EnglishIdioms论文111.docx
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EnglishIdioms论文111
OntheInfulenceofHistoricalDevelopmentandGeographyEnvironmentontheFormationofEnglishIdioms
Abstract
Englishisalanguageparticularlyrichinidioms.Lotsofculturalinformationisembodiedinidioms.Insomesenses,idiomsarethereflectionoftheenvironment,life,historicalculture,etc.Theyarecommonlyusedinalltypesoflanguage,informalandformal,spokenandwritten.Inbrief,idiomsarefixedphrases.Theygothroughthetestofhistoryandcannotbeseparated.Theyareanimportantpartofthegeneralvocabularyofeverylanguage.
Keywords
Theoringinsoftheidioms,comparisonbetweenEnglishidiomsandChineseidioms,andthetranslationofEnglishidioms.
Ⅰ.ThedefinitionandfeaturesofEnglishidioms
1.Definition
whatareidioms?
“Idiomsconsistofsetphrasesandshortsentences”and“idiomsareexpressionsthatarenotreadilyunderstandablefromtheirliteralmeaningsofindividualelements.”(ZhangWeiyou,174)“Anidiomisaphrasewhosemeaningisdifferentorsometimesimpossibletoguessbylookingatthemeaningsoftheindividualwordsitcontains.”(ASHonrnby,2004,B19)suchas,“blacksheep”(害群之马),“Putasockinit”(住口),“goovermyhead”(无法理解).
“Mostphrasallexemesareidioms,especiallyasequenceofwordswhichissemanticallyandoftensyntacticallyrestricted.”(HuZhuanglin,106)E.g.“Don’tputyourproblemsatmydoorstep”(归咎于我),“doinRomeastheRoman’sdo”(入乡随俗),“aspoorasachurchmouse”(一贫如洗)
2.Features
1.structuralstability
ManyEnglishidiomsarecharacterizedbystructuralinvariability.Theirformisoftenfixed.Thewordinidiomaticexpressionscannotbedeleted,addedto,intheidiomlivefromhandtomouth,itisimpossibletosaylivefromhandtothemouthorlivefromahandtoamouth;intheidiomtokickthebucket,iftheword“bucket”isreplacedby“pail”,themeaningoftheidiomwillnolongermean“die”.
2.semanticunity
Idiomsaremainlycharacteizedbytheirsemanticunity.Semanticunitymeansanidiomfunctioningasaunitofmeaning,andmustbelearnedasawhole.Thatis,themeaningoftheidiomcannotbededucedfromtheliteralmeaningofitsmemberwords.So,pullone'ssocksupnotatallconnectedwith“socks”,itmeanstocheerup,workharder,asin“Ifyouwanttobeconsideredforpromotionnextyear,you'dbetterpullyoursocksup.”Ifyouwanttobepromotednextyear,youshouldworkharder.Likewise,themeaningofknowwherethepincheshasnothingtodowiththemeaningoftheseparatewords,itmeanstoknowthedifficulties.
3.figuraivefeatures
Idiomsareoftenforcible,terseandvivid,becausetheyareusedfiguratively.Idiomsareanimportantthetoricaldeviceinlanguage,andtheyincorporatevariousfiguresofspeech,amongthem,mostaresimilesandmetaphors.Agreatmanyidiomsareusedinsimileandmetaphoricalstyleinsteadofstatinginexperienceorthoughtoutrighttoachieveabetterexpressiveeffect.Forexample,similes,suchas,astimidasarabbit,likearedragtoabull.Metaphors,suchas,tohelpalanedogoverthestiles:
togiveupsomebodywhoisindifficultyortrouble.
Ⅱ.Englishidiomsoriginatingfromhistoricaldevelopment
Lookingbackatthedevelopmentofhumanbeing,thegreatinfluencesonnationalculturesaremainlythechangesoftheearth’scrust,nationalmovement,thenationalconquestandassimilation,andthewarbetweennations.TheBritainhasalonghistory.InEnglish,thousandsofidiomsoriginatedfromgreathistoricaleventsandthesocieties’transformation
1.TheInfluencesofRomanConquestonEnglishIdioms
In55BD,thecommanderinchiefofRoman,JuliusCaesar,cametotheGreatBritainafterconqueringtheGaul,butdidnothaveconflictwiththelocalCelts.AndthenextyearCaesarcametotheGreatBritainsecondtime.ButthistimehemadehisrootfirmlyinthenortheastoftheGreatBritain;hefiredwiththelocalones.AlthoughtheCaesarswonbuttheydidnotbringtheCeltstotheirknees,sotheydidnotmakegreatinfluencesonthesocialculturesoftheGreatBritain.ButCaesarhadinfluencedthelanguagealottillnow.
TheRomecapturedGreatBritainfornearly400years.Till407,theRomehadtowithdrawfromGreatBritainbecauseRomanwasbesiegedinsideandoutside.FourhundredyearsisenoughtimetoformBritishLatinculture.Romewentaway,buttheinfluencesofGreatBritainontheirculturewerestillthereontheisland.“DoinRomeastheRomansdo.”“Romewasnotbuiltinaday.”“AllroadsleadtoRome.”FromtheseidiomswecanfoundtheinfluencesofRomanConquestaresotremendous.
Ⅲ.TheInfluencesofTeutonicConquestonEnglishIdioms
Inabout449,threeGermanTribes,residedinthenorthwestofEurope,invadedtheGreatBritain.TheywereAnglos,SaxonsandJutes.TheycrossedtheNorthSeaandtookadvantagesofthewaninginpowerofRomanwhocouldcarenothingbutthem.TheycameintotheGreatBritainandmetgreatdefenseofCelts,whichmadetheconq“Cutsomeonetothequick”,here,“quick”means“skin”especially,“theskinofthenail”thatwillmakeyoupainfulwhenyoutouch.“Quick”hereisawordofAnglo-Saxon.Thisidiominfersthathurtsomebodyinmotion.Forexample,“Hercruelwordscuthimtothequick.”“Gothroughfireandwater”,theseidiomsstemmedfromthelawofDeclareGuiltyintheperiodofAnglo-Saxon.Ifthesuspect’shandsweregoodenoughaftermakingthemintotheboilingwater,hewasnotguilty.Sothemeaningofthisidiomisthatdefyingalldifficultiesanddangers.Itwaswidelyquotedinthepast.Forexample,Iwouldgothoughfireandwatertofindoutthetruthofthatmatter.
Infact,Anglo-SaxonwastheoriginofModernEnglish.OrmoreactuallythatWestSaxon,thelanguageofSaxondwellingonthesouthofThames,wastheoriginoftheStandardEnglish.SotheinfluencesofTeutonicConquestonEnglishwereoverallandhadgreatdecisiveinfluences.TheAnglo-SaxonwasoneofthethreeoriginsofModernEnglishvocabulary.ManyEnglishIdiomsfromthisperiodcouldbetakenasevidence.
3.TheInfluencesofInvasionofVikingsonEnglishIdioms
Inabout9thcentury,BritainwasfacingthewidelyinvasionsofVikingsespeciallytheinvasionofDanewhichbeganattheendof8thcenturyandlastednearlythreehundredyears.Atthebeginning,theyinvadedaspiratesanddidnotstayalong.Inthemiddleof9thcentury,theDanesbegantomigratenationwide.Theyannexedanothercountry’sterritoryandestablishedthe“Danelaw”inthenortheastofBritain.WhenAlfredtheGreatruledtheBritainin871-899,theDanesfoughtagainsttheDane,theydidnotdrivetheDaneoutofBritain.Soin878,AlfredtheGreatwasforcedtosignthetreatyPeaceofWedmore.Accordingtothetreaty,theDanesstillownedthe“Danelaw”.
BecauseoftheinvasionandoccupationofScandinavians,thelargepartofBritainsufferedgreatinfluencesbytheNorthEuropeanculture.NowadaysthenamesofthenorthandtheeastpartofBritainwerefromScandinavian.Andalsosomepeople’snameswerefromScandinaviansuchasJackson,Thompson,Stevenson,andJohnsonandsoon.“Raincatsanddogs”stemmedfrommythologyofthenorthEurope.ThemainGodsofNorsemenOdin,dogandwolfsymbolized“wind”andcatsymbolized“rain”.Socatsanddogshadthemeaningofviolentstorms.E.g.:
Youcannotgoouttonight;itisrainingcatsanddogs.“Sixofoneandhalfadozenoftheother”,12binarysystemwasbroughtinbyDanishconquest.Anditwasusedtillnow.
4.TheInfluencesofNormandyConquestonEnglishIdioms
In1066,Edwarddied.BecausehehadnosontosucceedhisthronetheychoseHaroldGodwintobethesuccessor.ThishadenragedthecousinofEdwardWilliam,aNormandyduke,whointendedtosucceedthethrone.WilliamledtheFrencharmyandfleetcrosstheseaandinvadedBritainonSeptember1066.TheydefeatedtheBritishtroopsandkilledHarold.Atlast,WilliamenteredLondonandbecametheKingnamedWilliamI.ItwastheBeginningofHouseofNormandyinBritishhistory.
“GoDutch”meanspayone’sownexpense,shareexpenses.ThemeaninghadbeensuitedbythepeopleandhadbeenusedwidelyintheEnglishdailylife.DutchwaseitheracountryorthepeopleinDutch.Peopleused"goDutch”toexpressthemeaningofsharingexpensesandpayone'sownexpensetoexpresstheirrivalsensetoDutch.
5.TheEnglishIdiomsOriginatedfromWorldWarI
In19thcentury,Britishshippingandfleethasanoverwhelmingadvantageintermsofthetotalton.ThehegemonyintheseahasbeenshakenaftertheFirstWorldWar,butthetotaltonrankedthefirstintheworld.AmericareplacedthepositionofthehegemonyintheseawithU.K’saftertheSecondWorldWar,whileU.Kalsotookthethirdrank.Owingtothedevelopmentofseafaring,therearesomanyidiomsrelativetothevoyageemerged.
“Cupoftea”isacommonphraseofspokenEnglish.Itmeansthethingsyoulikeeverymuch.Forexample,travelingisjusthiscupoftea.Andfootballisnothiscupoftea.ThisphrasejustbroughtduringtheFirstWorldWarandtheSecondWorldWar.IntheVictorianage,Teawasnotuniversalinallwalksoflife,especiallybetweenthemen.Atthatmomentifsomeonewantedtoexpressthemetaphorofsomebody’sappreciationofsomething,theywerealmostrootedfromfoodanddrink,suchas“somebody’sportofbeer”.Afterwardsthewomenworkerwereincreasing,theybroughttheafternoonteatotheoffice,themenworkergraduallyjoinedinthegrouptohaveafternoontea.Soteawasconsideredtobeapopulardrink.Thedifferenttasteofteabroughtouttheexpressionof“cupoftea”,andwasextendedtothethingsbesuitableoftaste.
6.TheEnglishIdiomsOriginatedfromWorldWarI