2 Chapter II英语简史Word格式文档下载.docx

2 Chapter II英语简史Word格式文档下载.docx

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Language,likeotherimportantpatternsofhumanbehaviorslowlybutconstantlyevolvesfromolderformsintonewerones.Whendifferentgroupsofpeoplespeakingonelanguagebecomeseparatedbygeographical,political,orsocialbarriers,eachgroupgraduallydevelopsitsownvarietyofthelanguage,whichwecalladialecticsolongasthedifferencesbetweentwovarietiesdonotmakemutualcomprehensionimpossiblethoughtheymaymakeitdifficult,andsolongasthespeakersofeachdonotconsiderthemselvestobespeakingaafferentlanguage,wemaysaythatthesevarietiesaredialectsofthesamelanguage.

Howeverthetendencyoflanguagethroughouttheearlycenturiesofhumancivilization,astribalgroupsbrokeupintosubdivisionsandmigrated,wastosplitagainandagainintodialectsthatintimebecamemutuallyincomprehensible.Atthatpointtheyarerecognizedasseparatelanguages.MostofthelanguagesspokentodayinwesternAsiaandEuropecanbetracedbacktoaremote"

ancestor"

languagewhichwecallIndo-European.Itwasanunwrittenlanguageandthereforeofcoursenorecordsofitsurvives.Yet,astheAppendixdevotedtoIndo-Europeaninthischapterdemonstrates,itcanbereconstructed.Thecharacterofitswordsandphrasesandofitsgrammaticalstructurecanbeinferredbycomparativestudyofthemanylanguageswhichareitsdescendants,

Asamatteroffact,theearlyhistoryofanygivendescendanthastobereconstructed,too,byessentiallythesamemethod,forwrittenrecordsarearelativelyrecentdevelopment.InthecaseofEnglish,whichisoursubjecthere,wehavenowrittenrecordssurvivingfromearlierthantheeighthcenturyA.D,andtheydonotbecomecommonbeforethetenthandeleventhcenturies.ButbystudyingthewrittenrecordsofotherlanguagesthatclearlyshowacommonancestryEnglishDutchandGerman,forexampleandbyassumingthatevolutionarychangesbeforetheexistenceofwritingweregenerallysimilarinkindtoobservablechangessince.Wecanmakeareasonableguessastothevocabularyandstructureoftheearlierformsofthethreesisterlanguages,aswellasoftheircommonparent.Thus,forinstance,theModernEnglishblueeyesandthemodernGermanblaueAugenarebothtracedbacktoapresumedparentlanguagewhichwedesignateasWestGermanic,thisinturnisconsideredtobeamajordialectofprimitiveorCommonGermanic,inwhichlanguagethephraseisreconstructedasblaewoaugona.Allthestepsfromblaewoauaonatoblueeyescanbetracedorreasonablyassumed.

Variouskindsofhistoricalevidenceindicatethatabout1.500yearsagothreecloselyrelatedtribes,theAngles,theSaxons,andtheJutes,dweltbesideeachotherontheNorthSeashoreinwhatistodaynorthernGermanyandsouthernDenmark.TheirlanguagewasavarietyofWestGermanic,andwhenitbegantoshowsignificantdifferencesfromtheotherWestGermanicdialectsspokenaroundthem,wemaysaythattheEnglishlanguagewasborn.Thespeakersofthislanguagewereprobablynotawareforsometimethatitwasdifferent,butultimatelypoliticalandgeographicalcircumstancescreatedsuchanawareness.Formanydecades,however,OldEnglish（aswecallit）musthavebeenverysimilartootherWestGermanicdialects,andespeciallytotheotherNorthSeadialectsofOldSaxonandOldFrisian.AmodernvariantofOldFrisianisstillspokenintheNorthernNetherlandsandtheextremenortheastofGermany.OldFrisianandOldEnglishuniquelysharecertainsounddevelopments.ButgraduallyOldEnglishbecomeadistinctivelydifferentlanguage,eventhoughitcontinuedtobear,asitsmodernformstillbears,marksofitsGermanicancestry.

ThechiefpoliticaleventsthattendedtowardthedevelopmentofOldEnglishasaseparatelanguagewerenodoubttheeffectsoftheinvasionofEnglandbytheAnglesandtheSaxons,whichbeganaroundthemiddleofthefifthcentury.WedonotknowexactlywhatpressurescausedtheGermanicinvaderstocrossthechannel,butitseemsclearthattheeasewithwhichtheyovercamethenativeBritonsencouragedfurtherinvasionandsettlement.Britain,ofcourse,hadalreadybeensubduedbyCaeser’sFomanlegionsinthefirstcentury,andonlythegradualcollapseoftheRomanEmpire,includingRomanwithdrawfromBritain,madethesuccessoftheGermanictribespossible.

DuringthenexttwoorthreecenturiesthesetribesconqueredmostofEnglandandpartsofScotland.TheybacktheBritishinhabitantsintoWalesandCumberland,ki11ingmanyandenslavingtheothers.Theydevelopedkingdomsandasettledformoflife.SocompletewastheirdominationoftheirnewlandthatalmostnowordshavecomedowntousfromtheolderformsofCeltic,thelanguageoftheancientBritons.Welsh,thelanguageofWales,isamoderndescendentofCeltic,andinmorerecentcenturiestherehavebeenborrowingsfromWelsh.Meanwhile,evenasOldEnglishcontinuedtoevolveawayfromitswestGermanicsisterlanguagesonthecontinent,itbegantodevelopregionaldialectsofitsown.heevidenceindicatesthatthefourmaindialects,identifiedasWestSaxon,Dentish,Mercian,andnorth-umbriar,differedmostlyinpronunciation,theirsyntaxandvocabulariesremainingmoreorlesssimilar.

TheWestSaxondialectoccupiesanespeciallyimportantroleinOldEnglish.Itisthedialectofmostofthedocumentsthathavecomedowntous,andwasthebasisofakindofstandardlanguagewhichbythetenthcenturywaswidelyusedastheculturallinguisticnormofEngland.ThepoliticaldominanceofWessexamongthevariousAnglo-SaxonKingdomsassuredthevictoryofitsdialect.

Astandardlanguagemeantthattherewasaprestigious,relativelyfixedformofOldEnglishwhichwaswidelyunderstood,andthatthescribeswhowrotedownliterary,political,andlegaldocumentswerelearnedintheuseofit.Anglo-SaxonEnglandisremarkableinEurope,afterthefallofRome,inhavingdevelopedastandardliteraryandofficiallanguagecenturiesbeforealltheetherEuropeancountries.However,asweshallsee,thisstandardizationwastobeviolentlyupsetbypoliticalevents.

AsaGermaniclanguage,OldEnglishhadinflectionalendingsresemblingthoseofmodernGerman.Newwordswerelargelyformedbycompoundingandderivation;

borrowingfromotherlanguageswasnotfrequent,althoughsomeLatinandGreekwordsandafewfromothertonguesdidenterOldEnglish.ThelanguagehadamuchfreerwordorderthanModernEnglishbecausetheinflectionalendingsindicatedgrammaticalrelationswhichareshownbyfunctionwordsandwordorderinthelanguageaswespeakittoday.However,OldEnglishisbynomeansasfreeinitswordorderasLatin,variousconstrainsoflinguisticcustomoperatingtorestrictitsfreedom.ThereisakindofcompressioninitsstylethatgivesOldEnglishproseaspecialkindofdignity.OldEnglishpoetryhadaveryrichvocabulary,probablypartlyarchaicattimeofitsuse.Theversewascomposedingreatmeasurebyformulas,usingphrasesoffixedmetricalpatternwhichcouldberepeatedinendlessandfascinatingvariation.Aswehavenoted,grammaticalformsweremuchlikethoseofmodernGerman,withanumberofnoundeclensions（althoughinlaterOldEnglishthesetendtofalltogether）,strongandweakadjectives（twosetsofdeclensionsforalladjectives,dependingondegreeofparticularitywishedfor）,andstrongandweakverbsratherlikethesamecategoriesinModernEnglish.Nounswereofthemasculine,feminine,orneutergender,whichdeterminedtheformofaccompanyingadjectivesandthegender（andform）ofreferentialpronouns.OnecannotunderstandOldEnglishwithoutspecialstudy,yeteventhemostuntutoredreaderofModernEnglishcangraspthemeaningofsomewordsorphrases.HereisMark12:

1inOldEnglish:

summonnhimplantode.wingeardandbetyndehineonddealfanneseathandgetimbrodeannestiepelandgesettehinemideorthiliumamdferdeonellheodigenesse.

Hereisafairlyliteraltranslationofit:

Acertain,manplantedavineyardforhimselfandenclosedit（him）anddugapitandbuiltatower（steeple）andpeopled（sot）it（him）withfarmers（earth-tillers）andwentintoaforeigncountry,

OldEnglishispreservedinrichliterature,theoldestofanyproducedbytheGermanicpeoples,andinlegaldocuments,inscriptions,andglosses.MuchofthismustbecreditedtotheconversionoftheAnglo-SaxonpeopletoChristianityintheseventhandeighthcenturies.TheclericalscribeslearnedLatin,thelanguageoftheirchurch,andthenbegantorepresentthevernacularlanguage,OldEnglish,withadaptationsoftheRomanalphabet.Afewearlyinscriptionsarepreservedintherunicalphabet,whichisanolderoftheRomanalphabetborrowedbytheGermanicpeoplesfromtheRomansmuchearlier.ItislargelybecauseweknowratherpreciselywhatsoundstheLatinlettersstandforthatwecanreconstructthepronunciationofOldEnglishwithconsiderablecertainty.

SomeOldEnglishliteratureisintheformoftranslationsfromreligiousclassics;

someofitconsistsofparaphrasesandreworkingsofreligiousstories.Therearealsooriginalmeditations,saints’livesepics,practicalworklikecollectionsofcharms,andentertainingmoralisticworkslikegnomesandriddles.ItisanimpressivebodyofworkandowesmuchtokingAlfred（849-899）,whoactivelyencouragedthewidespreadliteraryuseofOldEnglish.Hewashimselfawriterandtranslator,andheemployedmanyotherscholarsathiscourt.

DuringmuchofkingAlfred’sregin,andagainearlyinthe11thcentury,EnglandwasunderinvasionbyDanesandNorwegiansor,astheyareoftencalled,theVikings.Thelinguisticresultof