前幾期，營(yíng)長(cháng)和大家分享了英文字母的發(fā)展演變史，今天我們繼續來(lái)聊一聊英語(yǔ)發(fā)展史！
The history of English started from 410 AD when the Romans left Britain and a lot of Germanic tribes started to flooding in, tribes such as the Angles and the Saxons.
英語(yǔ)的發(fā)展要追溯到公元410年，羅馬人離開(kāi)不列顛之后，日耳曼部族包括盎格魯、薩克遜開(kāi)始涌入。
The Romans did not leave much of their Latin language. The Anglo-saxon however, did bring about many new vocab into daily life,including “woman”, “l(fā)oaf” and “werewolf” . Four days of the week were named in honor of Anglo-Saxon gods.
羅馬人走了，沒(méi)有留下他們使用的拉丁語(yǔ)。反倒是實(shí)用的盎格魯薩克遜語(yǔ)言進(jìn)入到當地人的語(yǔ)言，帶去了新的詞匯，如“woman”，“l(fā)oaf” 和“werewolf（狼人）”。一周中有四天都是依據盎格魯薩克遜的神衹命名的。
Later in 597 AD, Christianity was brought to Britain by missionaries and so was Latin. Christianity became popular among the locals and made them happier to accept new words from Latin, such as “martyr”, “bishop” and “font”
公元597年，基督教傳入英國?；浇痰牧餍?，使當地人更容易接受拉丁文的怪字，如“martyr（烈士）”, “bishop”和 “font”。
Around 800 AD, Britain was invaded by the Vikings who brought about their action-man words like “drag”,“ransack”,“hrust” and “die”. Other frequently used words such as “give” and “take” also came from the language of the Vikings. Altogether, the Vikings gave 2000 words to English.
公元800年，丹麥人入侵英國。維京語(yǔ)言給英語(yǔ)帶來(lái)了好戰意味明顯的詞匯，如“drag” （拖拽）,”ransack（劫掠）”,”thrust （刺）” 及“die （死）”?！癵ive” 和“take” 也是來(lái)自于維京語(yǔ)言。英語(yǔ)中共有2000個(gè)詞匯源于維京人。
In 1066, William the Conqueror invaded England, bringing the French Language into Britain. French became the language for all official business and the upper class. Words like “judge”, “jury”, “evidence”, “justice”, “beef”, “mutton” and “pork” came into the English language. Latin was still used in Church. The common man spoke English. All in all, the English absorbed about 10,000 new words from the Normans.
1066年,征服者威廉入侵不列顛，帶來(lái)了來(lái)自海峽對岸的法語(yǔ)。法語(yǔ)成為了上層階級與官方事務(wù)用語(yǔ)。英語(yǔ)中的“judge”， “jury” ，“evidence”, “justice”, “beef”, “mutton” 及 “pork” 就是來(lái)自于這個(gè)時(shí)候的法文。拉丁語(yǔ)仍然在教會(huì )中使用，老百姓講英語(yǔ)?？偟膩?lái)講，英文大概從諾曼語(yǔ)中吸收了一萬(wàn)多個(gè)單詞。
In 1337, the Hundred Years War between Britain and France began. During the 116 years, the English took from the French language warlike lingo of “armies”, “navies” and “soldiers” and gradually became the language of power.
1337 年，英法百年戰爭開(kāi)始。在這116年的爭斗中，英語(yǔ)吸收了法語(yǔ)中的戰爭詞匯，如“armies”, “navies” 及 “soldiers“， 并逐步取代法語(yǔ)，成為當權者的語(yǔ)言。
100 years after the war, William Shakespeare was born. As the dictionary tells us, about 2000 news words and phrases were invented by him, including handy words like “ eyeball”and “puppy-dog”, more show-offy words like “dauntless”, “besmirch” and “l(fā)acklustre” as well as many catchphrases. Shakespeare’s works showed the world that English was a rich vibrant language with limitless expressive and emotional power.
100年之后誕生了莎士比亞。字典告訴我們，莎士比亞大概發(fā)明了2000多個(gè)新字，包括好用的詞匯如“eyeball”和“puppy-dog”，更華麗一些的詞匯，如 “dauntless”, “besmirch” 和 “l(fā)acklustre” ，還有很多當時(shí)的流行詞匯。莎士比亞的作品讓世人知道英文是個(gè)充滿(mǎn)生氣的語(yǔ)言，有無(wú)限的表現力與情感張力。
In 1611, a new translation of the bible (The King James Bible) was created in a language even “the salt of the earth” could understand. “The writing wasn’t on the wall”. It was in handy little books with preachers reading it in every church. its words and phrases “took root” to ends of Britain. The King James Bible begat a whole glossary of metaphor and morality that still shapes the way English is spoken today.
1611年出現了詹姆士王版圣經(jīng)。新圣經(jīng)使用了所有人都能理解的語(yǔ)言，使得圣經(jīng)中的教訓不再是“王宮粉墻上”的文字，而是手中的小冊，并有傳教士在每間教堂宣傳。這本書(shū)的詞句在不列顛島上生根發(fā)芽。事實(shí)上，詹姆士王版圣經(jīng)產(chǎn)生了如此多的警喻和道德觀(guān)，形塑了我們現今所用的英文。
In the 17th century, science was developing very rapidly in Britain. The scientists in the Royal Society first worked in Latin but later realized that speaking English would be easier for communication. The discovery of things brought about new vocabularies such as “acid”, “gravity”, “electricity” and “pendulum” as well as “ cardiac”, “tonsil”, “ovary” and “sternum”.
17世紀，科學(xué)得到了迅速的發(fā)展?；始覍W(xué)院的科學(xué)家們一開(kāi)始用拉丁文溝通，后來(lái)發(fā)現其實(shí)用自己的母語(yǔ)英文會(huì )更簡(jiǎn)潔。新事物的發(fā)現產(chǎn)生了許多新的詞匯，如“acid（酸）“, “gravity”, “electricity” and “pendulum （鐘擺） ” 以及“ cardiac （心臟）”, “tonsil（扁桃腺）”, “ovary （卵巢）”和 “sternum （胸骨）”。
During the great expansion of the British Empire, the English absorbed words and phrases from many different languages around the world, including “barbecue” from Caribbean, “yoga” and “bungalow” from India, “voodoo” and “zombie” from Africa, “boomerang”, “nugget” and “walkabout” from Australia. All in all, between 1815 and 1914, the British Empire gobbled up around 10 million square miles and 100 million people, leaving new varieties of English to develop all over the globe.
在日不落帝國迅速擴張時(shí)期，英語(yǔ)從殖民地不同的語(yǔ)言中吸收了許多新的詞匯與表達，如加勒比海地區的“barbecue”， 印度的“yoga” and “bungalow”，非洲的“voodoo（巫毒）” 和 “zombie”，澳大利亞的“boomerang（回旋鏢）“, “nugget”和 “walkabout”。據統計，在1815年到1914年期間，不列顛帝國吞下了四億人民與四千萬(wàn)平方公里的土地，讓新變種的英文得以在世界各地發(fā)展。
With English expanding in all directions, along came a new breed of men called lexicographers who wanted to put an end to the anarchy of word spelling. One of the most important work of this period is the compilation of “Dictionary of the English” by Dr. Johnson, which greatly contributed to the use of standard spelling. In 1857, editing of the Oxford English Dictionary was started. It was not finished until the year 1928 and has continued to be revised ever since.
隨著(zhù)英文向四面八方擴張，詞典編纂者也隨之出現，這些人想要解決拼字不統一的無(wú)政府狀態(tài)。于是約翰遜博士花了九年編成了一本英文字典，促成了拼寫(xiě)的統一。1857年，牛津字典的編寫(xiě)工作開(kāi)始，直到70年后的1928年才終于完成，且此后不斷校訂。
From the moment Brits first landed in America, they borrowed words from the Indian “raccoon” and “squash” to name all the newly discovered plants and animals. Waves of immigrants also added new words the English language, such as “cookies” from the Dutch, “pretzels” from the Germans, “pizza” and “pasta” from the Italians. America also spread a new language of capitalism, such as “breakeven”, “blue chip”, “the bottom line” , “merger” and “downsizing”. American English also drifted back to Britain, influencing the language on the island.
英國人踏上美國之后，吸收了原住民的部分詞匯，如“raccoon （浣熊）” 和 “squash （南瓜）”，來(lái)命名新發(fā)現的動(dòng)植物。一波接著(zhù)一波的移民替美語(yǔ)增加了更多的詞匯，荷蘭人帶來(lái)了“cookies”，德國人帶來(lái)了”pretzels （椒鹽餅干）”， 意大利人帶來(lái)了“pizza”和“pasta”。美國人同時(shí)開(kāi)始散播資本主義字匯，如“breakeven （保本）”, “blue chip （藍籌）”, “the bottom line （底線(xiàn)）” , “merger （兼并）” 及 “downsizing （裁員）”. 美語(yǔ)擴散回海對岸，對英式英語(yǔ)產(chǎn)生了新的影響。
In 1972, the first email was sent. Soon the Internet arrived, a free global space to share information and ideas. New words concerning internet appeared, such as “firewall”, “ download” and “toolbar”. The net also brought typing back to fashion with conversations getting shorter and shorter. Abbreviations were largely employed in online chatting and spoken english, such as IMHO ( in my humble opinion”, btw (by the way), lol (laugh out loud), FYI (for your information).
人類(lèi)在1972年送出了歷史上第一封電子郵件。不久，網(wǎng)絡(luò )出現了，讓全球的人得以交換情報與信息。與互聯(lián)網(wǎng)相關(guān)的詞匯也隨之出現，如“firewall”, “download”及 “toolbar“。網(wǎng)絡(luò )讓打字再一次成為風(fēng)潮。談話(huà)變的越來(lái)越短，縮寫(xiě)頻繁地出現在網(wǎng)絡(luò )聊天和日常對話(huà)之中，如IMHO ( in my humble opinion”, btw (by the way), lol (laugh out loud)以及FYI (for your information)。
In the 1500 years since the Romans left Britain, English has shown an unique ability to absorb, evolve, invade and, if we’re honest, steal. After foreign settlers got it started, it grew into a fully fledged language all of its own before leaving home and traveling the world, first via the high sea, then via the high speed broadband connection, pilfering words from over 350 language and establishing itself as a global institution.
在羅馬人離開(kāi)不列顛后的這1500年中，英文嶄露了他吸收，成長(cháng)，入侵和剽竊的能力。自外來(lái)移民開(kāi)創(chuàng )它以來(lái)，它已經(jīng)成長(cháng)為獨樹(shù)一幟的語(yǔ)言，更向門(mén)外擴張，現實(shí)穿越大海，再穿越寬帶網(wǎng)絡(luò )，從超過(guò)350種語(yǔ)言中偷了字匯，奠定了國際語(yǔ)言的地位。
轉自 語(yǔ)言研究
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