎格鲁人) Angles北部方言 Northern Dialect 中部方言Midland Dialect 东中部方言East Midland Dialect早期现代英语Early Modern English瑞典语 Swedish 丹麦语Danish 苏格兰盖尔语 Scottish Gaelic 爱尔兰盖尔语 Irish Gaelic 曼克斯语 Manx 古英语 Old English 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 Old Frisian3.2.1 Old English (450-1150)The withdrawal of Roman troops virtually invited the invasion of the rich lowlands by the Picts and Scots from the North. The Celts appealed to Germanic warriors from across the North Sea for assistance in defending their land. Soon these German tribes, called Angles, Saxons and Jutes, came in great numbers and became their conquerors.The Germanic speakers took permanent control of the land that was later to be called England (the land of Angles). Their language, historically known as Anglo-Saxon, dominated and almost totally blotted out the Celtic.Though the Saxons were numerically superior to the Angles, the latter were influential enough to impose their name on the whole. That is why the country was called England, and the language English. It is from this language that our present-day English is derived.Old English (the Anglo-Saxon) has a vocabulary of about 50, 000 to 60,000 words, which are almost monogeneous and entirely Germanic with only a few borrowings from Latin and Scandinavian.Old English was a highly inflected language, which differ greatly from the language that we use today.3.2.2 Middle English (1150-1500)The Danish rule continued from 1016 to 1042. Then the Saxon Dynasty was restored and Edward the Confessor, who had no children, came to the English throne and reigned over a united England until 1066. At his death, Harold succeeded him as king of the country. As he was not in the direct line of succession, his rule was opposed by William, Duke of Normandy, first cousin of Edward, for William considered himself the rightful heir to the throne. The English nobles disagreed, so William invaded the island. At the battle of Hastings (1066), the power of Harold was crushed and William became master of England. This event was known in history as the Norman Conquest. However, the influx of French words into English did not occur until after 1300. Norman French became the polite speech. The native tongue was a despised language which was left to the use of boors and serfs.In the next hundred years or so, with the separation of the two nations, the nobility of England still spoke French, but bit by bit English came back into the schools, the law courts and government and regained social status. It made the final step back to a position of importance when it emerged once again as a respected literary medium with the Wycliff translation of the Bible and the writings of Chaucer, Langland and others. Norman French was a class language, never the speech of England.The Middle English period was one of great changes, changes more extensive and fundamental than those that had taken place at any time before and since. The single most significant fact of this period was the steady erosion of the Old English inflectional systems. If we say that the Old English was a period of full endings, the Middle English was a period of leveled endings. Another significant point is the French influence on English vocabulary. The number of French words that poured into English was unbelievably great and covered every realm of culture and society.3.2.3 Modern English (1500-up to the present )Modern English dates from the Caxton and the establishment of printing in England. It may be subdivided into Early Modern English (1500-1700) and Late Modern English (1700- up to the present).In the early period of Modern English, enormous numbers of Latin words became English words because of the Renaissance. These contributed to the decidedly Latinate flavour of Modern English. Now the rapidly expanding use of printing and the needs of the schools began to set standard spellings for most words.Since the mid-seventeenth century, England experienced the Bourgeois Revolution followed by the Industrial Revolution and rose to be a great economic power, thus enabling English to absorb words from all major languages of the world.Since the beginning of 20th century, particularly after World War II, thousands and thousands of new words have been created to express new ideas, inventions and scientific achievements.3.3 General Characteristics of English3.3.1 Receptivity, Adaptability and HeterogeneityEnglish has taken to itself material from all other languages and has made the new elements its own. Having received all kinds of foreign elements, the English vocabulary is copious and heterogeneous.3.3.2 Simplicity of InflectionOld English was characterized by ‘full endings’, Middle English by ‘leveled endings’ and Modern English by ‘lost endings’.3.3.3 Relatively Fixed Word-orderIn an analytic language like Modern English, the word order is required to be relatively fixed. The semantic relation is closely connected to the positions of the words. The change of word-order may result in a change of meaning.3.4 Foreign Elements in the English VocabularyOf all the foreign languages from which words have been borrowed into English, Latin, Greek, French and Scandinavian stand out as the major contributors, which have had great influence on the English language vocabulary.3.4.1 LatinFor 2,000 years Modern English vocabulary has borrowed so heavily and complexly from Latin.1) The Pre-Anglo-Saxon PeriodDuring the Pre-Anglo-Saxon Period the words borrowed naturally reflected the new conceptions and experience in war and agriculture, e.g. battle, banner, cheese, pepper, butter, etc.2) The Old English PeriodBorrowings of this period came in the wake of the introduction of Christianity into Britain in 597. In the four hundred years or more up to the Norman Conquest, a variety of additional Latin words were adopted. Among the church terms are altar, candle, creed, disciple, nun, etc.3) The Middle English PeriodThe Norman Conquest marked the beginning of the third period of borrowingfrom Latin, though many of them made their way through French. The lexical settlers of Latin via French are generally more popular than those borrowed directly from Latin. The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were especially prolific in Latin borrowings under the influence of Renaissance. The following is a list of direct Latin borrowings in this period: gesture, history, include, incredible, individual, innumerable, necessary, nervous, picture, polite, popular, prevent, private, solar, temporal, etc. It is noticeable that some of the Latin suffixes, -able, -ible, -al, -ous, -ive and others now become common in English.4) The Modern English PeriodWords borrowed since 1,500 are late ones, which are mostly of abstract and scientific character. These words generally retain their Latin forms: focus, status, circus, apparatus, genius, esteem, minimum, maximum, via, criteria, species, series, protest, enterprise, etc.Many of the frequently used abbreviations are from Latin:i.e. (id est) = that is to saye.g. (exempli gratia) = for examplea.m. (ante meridiem) = before noonetc. (et cetera) = and so onp.m. (post meridiem) = after nooncf. (confer) = compareibid. (ibidem) = in the same place3.4.2 GreekThe influx of Greek words into English began with the revival of learning from Greek classics. Here is a selection of such borrowings, which, even if through Latin and French, remain identifiably Greek in form, e.g. democracy, politics, logic, philosophy, atom, geography, mathematics, clinic, diagnosis, alphabet, drama, grammar, idiom, poem, poet, rhythm, athlete, marathon, architect, hero, idiot, method, music, mystery, etc.The greatest influence of Greek perhaps lies in its loan of word-building elements into English. The Greek and Latin elements are assimilated with native elements in such a way that they can be mixed to form new words, known as hybrids. For example, anti- and hyper-, which are Greek prefixes, meaning ‘against’and ‘beyond’ respectively, can be added to English root as in anti-British and to Latin root as in hypersensitive. The Greek verb suffix –ize can be fixed at the end of words of any origin to form verbs, e.g. popularize, westernize, etc.3.4.3 FrenchIt is estimated that about one fourth of modern English vocabulary has come from French. Until the Norman Conquest, the exchange of words between English and French had been minimal. But when William the Conqueror ascended the English throne, French suddenly became the language of government. Almost overnight English had become a second class language in its native land. In the one and the half centuries immediately after the Conquest, a number of probably fewer than 1,00 French words were absorbed into the permanent vocabulary of English.The supremacy of French began to recede in the mid-13th century, when theacculturated descendants of the invaders at last began to think of themselves more as Englishmen than French and with it Norman French gave way to English. Borrowing from French now was free. Between 1250 and 1500 an approximate 9,000 words of French origin poured into the language, of which at least 75 percent are still in use today, e.g. govern, crown, country, power, council, people, nation, prince, duke, judge, jury, court, angel, sacrifice, miracle, preach, virtue, duty, conscience, war, battle, captain, soldier, beef, mutton, pork, bacon, roast, soup, supper, feast, tower, castle, fashion, dress, coat, fur, joy, pleasure, leisure, sport, etc.Although the rate of foreign borrowings tapered off to a certain extent during the 15th century, it sharply revived in the 16th and the English Renaissance. Nevertheless, new French borrowings during this period tended to be supplementary rather than central to the English vocabulary as there was a resistance that grew on the part of the English to borrowing of any kind. In the 150 years between 1650 and 1800, less than half as many French words were brought into English as had been added in the preceding years of the same length of time. Such words as ballet, dentist, cartoon, publicity, ridicule, routine are representatives of the hundreds of words absorbed in the period under discussion.Contemporary French influence on English since 1800 is difficult to define. But one thing is certain that the rate at which we have borrowed has increased considerably over that of the 18th century though the rate is still a fraction of what it was in the Middle Ages.3.4.4 ScandinavianThe Scandinavian languages: Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Icelandic, constitute the northern branch of the Germanic group. The earliest recorded form of Scandinavian is Old Norse. The Vikings, who were first to raid Britain in A.D. 787, were a Germanic people closely related to the Anglo-Saxons, who had originally lived just south of them on the Continent. Their languages known as Old Norse were very similar to Old English. Sharing a stock of basic words, the two peoples could understand each other quite well. In the 200 years that followed from the Norsemen invasion, Norsemen swarmed into the British Isles and occupied the greater part of the land, which remained bilingual. However, the English element eventually prevailed and the descendants of the Norsemen gradually forgot Norse and spoke English. The English then was the result of the fusion of the two peoples and cultures. Accordingly, hundreds of words were permanently absorbed into the English vocabulary. Many of these were basic and everyday words, often displacing original English ones such as skill, husband, sister, bag, bank, club, both, they, them, get, take, die, hit, happy, low, tight, ugly, wrong, etc.Numerically, the Scandinavian words in the English vocabulary are not many as compared with those of French.3.4.5 Other Foreign ElementsAs we have mentioned above, English is a heavy borrower, which has absorbed words from all the major languages of the world with which it has had contact. Apart from Latin, Greek, French and Scandinavian, the other elements are much less important. Even among the minor languages, Italian, German, Dutch and Spanishhave made considerable contributions to the English vocabulary. All the others are felt to be superficial.1)ItalianSome of the Italian words borrowed into English are: corridor, balcony, design, sonnet, model, picturesque, piano, violin, concert, opera, spaghetti, macaroni, broccoli, campaign, cannon, attitude, casino, influenza, jeans, umbrella, volcano, etc.2) GermanThe number of German borrowings is limited, some of them are nickel, Fahrenheit, ecology, hamburger, noodle, dollar, kindergarten, semester.3)DutchDutch is closely related to English. As the Dutch were leaders in the sea and the seafaring as well as industry, and transportation, especially in the golden ages in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, three quarters of the Dutch borrowings occurred during this period: yacht, sledge, stove, landscape, sketch, skate, boss, Santa Claus, etc.4)Spanish and PortugueseWords from Portuguese are mainly associated with slave culture. The more recent loanwords coming directly from Portuguese include Negro, potato, cafeteria, zebra, apricot, banana, etc.5)CelticCeltic is the language spoken by the earliest people in the British Isles, but unfortunately it has hardly had any influence on English vocabulary. Only a meager handful of Celtic words are left in English: dun, slough etc. the Celtic element is also found largely in place names such as rivers (Thames, Avon) and city names (York, London, Kent).There are some other loan words borrowed from other languages.Arabic: alcohol, coffee, cotton, magazine, muslin, sofa etc.Indian: candy, pajamas, shampoo etc.Russian: czar, vodka etc.Czech: robot.Bulgarian: coachPersian: bazaar, orange, check, lilac etc.Turkish: turkey, yoghurt etc.Malay: bamboo, caddy etc.Polynesian: taboo, tattooJapanese: kimono, karate, judo, tatami, etc.Australian aboriginal dialect: kangaroo, koalaAmerican Indian: moose, raccoon etcMexican: chocolate, tomato etc.Caribbean: barbecue, canoe, hurricane, maize etc.African: lion, paper, sack etc.Chinese: typhoon, tea, china, chopsticks, tofu, yin-yang, zongzi, etc.In earlier times, borrowing was a very important means of vocabulary development. While in modern times, the role of borrowing is diminishing and can hardly compare with some of the means of word-creation such as affixation,compounding and conversion.。