unit-1-课文原文完整

UnitoneABriefHistoryofEnglish

PaulMcHenryRoberts(1917-1967)wasanAmericanauthorandjournalist.HetaughtcollegeEnglishforovertwentyyears，firstatSanJoseStateCollegeandlateratCornellUniversity.Hepublishednumerousbooksonlinguistics,includingUnderstandingGrammar(1954)，PatternsofEnglish(1956)，andUnderstandingEnglish(1958).InthisselectionexcerptedfromthebookUnderstandingEnglish(1958)，RobertsrecountsthemajoreventsintheEnglishhistoryanddiscussestheirimplicationsforthedevelopmentoftheEnglishlanguage.

NounderstandingoftheEnglishlanguagecanbeverysatisfactorywithoutanotionofthehistoryofthelanguage.Butweshallhavetomakedowithjustanotion.ThehistoryofEnglishislongandcomplicated,andwecanonlyhitthehighspots.

ThehistoryofourlanguagebeginsalittleafterA.D.600.Everythingbeforethatispre-history,whichmeansthatwecanguessatitbutcannotprovemuch.ForathousandyearsorsobeforethebirthofChristourlinguisticancestors,theAnglo-Saxons,werewanderingthroughtheforestsofnorthernEurope.TheirlanguagewasapartoftheGermanicbranchoftheIndo-EuropeanFamily.

NotmuchissurelyknownaboutthearrivaloftheAnglo-SaxonsinEngland.Wedoknow,however,thattheywerealongtimesecuringthemselvesinEngland.FightingwentonforaslongasahundredyearsbeforetheCeltsinEnglandwereallkilled,drivenintoWales,orreducedtoslavery.ThisistheperiodofKingArthur,whowasnotentirelymythological.HewasaRomanizedCelt,ageneral,thoughprobablynotaking.HehadsomesuccessagainsttheAnglo-Saxons,butitwasonlytemporary.By550

or

so

the

Anglo-Saxons

were

firmly

established.English

was

in

England.

ItiscustomarytodividethehistoryoftheEnglishlanguageintothreeperiods:OldEnglish,MiddleEnglish,andModernEnglish.OldEnglishrunsfromtheearliestrecords—i.e.,seventhcentury—toabout1100;MiddleEnglishfrom1100to1450or1500;ModernEnglishfrom1500tothepresentday.SometimesModernEnglishisfurtherdividedintoEarlyModern,1500-1700,andLateModern.1700tothepresent.

WhenEnglandcameintohistory,itwasdividedintoseveralmoreorlessautonomouskingdoms,someofwhichattimesexercisedacertainamountofcontrolovertheothers.Inthesixthcenturythemostadvancedkingdom.Northumbria,developedarespectablecivilization,thefinestinEurope.ItwasinthisperiodthatbestoftheOldEnglishliteraturewaswritten,includingtheepicpoemBeowulf.Intheeighthcentury.Northumbrianpowerdeclined,andthecenterofinfluencemovedsouthwardtoMercia,thekingdomoftheMidlands.Acenturylaterthecentershiftedagain,andWessexthecountryoftheWestSaxons,becametheleadingpower.ThemostfamouskingoftheWestSaxonswasAlfredthegreat,whosemilitaryaccomplishmentwashissuccessfuloppositiontotheVikinginvasions.Intheninthandtenthcenturies,theNorsemenemergedintheirshipsfromtheirhomelandsinDenmarkandtheScandinavianPeninsula.ThelinguisticresultofallthiswasaconsiderableinjectionofNorseintotheEnglishlanguage.NorsewasatthistimenotsodifferentfromEnglishasNorwegianorDanishisnow.ProbablyspeakersofEnglishcouldunderstand,moreorless,thelanguageofthenewcomerswhohadmovedintoeasternEngland.Atanyrate,therewasconsiderableinterchangeandwordborrowing.ExamplesofNorsewordsintheEnglishlanguagearesky,give,law.egg,outlaw,leg.ugly,scant,sly,crawl,scowl,take,thrust.Therearehundredsmore.WehaveevenborrowedsomepronounsfromNorse-they,theirandthem.ThesewordswereborrowedfirstbytheeasternandnortherndialectsandtheninthecourseofhundredsofyearsmadetheirwayintoEnglishgenerally.

Ingrammar,OldEnglishwasmuchmorehighlyinflectedthanmodernEnglishis.Thatis,thereweremorecaseendingsfornouns,morepersonandnumberendingsforverbs,amorecomplicatedpronounsystem,variousendingsforadjectives,andsoon.Present-dayEnglishhasonlytwocasesfornouns-commoncaseandpossessivecase.Adjectivesnowhavenocasesystematall.Ontheotherhand,wenowuseamorerigidwordorderandmorestructurewords(prepositions,auxiliaries,andthelike)toexpressrelationshipsthanOldEnglishdid.Invocabulary,mostoftheOldEnglishwordsarewhatwemaycallnativeEnglish:thatis,wordswhichhavenotbeenborrowedfromotherlanguagesbutwhichhavebeenapartofEnglisheversinceEnglishwasapartofIndo-European.OldEnglishdidcertainlycontainborrowedwords.WehaveseenthatmanyborrowingswerecominginfromNorse.RatherlargenumbershadbeenborrowedfromLatin,too.SomeoftheseweretakenwhiletheAnglo-SaxonswerestillontheContinent(cheese,butter,bishop,kettle,etc.).ButthegreatmajorityofOldEnglishwordswerenativeEnglish.Now,onthecontrary,themajorityofwordsinEnglishareborrowed，andonlyabout14percentarenative.

Sometimebetweentheyears1000and1200variousimportantchangestookplaceinthestructureofEnglish,andOldEnglishbecameMiddleEnglish.ThepoliticaleventwhichfacilitatedthesechangeswastheNormanConquest.TheNormans,asthenameshows,cameoriginallyfromScandinavia.IntheearlytenthcenturytheyestablishedthemselvesinnorthernFrance,adoptedtheFrenchlanguage,anddevelopedavigorouskingdomandaverypassablecivilization.Intheyear1066,ledbyDukeWilliam,theycrossedtheChannelandmadethemselvesmastersofEngland.Forthenextseveralhundredyears,EnglandwasruledbykingswhosefirstlanguagewasFrench.

Onemightwonderwhy,aftertheNormanConquest,Frenchdidnotbecomethenationallanguage,replacingEnglishentirely.ThereasonisthattheConquestwasnotanationalmigration,astheearlierAnglo-Saxoninvasionhadbeen.GreatnumbersofNormanscametoEngland,buttheycameasrulersandlandlords.Frenchbecamethelanguageofthecourt,thelanguageofthenobility,thelanguageofpolitesociety,thelanguageofliterature.ButitdidnotreplaceEnglishasthelanguageofthepeople.TheremustalwayshavebeenhundredsoftownsandvillagesinwhichFrenchwasneverheardexceptwhenvisitorsofhighstationpassedthrough.

ButEnglish,thoughitsurvivedasthenationallanguage,wasprofoundlychangedaftertheNormanConquest.ItisinvocabularythattheeffectsoftheConquestaremostobvious.Frenchceased,afterahundredyearsorso,tobethenativelanguageofverymanypeopleinEngland,butitcontinued-andcontinuesstill---tobeazealouslycultivatedsecondlanguage,themirrorofeleganceandcivilization.WhenonespokeEnglish,oneintroducednotonlyFrenchideasandFrenchthingsbutalsotheirFrenchnames.Thiswasnotonlyeasybutsociallyuseful.Topepperone’sconversationwithFrenchexpressionswastoshowthatonewaswell-bred,elegant,aucourant.Thelastsentenceshowsthattheprocessisnotyetdead.Byusingaucourantinsteadof,say,abreastofthingthewriterindicatesthatheisnodullclodwhoknowsonlyEnglishbutanelegantpersonawareofhowthingsaredoneinlehauntmonde.

ThusFrenchwordscameintoEnglish,allsortsofthem.Thesewordstodowithgovernment：parliament,majesty,treaty,alliance,tax,government;churchwords：parson,sermon,baptism,incense,crucifix,religion;wordsforfoods:veal,beef，mutton,bacon,jelly，peach,lemon,cream,biscuit;colors:blue,scarlet,vermilion;householdwords:curtain,chair,lamp,towel,blanket,parlor;playwords:dance,chess,music,leisure,conversation;literarywords:story,romance,poet,literary;learnedwords:study,logic,grammar,noun,surgeon,anatomy,stomach;justordinarywordsofallsorts:nice,second,very,agebucket,gentle,final,fault,flower,cry,count,sure,move,surprise,plain．

AlltheseandthousandsmorepouredintotheEnglishvocabularybetween1100and1500until,attheendofthattime,manypeoplemusthavehadmoreFrenchwordsthanEnglishattheircommand.ThisisnottosaythatEnglishbecameFrench.EnglishremainedEnglishinsoundstructureandingrammar,thoughthesealsofelttheripplesofFrenchinfluence.Theveryheartofthevocabulary,too,remainedEnglish.Mostofthehigh-frequencywords--thepronouns,thepreposition,theconjunctions,theauxiliaries,aswellasagreatmanyordinarynounsandverbsandadjectives---werenotreplacedbyborrowings.

MiddleEnglish,then,wasstillaGermaniclanguage,butitdifferedfromOldEnglishinmanyways.Thesoundsystemandthegrammarchangedagooddeal.Speakersmadelessuseofcasesystemsandotherinflectionaldevicesandreliedmoreonwordorderandstructurewordstoexpresstheirmeanings.Thisisoftensaidtobeasimplification,butitisnotreally.Languagesdon'tbecomesimpler;theymerelyexchangeonekindofcomplexityforanother.ModernEnglishisnotasimplelanguage,asanyforeignspeakerwhotriestolearnitwillhastentotellyou.

TheperiodofEarlyModernEnglish--thatis,thesixteenthandseventeenthcenturies--wasalsotheperiodoftheEnglishRenaissance，whenpeopledeveloped,ontheonehand,akeenInterestinthepastand,ontheother,amoredaringandimaginativeviewofthefuture.Newideasmultiplied,andnewideasmeantnewlanguage.EnglishmenhadgrownaccustomedtoborrowingwordsfromFrenchasaresultoftheNormanConquest;nowtheyborrowedfromLatinandGreek.Aswehaveseen,EnglishhadbeenraidingLatinfromOldEnglishtimesandbefore,butnowthefloodgatesreallyopened,andthousandsofwordsfromtheclassicallanguagespouredin.Pedestrian,bonus,anatomy,controdict,climax,dictionary,benefit,multiply,exist,paragraph,initiate,scene,inspirearerandomexamples.ProbablytheaverageeducatedAmericantodayhasmorewordsfromFrenchinhisvocabularythanfromnativeEnglishsources,andmorefromLatinthanfromFrench.

ThegreatestwriteroftheEarlyModernEnglishperiodisofcourseShakespeare,andthebest-knownbookistheKingJamesVersionoftheBible,publishedin1611.TheBible(ifnotShakespeare)hasmademanyfeaturesofEarlyModernEnglishperfectlyfamiliartomanypeopledowntothepresenttime,eventhoughwedonotusethesefeaturesinpresent-dayspeechandwriting.Forinstance,theoldpronounthouandtheehavedroppedoutofusenow,buttheyarestillfamiliartousinprayerandinBiblicalquotations,suchas“Whitherthougoest,Iwillgo.”

ThehistoryofEnglishsince1700isfilledwithmanymovementsandcountermovement,ofwhichwecannoticeonlyacouple.Oneoftheseisthevigorousattemptmadeintheeighteenthcentury,andtheratherhalf-heatedattemptsmadesince,toregulateandcontroltheEnglishlanguage.Manypeopleoftheeighteenthcentury,notunderstandingverywelltheforceswhichgovernlanguage,proposedtopolishandpruneandrestrictEnglish,whichtheyfeltwasproliferatingtoowidely.Therewasmuchtalkofanacademywhichwouldruleonwhatpeoplecouldandcouldnotsayandwrite.Theacademynevercameintobeing,buttheeighteenthcenturydidnotsucceedinestablishingcertainattitudeswhich,thoughtheyhaven’thadmucheffectonthedevelopmentofthelanguageitself,havecertainlychangedthenativespeaker’sfeelingaboutthelanguage.

Inpart,aproductofthewishtofixandestablishthelanguagewasthedevelopmentofthedictionary.ThefirstEnglishdictionarywaspublishedin1603;itwasalistof2500wordsbrieflydefined.ManyotherswerepublishedhisEnglishDictionaryin1755.This,steadilyrevised,dominatedthefieldinEnglandfornearlyahundredyears.MeanwhileinAmerica,NoahWebsterpublishedhisdictionaryin1828,andbeforelongdictionarypublishingwasabigbusinessinthiscountry.Thelastcenturyhasseenthepublicationofonegreatdictionary:thetwelve-volumeOxfordEnglishDictionary,compiledinthecourseofseventy-fiveyearsthroughthelaborsofmanyscholars.Wehavealso,ofcourse,numerouscommercialdictionarieswhichareasgoodasthepublicwantsthemtobeifnot,indeed,ratherbetter.

Anotherproductoftheeighteenthcenturywastheinventionof“Englishgrammar.”AsEnglishcametoreplaceLatinasthelanguageofscholarship,itwasfeltthatoneshouldalsobeabletocontrolanddissectit,parseandanalyzeit,asonecouldLatin.Whathappenedinpracticewasthatthegrammaticaldescri