|
Brief History of the English Language.
Content:
Indo-European and Germanic Influences
Old English (500-1100 AD)
The Norman Conquest and Middle English (1100-1500)
Early-Modern English (1500-1800)
Late-Modern English (1800-Present)
American English
Indo-European and Germanic Influences
English is a member of the Indo-European family of languages. This broad
family includes most of the European languages spoken today. The
Indo-European family includes several major branches:
Latin and the modern Romance languages;
The Germanic languages;
The Indo-Iranian languages, including Hindi and Sanskrit;
The Slavic languages;
The Baltic languages of Latvian and Lithuanian (but not Estonian);
The Celtic languages; and
Greek.
The influence of the original Indo-European language, designated
proto-Indo-European, can be seen today, even though no written record of
it exists. The word for father, for example, is vater in German, pater in
Latin, and pitr in Sanskrit. These words are all cognates, similar words
in different languages that share the same root.
Of these branches of the Indo-European family, two are, for our purposes
of studying the development of English, of paramount importance, the
Germanic and the Romance (called that because the Romance languages derive
from Latin, the language of ancient Rome, not because of any
bodice-ripping literary genre). English is in the Germanic group of
languages. This group began as a common language in the Elbe river region
about 3,000 years ago. Around the second century BC, this Common Germanic
language split into three distinct sub-groups:
East Germanic was spoken by peoples who migrated back to southeastern
Europe. No East Germanic language is spoken today, and the only written
East Germanic language that survives is Gothic. North Germanic evolved into the modern Scandinavian languages of Swedish,
Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic (but not Finnish, which is related to
Estonian and is not an Indo-European language). West Germanic is the ancestor of modern German, Dutch, Flemish, Frisian,
and English.
Old English (500-1100 AD)
West Germanic invaders from Jutland and southern Denmark: the Angles
(whose name is the source of the words England and English), Saxons, and
Jutes, began populating the British Isles in the fifth and sixth centuries
AD. They spoke a mutually intelligible language, similar to modern
Frisian--the language of northeastern region of the Netherlands--that is
called Old English. Four major dialects of Old English emerged,
Northumbrian in the north of England, Mercian in the Midlands, West Saxon
in the south and west, and Kentish in the Southeast.
These invaders pushed the original, Celtic-speaking inhabitants out of
what is now England into Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland, leaving
behind a few Celtic words. These Celtic languages survive today in Gaelic
languages of Scotland and Ireland and in Welsh. Cornish, unfortunately, is
now a dead language. (The last native Cornish speaker, Dolly Pentreath,
died in 1777 in the town of Mousehole, Cornwall.) Also influencing English
at this time were the Vikings. Norse invasions, beginning around 850,
brought many North Germanic words into the language, particularly in the
north of England. Some examples are dream, which had meant \'joy\' until the
Vikings imparted its current meaning on it from the Scandinavian cognate
draumr, and skirt, which continues to live alongside its native English
cognate shirt.
The majority of words in modern English come from foreign, not Old English
roots. In fact, only about one sixth of the known Old English words have
descendants surviving today. But this is deceptive; Old English is much
more important than these statistics would indicate. About half of the
most commonly used words in modern English have Old English roots. Words
like be, water, and strong, for example, derive from Old English roots.
Old English, whose best known surviving example is the poem Beowulf,
lasted until about 1100. This last date is rather arbitrary, but most
scholars choose it because it is shortly after the most important event in
the development of the English language, the Norman Conquest.
The Norman Conquest and Middle English (1100-1500)
William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, invaded and conquered England
and the Anglo-Saxons in 1066 AD. (The Bayeux Tapestry, details of which
form the navigation buttons on this site, is perhaps the most famous
graphical depiction of the Norman Conquest.) The new overlords spoke a
dialect of Old French known as Anglo-Norman. The Normans were also of
Germanic stock ("Norman" comes from "Norseman") and Anglo-Norman was a
French dialect that had considerable Germanic influences in addition to
the basic Latin roots.
Prior to the Norman Conquest, Latin had been only a minor influence on the
English language, mainly through vestiges of the Roman occupation and from
the conversion of Britain to Christianity in the seventh century
(ecclesiastical terms such as priest, vicar, and mass came into the
language this way), but now there was a wholesale infusion of Romance
(Anglo-Norman) words.
The influence of the Normans can be illustrated by looking at two words,
beef and cow. Beef, commonly eaten by the aristocracy, derives from the
Anglo-Norman, while the Anglo-Saxon commoners, who tended the cattle,
retained the Germanic cow. Many legal terms, such as indict, jury, and
verdict have Anglo-Norman roots because the Normans ran the courts. This
split, where words commonly used by the aristocracy have Romantic roots
and words frequently used by the Anglo-Saxon commoners have Germanic
roots, can be seen in many instances.
Sometimes French words replaced Old English words; crime replaced firen
and uncle replaced eam. Other times, French and Old English components
combined to form a new word, as the French gentle and the Germanic man
formed gentleman. Other times, two different words with roughly the same
meaning survive into modern English. Thus we have the Germanic doom and
the French judgment, or wish and desire.
It is useful to compare various versions of a familiar text to see the
differences between Old, Middle, and Modern English.
In 1204 AD, King John lost the province of Normandy to the King of France.
This began a process where the Norman nobles of England became
increasingly estranged from their French cousins. England became the chief
concern of the nobility, rather than their estates in France, and
consequently the nobility adopted a modified English as their native
tongue. About 150 years later, the Black Death (1349-50) killed about one
third of the English population. The laboring and merchant classes grew in
economic and social importance, and along with them English increased in
importance compared to Anglo-Norman.
This mixture of the two languages came to be known as Middle English. The
most famous example of Middle English is Chaucer\'s Canterbury Tales.
Unlike Old English, Middle English can be read, albeit with difficulty, by
modern English-speaking people.
By 1362, the linguistic division between the nobility and the commoners
was largely over. In that year, the Statute of Pleading was adopted, which
made English the language of the courts and it began to be used in
Parliament.
The Middle English period came to a close around 1500 AD with the rise of
Modern English.
Early Modern English (1500-1800)
The next wave of innovation in English came with the Renaissance. The
revival of classical scholarship brought many classical Latin and Greek
words into the Language. These borrowings were deliberate and many
bemoaned the adoption of these "inkhorn" terms, but many survive to this
day. Shakespeare\'s character Holofernes in Loves Labor Lost is a satire of
an overenthusiastic schoolmaster who is too fond of Latinisms.
Many students having difficulty understanding Shakespeare would be
surprised to learn that he wrote in modern English. But, as can be seen in
the earlier example of the Lord\'s Prayer, Elizabethan English has much
more in common with our language today than it does with the language of
Chaucer. Many familiar words and phrases were coined or first recorded by
Shakespeare, some 2,000 words and countless catch-phrases are his.
Newcomers to Shakespeare are often shocked at the number of cliches
contained in his plays, until they realize that he coined them and they
became cliches afterwards. "One fell swoop," "vanish into thin air," and
"flesh and blood" are all Shakespeare\'s. Words he bequeathed to the
language include "critical," "leapfrog," "majestic," "dwindle," and
"pedant."
Two other major factors influenced the language and served to separate
Middle and Modern English. The first was the Great Vowel Shift. This was a
change in pronunciation that began around 1400. While modern English
speakers can read Chaucer with some difficulty, Chaucer\'s pronunciation
would have been completely unintelligible to the modern ear. Shakespeare,
on the other hand, would be accented, but understandable. Long vowel
sounds began to be made higher in the mouth and the letter "e" at the end
of words became silent. Chaucer\'s Lyf (pronounced "leef") became the
modern life. In Middle English name was pronounced "nam-a," five was
pronounced "feef," and down was pronounced "doon." In linguistic terms,
the shift was rather sudden, the major changes occurring within a century.
The shift is still not over, however, vowel sounds are still shortening
although the change has become considerably more gradual.
The last major factor in the development of Modern English was the advent
of the printing press. William Caxton brought the printing press to
England in 1476. Books became cheaper and as a result, literacy became
more common. Publishing for the masses became a profitable enterprise, and
works in English, as opposed to Latin, became more common. Finally, the
printing press brought standardization to English. The dialect of London,
where most publishing houses were located, became the standard. Spelling
and grammar became fixed, and the first English dictionary was published
in 1604.
Late-Modern English (1800-Present)
The principal distinction between early- and late-modern English is
vocabulary. Pronunciation, grammar, and spelling are largely the same, but
Late-Modern English has many more words. These words are the result of two
historical factors. The first is the Industrial Revolution and the rise of
the technological society. This necessitated new words for things and
ideas that had not previously existed. The second was the British Empire.
At its height, Britain ruled one quarter of the earth\'s surface, and
English adopted many foreign words and made them its own.
The industrial and scientific revolutions created a need for neologisms to
describe the new creations and discoveries. For this, English relied
heavily on Latin and Greek. Words like oxygen, protein, nuclear, and
vaccine did not exist in the classical languages, but they were created
from Latin and Greek roots. Such neologisms were not exclusively created
from classical roots though, English roots were used for such terms as
horsepower, airplane, and typewriter.
This burst of neologisms continues today, perhaps most visible in the
field of electronics and computers. Byte, cyber-, bios, hard-drive, and
microchip are good examples.
Also, the rise of the British Empire and the growth of global trade served
not only to introduce English to the world, but to introduce words into
English. Hindi, and the other languages of the Indian subcontinent,
provided many words, such as pundit, shampoo, pajamas, and juggernaut.
Virtually every language on Earth has contributed to the development of
English, from Finnish (sauna) and Japanese (tycoon) to the vast
contributions of French and Latin.
The British Empire was a maritime empire, and the influence of nautical
terms on the English language has been great. Words and phrases like three
sheets to the wind and scuttlebutt have their origins onboard ships.
Finally, the 20th century saw two world wars, and the military influence
on the language during the latter half of this century has been great.
Before the Great War, military service for English-speaking persons was
rare; both Britain and the United States maintained small, volunteer
militaries. Military slang existed, but with the exception of nautical
terms, rarely influenced standard English. During the mid-20th century,
however, virtually all British and American men served in the military.
Military slang entered the language like never before. Blockbuster, nose
dive, camouflage, radar, roadblock, spearhead, and landing strip are all
military terms that made their way into standard English.
American English
Also significant beginning around 1600 AD was the English colonization of
North America and the subsequent creation of a distinct American dialect.
Some pronunciations and usages "froze" when they reached the American
shore. In certain respects, American English is closer to the English of
Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some "Americanisms" that the
British decry are actually originally British expressions that were
preserved in the colonies while lost at home (e.g., fall as a synonym for
autumn, trash for rubbish, frame-up which was reintroduced to Britain
through Hollywood gangster movies, and loan as a verb instead of lend).
The American dialect also served as the route of introduction for many
native American words into the English language. Most often, these were
place names like Mississippi, Roanoke, and Iowa. Indian-sounding names
like Idaho were sometimes created that had no native-American roots. But,
names for other things besides places were also common. Raccoon, tomato,
canoe, barbecue, savanna, and hickory have native American roots, although
in many cases the original Indian words were mangled almost beyond
recognition.
Spanish has also been great influence on American English. Armadillo,
mustang, canyon, ranch, stampede, and vigilante are all examples of
Spanish words that made their way into English through the settlement of
the American West.
To a lesser extent French, mainly via Louisiana, and West African, through
the importation of slaves, words have influenced American English.
Armoire, bayou, and jambalaya came into the language via New Orleans.
Goober, gumbo, and tote are West African borrowings first used in America
by slaves.
|
|
no end adv. очень сильно, крайне: Alt the Tigers were no end
upset.- Все "тигры" были крайне огорчены. (Видимо, проиграли.) по sweat adj. раз плюнуть, без труда, легкий, не
затруднительный: - Come on, Bill, let\'s do that no sweat job.-Давай, Билл,
сделаем эту работенку. Ведь это раз плюнуть. nobody home "у вас все дома?": На лекции Джон и Мик шепчутся и
не обращают внимания, что Джейн с подругой пытаются до них "достучаться".
-одно,-машет Джейн подруге рукой.- Nobody home. Что значит: "Да пошли они
к черту". none n. nothing, ничего, ноль.
поре (от канадского) нет, не-а.
nose in infqrmal совать нос в чужие дела.- Fuck off, man! It
ain\'t your business! And you always have your nose in not your problems! -
Вали отсюда! Это не твое дело! Хорош совать свой нос куда не просят! not a leg to stand on n. phr. informal неверный ход, плохой
аргумент, недостаточное доказательство: В китайском квартале Нью-Йорка, в
баре, встретились банда чернокожих "экстремальных" рэпперов и местная
китайская наркомафия. Дружеская беседа переросла в ссору. Кто-то из
рэпперов выстрелил в китайца, китайцы стали стрелять в рэпперов, и
понеслось... На место события прибыла полиция. Комиссар Ле Пешен ходит
между обрисованных мелом трупов бандитов. Сержант Холдуин докладывает
обстановку: A big blow-up in the China Town bar. All black and Chinese mob
participators are shot, but Chinese scored I against zero. The only
survived is under arrest. His name Lee Wang. He got a gun, two knives and
one bullet in the ass. And he proves that he was just sitting peacefully
drinking soda when all that began.- Большая разборка в китайском квартале.
Все участники перестреляли друг друга, но китайцы повели в счете 1:0. Один
из них, его зовут Ли Ванг, ранен, выжил и сейчас арестован. При нем найден
пистолет, два ножа и пуля в заднице. При всем парень пытается доказать,
что мирно потягивал содовую, когда все это началось, и не имеет к
перестрелке никакого отношения. - На! This guy got not a leg to stand on.-
Xa! У этого парня, похоже, плохой аргумент в оправдание,-усмехается в
ответ Ле Пешен. not to give somebody the time of day v. phr. игнорировать,
причем принципиально, демонстративно не замечать; I can\'t invite Sally and
Helen all together to the party! You know Sally don\'t give Helen the time
of day! - Я не могу пригласить Салли и Хелен на вечеринку. Ты ведь знаешь,
что Салли не переваривает и в упор не замечает Хелен!". number one n. "Super Trooper...пела группа "АВВА" в одноименной
песне.- Shining like the sun..:- сияющий, как ясно солнышко. Thinking he\'s
a Number One...-считающий себя самым крутым". Да, "Super Trooper"
(супервсадник) таким себя и воображает. Ну, а вы, думаю, догадались, что
"Number One" - это, по-нашему, самый лучший, единственный и неповторимый,
крутой. numero uno n. см. верхнюю строчку. Просто американцы обожают
испанские словечки типа "бамбино", "арриведерчи", "мучача" и т.д., т.к.
испанский -это второй язык в Америке после английского. nunnie n. аss.
|
