Unit One text A.docx

Unit One text A.docx

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UnitOnetextA

UnitOne

Lead-inQuestions:

1.WhatisthestatusofEnglishinyourcountry?

WhydopeoplefeeltheyneedtolearnEnglish?

WhatvarietyofEnglishispreferredandwhy?

2.WhatarethebestwaysoflearningEnglishforyou?

TalkaboutyourexperiencesoflearningEnglishwithyourclassmates.

3.Doyouthinkitispossibletolearnalanguagewithoutlearningaboutitsculture?

TextA

HistoryoftheEnglishLanguage

AShortHistoryoftheOriginsandDevelopmentofEnglish

1ThehistoryoftheEnglishlanguagereallystartedwiththearrivalofthreeGermanictribeswhoinvadedBritainduringthe5thcenturyAD.Thesetribes,theAngles,theSaxonsandtheJutes,crossedtheNorthSeafromwhattodayisDenmarkandnorthernGermany.AtthattimetheinhabitantsofBritainspokeaCelticlanguage.ButmostoftheCelticspeakerswerepushedwestandnorthbytheinvaders—mainlyintowhatisnowWales,ScotlandandIreland.TheAnglescamefromEnglandandtheirlanguagewascalledEnglish,fromwhichthewordsEnglandandEnglisharederived.

GermanicinvadersenteredBritainontheeastandsouthcoastsinthe5thcentury.

OldEnglish（450-1100AD）

PartofBeowulf,apoemwritteninOldEnglish

2TheinvadingGermanictribesspokesimilarlanguages,whichinBritaindevelopedintowhatwenowcallOldEnglish.OldEnglishdidnotsoundorlooklikeEnglishtoday.NativeEnglishspeakersnowwouldhavegreatdifficultyunderstandingOldEnglish.Nevertheless,abouthalfofthemostcommonlyusedwordsinModernEnglishhaveOldEnglishroots.Thewordsbe,strongandwater,forexample,derivefromOldEnglish.OldEnglishwasspokenuntilaround1100.

MiddleEnglish（1100-1500）

AnexampleofMiddleEnglishbyChaucer

3In1066,WilliamtheConqueror,theDukeofNormandy（partofmodernFrance）invadedandconqueredEngland.Thenewconquerors（calledtheNormans）broughtwiththemakindofFrench,whichbecamethelanguageoftheRoyalCourt,andtherulingandbusinessclasses.Foraperiodtherewasakindoflinguisticclassdivision,wherethelowerclassesspokeEnglishandtheupperclassesspokeFrench.Inthe14thcenturyEnglishbecamedominantinBritainagain,butwithmanyFrenchwordsadded.ThislanguageiscalledMiddleEnglish.ItwasthelanguageofthegreatpoetChaucer（1340-1400）,butitwouldstillbedifficultfornativeEnglishspeakerstounderstandtoday.

ModernEnglish

EarlyModernEnglish（1500-1800）

Hamlet’sfamous“Tobe,ornottobe”lines,writteninEarlyModernEnglishbyShakespeare.

4TowardstheendofMiddleEnglish,asuddenanddistinctchangeinpronunciation（theGreatVowelShift）started,withvowelsbeingpronouncedshorterandshorter.Fromthe16thcenturytheBritishhadcontactwithmanypeoplesfromaroundtheworld.This,andtheRenaissanceofClassicallearning,meantthatmanynewwordsandphrasesenteredthelanguage.Theinventionofprintingalsomeantthattherewasnowacommonlanguageinprint.Booksbecamecheaperandmorepeoplelearnedtoread.PrintingalsobroughtstandardizationtoEnglish.Spellingandgrammarbecamefixed,andthedialectofLondon,wheremostpublishinghouseswere,becamethestandard.In1604,thefirstEnglishdictionarywaspublished.

LateModernEnglish（1800-Present）

5ThemaindifferencebetweenEarlyModernEnglishandLateModernEnglishisvocabulary.LateModernEnglishhasmanymorewords,arisingfromtwoprincipalfactors:

firstly,theIndustrialRevolutionandtechnologycreatedaneedfornewwords;secondly,theBritishEmpireatitsheightcoveredonequarteroftheearth’ssurface,andtheEnglishlanguageadoptedforeignwordsfrommanycountries.

VarietiesofEnglish

6Fromaround1600,theEnglishcolonizationofNorthAmericaresultedinthecreationofadistinctAmericanvarietyofEnglish.SomeEnglishpronunciationsandwords“froze”whentheyreachedAmerica.Insomeways,AmericanEnglishismoreliketheEnglishofShakespearethanmodernBritishEnglishis.SomeexpressionsthattheBritishcall“Americanisms”areinfactoriginalBritishexpressionsthatwerepreservedinthecolonieswhilelostforatimeinBritain（forexampletrashforrubbish,loanasaverbinsteadoflend,andfallforautumn;anotherexample,frame-up,wasre-importedintoBritainthroughHollywoodgangstermovies）.SpanishalsohadaninfluenceonAmericanEnglish（andsubsequentlyBritishEnglish）,withwordslikecanyon,ranch,stampedeandvigilantebeingexamplesofSpanishwordsthatenteredEnglishthroughthesettlementoftheAmericanWest.Frenchwords（throughLouisiana）andWestAfricanwords（throughtheslavetrade）alsoinfluencedAmericanEnglish（andso,toanextent,BritishEnglish）.

7Today,AmericanEnglishisparticularlyinfluential,duetotheUSA’sdominanceofcinema,television,popularmusic,tradeandtechnology（includingtheInternet）.ButtherearemanyothervarietiesofEnglisharoundtheworld,includingforexampleAustralianEnglish,NewZealandEnglish,CanadianEnglish,SouthAfricanEnglish,IndianEnglishandCaribbeanEnglish.

TheGermanicFamilyofLanguages

8EnglishisamemberoftheGermanicfamilyoflanguages.TheGermaniclanguagesareagroupofrelatedlanguagesthatconstituteabranchoftheIndo-European（IE）languagefamily.ThecommonancestorofallthelanguagesinthisbranchisProto-Germanic,spokeninapproximatelythemid-1stmillenniumBCinIronAgenorthernEurope.Proto-Germanic,alongwithallofitsdescendants,ischaracterizedbyanumberofuniquelinguisticfeatures,mostfamouslytheconsonantchangeknownasGrimm’sLaw.EarlyvarietiesofGermanicenterhistorywiththeGermanicpeoplesmovingdownfromnorthernEuropeinthesecondcenturyBC,tosettleinnortherncentralEurope,alongtheboundaryofCelticcivilization,inthenortherlylandsofthefutureRomanEmpire.

9ThemostwidelyspokenGermaniclanguagesareEnglishandGerman,withapproximately309-400millionandover100millionnativespeakersrespectively.Thegroupincludesothermajorlanguages,suchasDutchwith23millionandAfrikaanswithover6millionnativespeakers;andtheNorthGermaniclanguagesincludingNorwegian,Danish,Swedish,IcelandicandFaroesewithacombinedtotalofabout20millionspeakers.TheSILEthnologuelists53differentGermaniclanguages.

AbriefchronologyofEnglish

BC55

RomaninvasionofBritainbyJuliusCaesar.

LocalinhabitantsspeakCeltish

BC43

Romaninvasionandoccupation.BeginningofRomanruleofBritain.

436

RomanwithdrawalfromBritaincomplete.

449

SettlementofBritainbyGermanicinvadersbegins

450-480

EarliestknownOldEnglishinscriptions.

OldEnglish

1066

WilliamtheConqueror,DukeofNormandy,invadesandconquersEngland.

1150

EarliestsurvivingmanuscriptsinMiddleEnglish.

MiddleEnglish

1348

EnglishreplacesLatinasthelanguageofinstructioninmostschools.

1362

EnglishreplacesFrenchasthelanguageoflaw.EnglishisusedinParliamentforthefirsttime.

1388

ChaucerstartswritingTheCanterburyTales.

1400

TheGreatVowelShiftbegins.

1476

WilliamCaxtonestablishesthefirstEnglishprintingpress.

Early

ModernEnglish

1564

Shakespeareisborn.

1604

TableAlphabetical,thefirstEnglishdictionary,ispublished.

1607

ThefirstpermanentEnglishsettlementintheNewWorld（Jamestown）isestablished.

1616

Shakespearedies.

1623

Shakespeare’sFirstFolioispublished

1702

ThefirstdailyEnglish-languagenewspaper,TheDailyCourant,ispublishedinLondon.

1755

SamuelJohnsonpublisheshisEnglishdictionary.

1776

ThomasJeffersonwritestheAmericanDeclarationofIndependence.

1782

BritainabandonsitsAmericancolonies.

1828

WebsterpublisheshisAmericanEnglishdictionary.

Late

ModernEnglish

1922

TheBritishBroadcastingCorporationisfounded.

1928

TheOxfordEnglishDictionaryispublished.

Relatedinformation

1.TheAngles,theSaxonsandtheJutes

TheAnglesmayhavecomefromAngeln（inmodernGermany）,andBedewrotethattheirwholenationcametoBritain,leavingtheirformerlandempty.Thename“England”originatesfromthistribe.TheSaxonswerefromLowerSaxony（inmodernGermany;German:

Niedersachsen）andtheJutes,fromtheJutlandpeninsula（inmodernDenmark）.

2.CelticLanguage

CelticLanguageisasubfamilyoftheIndo-EuropeanlanguagefamilycomprisingtheBrittonic（includingWelsh,Breton,Umbrian,andCornish）andtheGoidelic（includingIrishGaelic,ScotsGaelic,andManx）branches.

3.Beowulf

BeowulfistheconventionaltitleofanOldEnglishheroicepicpoemconsistingof3182alliterativelonglines,setinScandinavia,commonlycitedasoneofthemostimportantworksofAnglo-Saxonliterature.ItsurvivesinasinglemanuscriptknownastheNowellCodex.ItscompositionbyananonymousAnglo-Saxonpoetisdatedbetweenthe8thandtheearly11thcentury.

4.WilliamtheConqueror

WilliamtheConqueror（1028—1087）,alsoknownasWilliamIofEngland,wastheKingofEnglandfromChristmas,1066untilhisdeath.HewasalsoWilliamII,DukeofNormandy,from3July,1035untilhisdeath.BeforehisconquestofEngland,hewasknownas“WilliamtheBastard”becauseoftheillegitimacyofhisbirth.

5.Chaucer

GeoffreyChaucer（1340–1400）wasanEnglishauthor,poet,philosopher,bureaucrat,courtieranddiplomat.Althoughhewrotemanyworks,heisbestrememberedforhisunfinishedframenarrativeTheCanterburyTales.SometimescalledthefatherofEnglishliterature,ChauceriscreditedbysomescholarsasthefirstauthortodemonstratetheartisticlegitimacyofthevernacularEnglishlanguage,ratherthanFrenchorLatin.

6.TheRenaissance

TheRenaissancewasaculturalmovementthat