语言文化论文-法语对英语的影响.doc -- 2 元

语言文化论文法语对英语的影响AbstractBothFrenchandEnglishbelongtotheIndoEuropeanFamily.SincetheMiddleEnglishperiodFrenchhashadstronginfluenceonEnglish.TheinfluenceoftheFrenchlanguageupontheEnglishlanguagecanbedividedintotwomainstages.Thefirstoneisfrom1066to1500.ThedecisivefactorduringthistimeistheNormanConquest.AlargenumberofFrenchwordspouredintoEnglishasapartofEnglishetymology,extendinginfluencetogrammar,spelling,pronunciationandwordformation.ThesecondstageisfromEuropeanRenaissancetothepresentglobalization.Withtheincreasingcommunicationamongeconomy,cultureandtechnology,manyforeignborrowingshavebeenimportedfromdifferentcountries.FrenchasaborrowingcontinuesitscontributiontotheEnglishvocabulary.Byanalyzingthefusionofthetwolanguages,thispapertriestopresentthevocabularyevolutionanditsculturalconnotation.KeyWordsFrenchEnglishvocabularyinfluenceNormanConquestnaturalization【摘要】法语和英语同属于印欧语系,中古英语以来法语对英语就有着极其深刻的影响。法语对英语的影响主要分为两个阶段第一阶段从1066年到1500年,在这一阶段诺曼征服是其决定性的因素。大量的法语词汇进入英语，构成了英语词源的一部分。其影响涉及语法、拼写、语音以及构词等方面。第二阶段是从欧洲的文艺复兴到现在加速世界一体化的信息时代。各国之间的文化相互渗透，经济、文化、科技密切联系。许多国家的词汇进入英语，法语作为外来语继续丰富着英语的词汇。本文通过分析两种语言的融合来探讨词汇的发展演变过程及其所反映的历史文化色彩。【关键词】法语英语词汇影响诺曼征服归化1.IntroductionThedevelopmentofacertainlanguagehasalonghistory.Itsinevitablethatdifferentlanguagesinfluenceandpenetrateeachotherintheirformationanddevelopment.Inaddition,aparticularlanguageassimilatestherefinedportionofotherlanguagestoenrichitself.Englishisthetypicalrepresentativeofthiskindoflanguage.Asacosmopolitanlanguage,Englishhasbeengreatlyinfluencedbyvariouslanguages,especiallybyFrench.SincetheMiddleEnglishperiodFrenchhadastronginfluenceonEnglish.TheinfluenceoftheFrenchlanguageupontheEnglishlanguagecanbedividedintotwomainstages.ThefirststageisfromNormanConquestto1500.OneofthemostinfluentialfactorsistheNormanConquest.AtthisstagetheFrenchwasusedbytheupperclassatfirst,andthenthetwolanguagesfusedtogetherandatlasttheFrenchwasacknowledgedbycommonpeople.Thesecondstageisfrom1500tothepresenttime.Onthewholethemostdirectandobservableimpactmanifestsitselfonthewordborrowing.Thescaleofvocabularyiswide.Wecanfindwordsrelatingtoeveryaspectofhumansociety,e.g.government,law,religion,militaryaffairs,foodandsoon.Moreover,thedegreeofvocabularyinfluenceisconsiderable.Somewordsareassimilatedsomenativewordsarelostwhileotherwordsmeaningsareexpanded.Besides,FrenchalsoinfluencesEnglishgrammar,spelling,pronunciationandwordformation.Andnowtheinfluenceisstillgoingon.2.IndoEuropeanFamilyThelanguagesbroughtintorelationshipbydescentorprogressivedifferentiationfromaparentspeechareconvenientlycalledafamilyoflanguages.Itisassumedthatthereareroughly300languagefamiliesintheworld,andtheIndoEuropean,oneofthese,ismadeupofmostlanguagesofEurope,theNearEast,andIndia.TheparenttonguefromwhichtheIndoEuropeanlanguageshavesprunghadalreadybecamedividedandscatteredbeforethedawnofhistory.Thesurvivinglanguagesshowvariousdegreesofsimilaritiestooneanother,thesimilaritybearingamoreorlessdirectrelationshiptotheirgeographicaldistribution.TheyaccordinglyfallintoelevenprincipalgroupsIndian,Iranian,Armenian,Hellenic,Albanian,Italic,BaltoSlavic,Germanic,Celtic,Hittite,andTocharian.1TheItalicbranchhasitscenterinItaly,andtomostpeopleItalyinancienttimessuggestsRomeandthelanguageofRome,Latin.ThevariouslanguagesthatrepresentthesurvivalofLatininthedifferentpartsoftheRomeEmpireareknownastheRomanceorRomaniclanguages.ThemostextensiveoftheRomancelanguagesareFrench,Spanish,Portuguese,andItalian.ThecommonformthatthelanguagesoftheGermanicbranchhadbeforetheybecamedifferentiatedisknownasGermanicorProtoGermanic.ThelanguagesdescendedfromitfallintothreegroupsEastGermanic,NorthGermanic,andWestGermanic.WestGermanicisthegrouptowhichEnglishbelongs.2Inshort,bothFrenchandEnglishbelongtotheIndoEuropeanFamily.3.ManyEnglishwordscomingfromotherlanguages,especiallyfromFrenchAsweknow,theEnglishlanguageisofamixedcharacter.Ononehand,itshareswithWestGermaniclanguagesmanycommonwordsandsimilargrammaticalstructures.Ontheotherhand,morethanhalfoftheEnglishvocabularyisderivedfromLatin,Greek,notablyFrench.4.TheinfluenceoftheFrenchlanguageupontheEnglishlanguage4.1Thesocialbackgroundoftheinfluence4.1.1TheoriginofNormandyOnthenortherncoastofFranceisadistrictknownasNormandy.ItderivesitsnamefromthebandsofNorthmenwhosettledthereintheninthandtenthcenturies.TheNormanshadsoonabsorbedthemostimportantelementsofFrenchcivilization.TheygaveuptheirownlanguageandlearnedFrench.ForsomeyearsbeforetheNormanConquesttherelationsbetweenEnglandandNormandyhadbeenfairlyclose.In1002ÆrhelredtheUnreadyhadmarriedaNormanwifeandtheirsonEdward,whohadthusbeenbroughtupinFrance,wasalmostmoreFrenchthanEnglish.In1042,EdwardwasrestoredtothethroneandhebroughtwithhimanumberofhisNormanfriendsandgavethemimportantplacesinthegovernment.AstrongFrenchatmospherepervadedtheEnglishcourtduringthetwentyfouryearsofhisreign.4.1.2TheNormaninvasionAthissuccessionthemostinfluentialnoblewasGodwin,earloftheWestSaxonearldom.Hiseldestson,Harold,waselectedkingwhenEdwarddiedin1066.Buthiselectiondidnotlonggounchallenged.William,thedukeofNormandyatthistime,wasasecondcousintothelateking.AlthoughthisrelationshipdidnotgivehimanyrightofinheritancetotheEnglishthrone,hehadneverthelessbeenlivinginexpectationofbecomingEdwardssuccessor.Hehopedtoobtainthecrownbyforce.OnSeptember1066,WilliamlandedatPevensey,onthesouthcoastofEngland,withaformidableforce.HaroldwaskilledduringthebattleandtheEnglishweresooninfullretreat.OnChristmasDay1066,WilliamwascrownedkingofEngland.4.1.3TheNormanSettlementWilliamspossessionofthethronehadbeenamatterofconquestandwasattendedbyalltheconsequencesoftheconquestofonepeoplebyanother.Oneofthemostimportantoftheseconsequenceswastheintroductionofanewnobility.ForseveralgenerationsaftertheConquesttheimportantpositionsandthegreatestateswerealmostalwaysheldbyNormansormenofforeignblood.Similarly,Normanprelatesweregraduallyintroducedintoallimportantpositionsinthechurch.ItislesseasytospeakwithcertaintyoftheNormansinthelowerwalksoflifewhocameintoEnglandwithWilliamsarmy.Manyofthemdoubtlessremainedintheisland,andtheirnumberwasincreasedbyconstantaccretionsthroughouttherestoftheeleventhcenturyandthewholeofthenext.LikewisemerchantsandcraftsmenfromthecontinentseemtohavesettledinEnglandinconsiderablenumbers.ItisquiteimpossibletosayhowmanyNormansandFrenchpeoplesettledinEngland,butbecausethegoverningclassinbothchurchandstatewasalmostexclusivelymadeupfromamongthem,theirinfluencewasoutofallproportiontotheirnumber.4.2TheinfluenceofFrenchuponEnglishintheMiddleEnglishperiod4.2.1TheuseofFrenchbytheupperclassWhatevertheactualnumberofNormanssettledinEngland,itisclearthatthemembersofthenewrulingclassweresufficientlypredominanttocontinuetousetheirownlanguage.Thiswasnaturalenoughatfirst,astheyknewnoEnglishbuttheycontinuedtodosoforalongtimetocome,pickingupsomeknowledgeofEnglishgraduallybutmakingnoefforttodosoasamatterofpolicy.For200yearsaftertheNormanConquest,FrenchremainedthelanguageofordinaryintercourseamongtheupperclassesinEngland.ThenobilitychosetomaintainFrenchasthelanguageofsociety,administrationandcommerce.3AtfirstthosewhospokeFrenchwerethoseofNormanorigin,butsoonthroughintermarriageandassociationwiththerulingclassnumerouspeopleofEnglishextractionmusthavefoundittotheiradvantagetolearnthenewlanguage,andbeforelongthedistinctionbetweenthosewhospokeFrenchandthosewhospokeEnglishwasnotethnicbutlargelysocial.ThemostimportantfactorinthecontinueduseofFrenchbytheEnglishupperclassuntilthebeginningofthethirteenthcenturywasthecloseconnectionthatexistedthroughalltheseyearsbetweenEnglandandthecontinent.ThesubjugatedEnglishwerenotkilledoff,norweretheydrivenfromtheircountry.Theywererelegatedtothestatusofaninferiorpeople,goodswineherdsandservants.Therefore，Englandbecameabilingualcountry.TheNormansbelongedtoaraceofScandinavianorigin,butduringtheresidenceinNormandytheyhadgivenuptheirnativelanguageandhadadoptedtheFrenchdialectofthatregion.TheNormansintroducedintoEnglandavarietyoftheFrenchlanguagewecallNormanFrench,theothervarietyisParisianFrench.BytheendofthethirteenthcenturyParisianFrenchbegantoenterEngland,andmorestillinthefifteenthcentury.AlargenumberofFrenchwordsmadetheirappearanceintheworksofChaucerandotherEnglishwriters,especiallyinmanyEnglishtranslationsofFrenchliteraryworkspublishedatthattime.4.2.2FusionofthetwopeoplesandtwolanguagesIntheyearsfollowingtheNormanConquestthestingofdefeatandthehardshipsincidenttosogreatapoliticalandsocialdisturbanceweregraduallyforgotten.Peopleacceptedtheneworderassomethingaccomplishedtheyaccepteditasafactandadjustedthemselvestoit.ThefusionofNormansandEnglishwasrapid.AndtheearlyfusionofFrenchandEnglishinEnglandisquiteclearfromavarietyofevidences.ItisevidentinthemarriageofNormanstoEnglishwomen.ItisevidentfromthewayinwhichtheEnglishgavetheirsupporttotheirrulersandNormanprelates.Itisevidentinmanyotherways.Everywheretherearesignsofconvergence.4.2.3KnowledgeofFrenchamongthemiddleclassIfbytheendofthetwelfthcenturytheknowledgeofEnglishwasnotunusualamongmembersofthehighestclass,itseemsequallyclearthattheknowledgeofFrenchwasoftenfoundsomewhatfurtherdowninthesocialscale.InfacttheknowledgeofFrenchmaysometimeshaveextendedtothefreetenants.Sothetwolanguagesfusedtogetherandinfluencedeachother.4.2.4FrenchinfluenceonthevocabularyTheinfluenceoftheFrenchlanguageupontheEnglishlanguageisdirectandevident.Itismuchmoreobservablefromthevocabulary.WherethetwolanguagesexistsidebysideforalongtimeandtherelationsbetweenthepeoplespeakingthemareasintimateastheywereinEngland,aconsiderabletransferenceofwordsfromonelanguagetotheotherisinevitable.4ThenumberofFrenchwordsthatpouredintoEnglishwasunbelievablygreat.Thereisnothingcomparabletoitinthepreviousorsubsequenthistoryofthelanguage.IntheinfluxofFrenchwordstwostagescanbeobserved,anearlierandalater,withtheyear1250astheapproximatedividingline.5WhenwestudytheFrenchwordsappearinginEnglishbefore1250,roughly900innumber,wefindthatmanyofthemweresuchasthelowerclasseswouldbecomefamiliarwiththroughcontactwithaFrenchspeakingnobility,e.g.baron,noble,dame,servant,messenger,feast,minstrel,juggler,largess,story,rime,lay,etc.6Intheperiodafter1250theconditionsunderwhichFrenchwordshadbeenmakingtheirwayintoEnglishweresupplementedbyanewandpowerfulfactor－thosewhohadbeenaccustomedtospeakFrenchwereturninginincreasinglytotheuseofEnglish.InchangingfromFrenchtoEnglishtheytransferredmuchoftheirgovernmentalandadministrativevocabulary,