2 Chapter II英语简史.docx
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2 Chapter II英语简史.docx
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2ChapterII英语简史
ChapterII.ABriefHistoryoftheEnglishLanguage
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
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