政治学说史 mobi:英语的来历？？

英语，作为当今世界事实上的国际社交语言，它取得的成功是史无前例的。从使用它的人口来说，以英语为母语的人数仅次于汉语而居世界第二位，大约有四亿多人。然而以英语作为第二语言、或者在一定程度上使用英语的人数，要远比这多得多，可以说分布在世界的各个角落、各个民族，在这一点上汉语是望尘莫及的。它是怎样发展起来的？

英伦三岛的第一批印欧居民是塞尔特人。原先岛上可能还有更早的居民，但是人烟稀少，所以没有留下多少遗迹。前文提到，塞尔特人是古印欧人的一支，大约在四千五百年前离开他们在东欧的故乡向西迁移，在公元前一千年时（相当于我国商朝末年、西周初年），他们成了德国南部、阿尔卑斯山北麓的一个强大民族。在公元前五百年左右（相当于我国春秋时期），他们开始向西迁移，后来到了英伦诸岛。这就是印欧人的第一次“入侵”。

印欧人的第二次入侵是在公元五世纪中叶，当时生活在现在的德国和丹麦交界处有两个部落，一个是石勒苏益格（Schleswig）的盎格鲁（Angles），另一个是霍尔施坦因（Holstein）的萨克森（Saxon）。石勒苏益格／霍尔施坦因现在是德国最北面的两个州，是第一次世界大战时德国从丹麦那里“取得”的。这两个部落从那里跨过北海，占据了英格兰，原来的塞尔特人很快地后退到威尔士、爱尔兰和苏格兰高地。English一词就出自Angles，原意为“角落”，意即他们来自欧洲大陆的一角。在古英语中Angle写作Engle，他们的语言叫做Englisc（在古英语中“sc”读如“sh”，如“sceap”——

“sheep”）。顺便说一句，“塞尔特”（Celt）中的c可以读如s或k，所以也叫“凯尔特”，美国人中有许多来自苏格兰和爱尔兰，所谓的“美国腔”可能是凯尔特口音。波士顿不是有个著名的球队叫“凯尔特人队”嘛。

古英语一直发展到公元1066年法国的诺曼人入侵。在此以前，由于受北欧人和罗马人的影响，许多斯堪地那维亚词汇和拉丁词汇溶了进来。前者如egg，cake，skin，leg，window，husband，sky，fellow，skill，anger，flat，ugly，odd，get，give，take，raise，call，die，they，their，them；后者如street，kitchen，kettle，cup，cheese，wine。塞尔特语的遗迹大多留在地名中，如Thames，Kent，Dover。

诺曼人的入侵为英语带来了大量的法语词汇，这使得现代英语中存现大量的同义／近义词：shut／close，answer／reply，smell／odor，yearly／annual，ask／demand，room／chamber，wish／desire，might／power（英语词／法语词）。有一个有趣的现象是产肉的动物多是英语词，如ox，cow，calf，sheep，swine，deer，而它们的肉则是法语词，如beef，veal，mutton，pork，bacon，venison。大概持法语的多为贵族统治者，只注意他们餐桌上的肉，并不在意牲畜们叫什么。

另外在已有的英语／斯堪地那维亚语同义词基础上，如英语的wrath和斯堪地那维亚语的anger之外，法语又加了个ire。连我们汉语也贡献了几个词：kowtow（叩头），typhoon（台风），sampan（舢板），kaolin（高岭土），tea（闽方言），shanghai（不是地名：－））。

这些外来语使英语成为一个表达力丰富的语言。尽管溶入了如此众多的“外来语”，古英语仍然构成了它的核心——不到五千的古英语单词一直保持到了今天。在此期间英语逐渐向高层发展，1399年继承王位的亨利四世是第一个以英语为母语的英国国王。在十四世纪快要结束的时候，乔叟（Chaucer）完成了『坎特伯雷的传说』（Canterbury Tales），以伦敦方言为代表的现代英语终于开始出现：一个来自当年“角落”的语言。

英语历史
参看英语历史

早期日耳曼人部落（弗里西族、盎格鲁族、撒克逊族与朱特族）移民到英格兰，英语就是从他们的语言中变化继承下来。据《盎格鲁撒克逊编年史》记载，公元449年左右，不列颠群岛国王伏提庚（Vortigern）邀请“盎格鲁亲戚们”来帮助他对抗皮克特人。作为回报，他赐予盎格鲁族东南部的领土。随后他又进一步寻求支援，撒克逊族、盎格鲁族与朱特族人纷纷前来。《编年史》记载，最终这些“移民”建立了七个王国：诺森伯利亚、麦西亚、东盎格利亚、肯特、埃塞克斯、苏塞克斯、威塞克斯。

日尔曼人入侵后，统治了当地的凯尔特语民族，本地语言主要于苏格兰、威尔士、康沃尔与爱尔兰存活了下来。这些入侵者的语言逐渐形成了“古英语”，与近代弗里西语极为相象。English（英格兰人、英语）、England（英格兰）和East Anglia（东盎格利亚）这三个词是分别从描绘盎格鲁族的词汇发展而来：Englisc、 Angelcynn、Englaland。

1066年诺曼征服后三百年内，英格兰的国王只讲法语。因此一大批法语词汇进入了古英语，古英语本身也失去了大部分曲折变化，进化为中古英语。1500年左右的元音大推移将中古英语变形为近代英语。古英语最著名的文学作品是《贝奥武夫》，中古英语则是《坎特伯雷故事集》。

近代英语在莎士比亚所处的时期开始繁荣，一些学者将之分为早期近代英语与后期近代英语，分界线为1800年左右。随著不列颠对全世界大部分地区的占领和殖民，当地语言也很大程度上影响了英语的发展。

参考资料：http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8B%B1%E8%AF%AD#.E8.8B.B1.E8.AA.9E.E5.8E.86.E5.8F.B2

英语的来历
〔 作者：佚名 转贴自：本站原创 点击数：257 更新时间：2005-3-18 文章录入：54xiaohai 〕

英语，作为当今世界事实上的国际社交语言，它取得的成功是史无前例的。从使用它的人口来说，以英语为母语的人数仅次于汉语而居世界第二位，大约有四亿多人。然而以英语作为第二语言、或者在一定程度上使用英语的人数，要远比这多得多，可以说分布在世界的各个角落、各个民族，在这一点上汉语是望尘莫及的。它是怎样发展起来的？

英伦三岛的第一批印欧居民是塞尔特人。原先岛上可能还有更早的居民，但是人烟稀少，所以没有留下多少遗迹。前文提到，塞尔特人是古印欧人的一支，大约在四千五百年前离开他们在东欧的故乡向西迁移，在公元前一千年时（相当于我国商朝末年、西周初年），他们成了德国南部、阿尔卑斯山北麓的一个强大民族。在公元前五百年左右（相当于我国春秋时期），他们开始向西迁移，后来到了英伦诸岛。这就是印欧人的第一次“入侵”。

印欧人的第二次入侵是在公元五世纪中叶，当时生活在现在的德国和丹麦交界处有两个部落，一个是石勒苏益格（Schleswig）的盎格鲁（Angles），另一个是霍尔施坦因（Holstein）的萨克森（Saxon）。石勒苏益格／霍尔施坦因现在是德国最北面的两个州，是第一次世界大战时德国从丹麦那里“取得”的。这两个部落从那里跨过北海，占据了英格兰，原来的塞尔特人很快地后退到威尔士、爱尔兰和苏格兰高地。English一词就出自Angles，原意为“角落”，意即他们来自欧洲大陆的一角。在古英语中Angle写作Engle，他们的语言叫做Englisc（在古英语中“sc”读如“sh”，如“sceap”——“sheep”）。顺便说一句，“塞尔特”（Celt）中的c可以读如s或k，所以也叫“凯尔特”，美国人中有许多来自苏格兰和爱尔兰，所谓的“美国腔”可能是凯尔特口音。波士顿不是有个著名的球队叫“凯尔特人队”嘛。

古英语一直发展到公元1066年法国的诺曼人入侵。在此以前，由于受北欧人和罗马人的影响，许多斯堪地那维亚词汇和拉丁词汇溶了进来。前者如egg，cake，skin，leg，window，husband，sky，fellow，skill，anger，flat，ugly，odd，get，give，take，raise，call，die，they，their，them；后者如street，kitchen，kettle，cup，cheese，wine。塞尔特语的遗迹大多留在地名中，如Thames，Kent，Dover。

诺曼人的入侵为英语带来了大量的法语词汇，这使得现代英语中存现大量的同义／近义词：shut／close，answer／reply，smell／odor，yearly／annual，ask／demand，room／chamber，wish／desire，might／power（英语词／法语词）。有一个有趣的现象是产肉的动物多是英语词，如ox，cow，calf，sheep，swine，deer，而它们的肉则是法语词，如beef，veal，mutton，pork，bacon，venison。大概持法语的多为贵族统治者，只注意他们餐桌上的肉，并不在意牲畜们叫什么。

另外在已有的英语／斯堪地那维亚语同义词基础上，如英语的wrath和斯堪地那维亚语的anger之外，法语又加了个ire。连我们汉语也贡献了几个词：kowtow（叩头），typhoon（台风），sampan（舢板），kaolin（高岭土），tea（闽方言），shanghai（不是地名：－））。

这些外来语使英语成为一个表达力丰富的语言。尽管溶入了如此众多的“外来语”，古英语仍然构成了它的核心——不到五千的古英语单词一直保持到了今天。在此期间英语逐渐向高层发展，1399年继承王位的亨利四世是第一个以英语为母语的英国国王。在十四世纪快要结束的时候，乔叟（Chaucer）完成了『坎特伯雷的传说』（Canterbury Tales），以伦敦方言为代表的现代英语终于开始出现：一个来自当年“角落”的语言。

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英语，作为当今世界事实上的国际社交语言，它取得的成功是史无前例的。从使用它的人口来说，以英语为母语的人数仅次于汉语而居世界第二位，大约有四亿多人。然而以英语作为第二语言、或者在一定程度上使用英语的人数，要远比这多得多，可以说分布在世界的各个角落、各个民族，在这一点上汉语是望尘莫及的。它是怎样发展起来的？

英伦三岛的第一批印欧居民是塞尔特人。原先岛上可能还有更早的居民，但是人烟稀少，所以没有留下多少遗迹。前文提到，塞尔特人是古印欧人的一支，大约在四千五百年前离开他们在东欧的故乡向西迁移，在公元前一千年时（相当于我国商朝末年、西周初年），他们成了德国南部、阿尔卑斯山北麓的一个强大民族。在公元前五百年左右（相当于我国春秋时期），他们开始向西迁移，后来到了英伦诸岛。这就是印欧人的第一次“入侵”。

印欧人的第二次入侵是在公元五世纪中叶，当时生活在现在的德国和丹麦交界处有两个部落，一个是石勒苏益格（Schleswig）的盎格鲁（Angles），另一个是霍尔施坦因（Holstein）的萨克森（Saxon）。石勒苏益格／霍尔施坦因现在是德国最北面的两个州，是第一次世界大战时德国从丹麦那里“取得”的。这两个部落从那里跨过北海，占据了英格兰，原来的塞尔特人很快地后退到威尔士、爱尔兰和苏格兰高地。English一词就出自Angles，原意为“角落”，意即他们来自欧洲大陆的一角。在古英语中Angle写作Engle，他们的语言叫做Englisc（在古英语中“sc”读如“sh”，如“sceap”——

“sheep”）。顺便说一句，“塞尔特”（Celt）中的c可以读如s或k，所以也叫“凯尔特”，美国人中有许多来自苏格兰和爱尔兰，所谓的“美国腔”可能是凯尔特口音。波士顿不是有个著名的球队叫“凯尔特人队”嘛。

古英语一直发展到公元1066年法国的诺曼人入侵。在此以前，由于受北欧人和罗马人的影响，许多斯堪地那维亚词汇和拉丁词汇溶了进来。前者如egg，cake，skin，leg，window，husband，sky，fellow，skill，anger，flat，ugly，odd，get，give，take，raise，call，die，they，their，them；后者如street，kitchen，kettle，cup，cheese，wine。塞尔特语的遗迹大多留在地名中，如Thames，Kent，Dover。

诺曼人的入侵为英语带来了大量的法语词汇，这使得现代英语中存现大量的同义／近义词：shut／close，answer／reply，smell／odor，yearly／annual，ask／demand，room／chamber，wish／desire，might／power（英语词／法语词）。有一个有趣的现象是产肉的动物多是英语词，如ox，cow，calf，sheep，swine，deer，而它们的肉则是法语词，如beef，veal，mutton，pork，bacon，venison。大概持法语的多为贵族统治者，只注意他们餐桌上的肉，并不在意牲畜们叫什么。

另外在已有的英语／斯堪地那维亚语同义词基础上，如英语的wrath和斯堪地那维亚语的anger之外，法语又加了个ire。连我们汉语也贡献了几个词：kowtow（叩头），typhoon（台风），sampan（舢板），kaolin（高岭土），tea（闽方言），shanghai（不是地名：－））。

这些外来语使英语成为一个表达力丰富的语言。尽管溶入了如此众多的“外来语”，古英语仍然构成了它的核心——不到五千的古英语单词一直保持到了今天。在此期间英语逐渐向高层发展，1399年继承王位的亨利四世是第一个以英语为母语的英国国王。在十四世纪快要结束的时候，乔叟（Chaucer）完成了『坎特伯雷的传说』（Canterbury Tales），以伦敦方言为代表的现代英语终于开始出现：一个来自当年“角落”的语言。

英语简史(English Version)

A Brief Look at the History of English

The history of English is conventionally, if perhaps too neatly, divided into three periods usually called Old English (or Anglo-Saxon), Middle English, and Modern English. The earliest period begins with the migration of certain Germanic tribes from the continent to Britain in the fifth century A. D., though no records of their language survive from before the seventh century, and it continues until the end of the eleventh century or a bit later. By that time Latin, Old Norse (the language of the Viking invaders), and especially the Anglo-Norman French of the dominant class after the Norman Conquest in 1066 had begun to have a substantial impact on the lexicon, and the well-developed inflectional system that typifies the grammar of Old English had begun to break down. The following brief sample of Old English prose illustrates several of the significant ways in which change has so transformed English that we must look carefully to find points of resemblance between the language of the tenth century and our own. It is taken from Aelfric's "Homily on St. Gregory the Great" and concerns the famous story of how that pope came to send missionaries to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity after seeing Anglo-Saxon boys for sale as slaves in Rome:

Eft he axode, hu ðære ðeode nama wære þe hi of comon. Him wæs geandwyrd, þæt hi Angle genemnode wæron. Þa cwæð he, "Rihtlice hi sind Angle gehatene, for ðan ðe hi engla wlite habbað, and swilcum gedafenað þæt hi on heofonum engla geferan beon."

A few of these words will be recognized as identical in spelling with their modern equivalents -- he, of, him, for, and, on -- and the resemblance of a few others to familiar words may be guessed -- nama to name, comon to come, wære to were, wæs to was -- but only those who have made a special study of Old English will be able to read the passage with understanding. The sense of it is as follows: "Again he [St. Gregory] asked what might be the name of the people from which they came. It was answered to him that they were named Angles. Then he said, 'Rightly are they called Angles because they have the beauty of angels, and it is fitting that such as they should be angels' companions in heaven.' " Some of the words in the original have survived in altered form, including axode (asked), hu (how), rihtlice (rightly), engla (angels), habbað (have), swilcum (such), heofonum (heaven), and beon (be). Others, however, have vanished from our lexicon, mostly without a trace, including several that were quite common words in Old English: eft "again," ðeode "people, nation," cwæð "said, spoke," gehatene "called, named," wlite "appearance, beauty," and geferan "companions." Recognition of some words is naturally hindered by the presence of two special characters, þ, called "thorn," and ð, called "edh," which served in Old English to represent the sounds now spelled with th.

Other points worth noting include the fact that the pronoun system did not yet, in the late tenth century, include the third person plural forms beginning with th-: hi appears where we would use they. Several aspects of word order will also strike the reader as oddly unlike ours. Subject and verb are inverted after an adverb -- þa cwæð he "Then said he" -- a phenomenon not unknown in Modern English but now restricted to a few adverbs such as never and requiring the presence of an auxiliary verb like do or have. In subordinate clauses the main verb must be last, and so an object or a preposition may precede it in a way no longer natural: þe hi of comon "which they from came," for ðan ðe hi engla wlite habbað "because they angels' beauty have."

Perhaps the most distinctive difference between Old and Modern English reflected in Aelfric's sentences is the elaborate system of inflections, of which we now have only remnants. Nouns, adjectives, and even the definite article are inflected for gender, case, and number: ðære ðeode "(of) the people" is feminine, genitive, and singular, Angle "Angles" is masculine, accusative, and plural, and swilcum "such" is masculine, dative, and plural. The system of inflections for verbs was also more elaborate than ours: for example, habbað "have" ends with the -að suffix characteristic of plural present indicative verbs. In addition, there were two imperative forms, four subjunctive forms (two for the present tense and two for the preterit, or past, tense), and several others which we no longer have. Even where Modern English retains a particular category of inflection, the form has often changed. Old English present participles ended in -ende not -ing, and past participles bore a prefix ge- (as geandwyrd "answered" above).

The period of Middle English extends roughly from the twelfth century through the fifteenth. The influence of French (and Latin, often by way of French) upon the lexicon continued throughout this period, the loss of some inflections and the reduction of others (often to a final unstressed vowel spelled -e) accelerated, and many changes took place within the phonological and grammatical systems of the language. A typical prose passage, especially one from the later part of the period, will not have such a foreign look to us as Aelfric's prose has; but it will not be mistaken for contemporary writing either. The following brief passage is drawn from a work of the late fourteenth century called Mandeville's Travels. It is fiction in the guise of travel literature, and, though it purports to be from the pen of an English knight, it was originally written in French and later translated into Latin and English. In this extract Mandeville describes the land of Bactria, apparently not an altogether inviting place, as it is inhabited by "full yuele [evil] folk and full cruell."

In þat lond ben trees þat beren wolle, as þogh it were of scheep; whereof men maken clothes, and all þing þat may ben made of wolle. In þat contree ben many ipotaynes, þat dwellen som tyme in the water, and somtyme on the lond: and þei ben half man and half hors, as I haue seyd before; and þei eten men, whan þei may take hem. And þere ben ryueres and watres þat ben fulle byttere, þree sithes more þan is the water of the see. In þat contré ben many griffounes, more plentee þan in ony other contree. Sum men seyn þat þei han the body vpward as an egle, and benethe as a lyoun: and treuly þei seyn soth þat þei ben of þat schapp. But o griffoun hath the body more gret, and is more strong, þanne eight lyouns, of suche lyouns as ben o this half; and more gret and strongere þan an hundred egles, suche as we han amonges vs. For o griffoun þere wil bere fleynge to his nest a gret hors, 3if he may fynde him at the poynt, or two oxen 3oked togidere, as þei gon at the plowgh.

The spelling is often peculiar by modern standards and even inconsistent within these few sentences (contré and contree, o [griffoun] and a [gret hors], þanne and þan, for example). Moreover, in the original text, there is in addition to thorn another old character 3, called "yogh," to make difficulty. It can represent several sounds but here may be thought of as equivalent to y. Even the older spellings (including those where u stands for v or vice versa) are recognizable, however, and there are only a few words like ipotaynes "hippopotamuses" and sithes "times" that have dropped out of the language altogether. We may notice a few words and phrases that have meanings no longer common such as byttere "salty," o this half "on this side of the world," and at the poynt "to hand," and the effect of the centuries-long dominance of French on the vocabulary is evident in many familiar words which could not have occurred in Aelfric's writing even if his subject had allowed them, words like contree, ryueres, plentee, egle, and lyoun.

In general word order is now very close to that of our time, though we notice constructions like hath the body more gret and three sithes more þan is the water of the see. We also notice that present tense verbs still receive a plural inflection as in beren, dwellen, han, and ben and that while nominative þei has replaced Aelfric's hi in the third person plural, the form for objects is still hem. All the same, the number of inflections for nouns, adjectives, and verbs has been greatly reduced, and in most respects Mandeville is closer to Modern than to Old English.

The period of Modern English extends from the sixteenth century to our own day. The early part of this period saw the completion of a revolution in the phonology of English that had begun in late Middle English and that effectively redistributed the occurrence of the vowel phonemes to something approximating their present pattern. (Mandeville's English would have sounded even less familiar to us than it looks.) Other important early developments include the stabilizing effect on spelling of the printing press and the beginning of the direct influence of Latin and, to a lesser extent, Greek on the lexicon. Later, as English came into contact with other cultures around the world and distinctive dialects of English developed in the many areas which Britain had colonized, numerous other languages made small but interesting contributions to our word-stock.

The historical aspect of English really encompasses more than the three stages of development just under consideration. English has what might be called a prehistory as well. As we have seen, our language did not simply spring into existence; it was brought from the Continent by Germanic tribes who had no form of writing and hence left no records. Philologists know that they must have spoken a dialect of a language that can be called West Germanic and that other dialects of this unknown language must have included the ancestors of such languages as German, Dutch, Low German, and Frisian. They know this because of certain systematic similarities which these languages share with each other but do not share with, say, Danish. However, they have had somehow to reconstruct what that language was like in its lexicon, phonology, grammar, and semantics as best they can through sophisticated techniques of comparison developed chiefly during the last century. Similarly, because ancient and modern languages like Old Norse and Gothic or Icelandic and Norwegian have points in common with Old English and Old High German or Dutch and English that they do not share with French or Russian, it is clear that there was an earlier unrecorded language that can be called simply Germanic and that must be reconstructed in the same way. Still earlier, Germanic was just a dialect (the ancestors of Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit were three other such dialects) of a language conventionally designated Indo-European, and thus English is just one relatively young member of an ancient family of languages whose descendants cover a fair portion of the globe.
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