法语对英语的影响.docx

法语对英语的影响.docx

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法语对英语的影响

cité

city

城市

duc

duke

大公

baron

baron

男爵

juge

judge

法官

armée

army

军队

ennemi

enemy

敌人

garde

guard

门卫

prison

prison

监狱

libertée

liberty

自由

limon

lemon

柠檬

beuf

beef

牛肉

saumon

salmon

鲑鱼〔三文鱼〕

herbe

herb

草药

法语对英语的影响

[Abstract]BothFrenchandEnglishbelongtotheIndo-EuropeanFamily.SincetheMiddleEnglishperiodFrenchhashadstronginfluenceonEnglish.TheinfluenceoftheFrenchlanguageupontheEnglishlanguagecanbedividedintotwomainstages.Thefirstoneisfrom1066to1500.ThedecisivefactorduringthistimeistheNormanConquest.AlargenumberofFrenchwordspouredintoEnglishasapartofEnglishetymology,extendinginfluencetogrammar,spelling,pronunciationandword-formation.ThesecondstageisfromEuropeanRenaissancetothepresentglobalization.Withtheincreasingmunicationamongeconomy,cultureandtechnology,manyforeignborrowingshavebeenimportedfromdifferentcountries.FrenchasaborrowingcontinuesitscontributiontotheEnglishvocabulary.Byanalyzingthefusionofthetwolanguages,thispapertriestopresentthevocabularyevolutionanditsculturalconnotation.

[KeyWords]French;English;vocabulary;influence;NormanConquest;naturalization

[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.其影响涉与语法、拼写、语音以与构词等方面.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与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.Introduction

  Thedevelopmentofacertainlanguagehasalonghistory.It’sinevitablethatdifferentlanguagesinfluenceandpenetrateeachotherintheirformationanddevelopment.Inaddition,aparticularlanguageassimilatestherefinedportionofotherlanguagestoenrichitself.Englishisthetypicalrepresentativeofthiskindoflanguage.Asacosmopolitanlanguage,Englishhasbeengreatlyinfluencedbyvariouslanguages,especiallybyFrench.SincetheMiddleEnglishperiodFrenchhadastronginfluenceonEnglish.TheinfluenceoftheFrenchlanguageupontheEnglishlanguagecanbedividedintotwomainstages.ThefirststageisfromNormanConquestto1500.OneofthemostinfluentialfactorsistheNormanConquest.AtthisstagetheFrenchwasusedbytheupperclassatfirst,andthenthetwolanguagesfusedtogetherandatlasttheFrenchwasacknowledgedbymonpeople.Thesecondstageisfrom1500tothepresenttime.Onthewholethemostdirectandobservableimpactmanifestsitselfonthewordborrowing.Thescaleofvocabularyiswide.Wecanfindwordsrelatingtoeveryaspectofhumansociety,e.g.government,law,religion,militaryaffairs,foodandsoon.Moreover,thedegreeofvocabularyinfluenceisconsiderable.Somewordsareassimilated;somenativewordsarelostwhileotherwords’meaningsareexpanded.Besides,FrenchalsoinfluencesEnglishgrammar,spelling,pronunciationandword-formation.Andnowtheinfluenceisstillgoingon.

2.Indo-EuropeanFamily

Thelanguagesbroughtintorelationshipbydescentorprogressivedifferentiationfromaparentspeechareconvenientlycalledafamilyoflanguages.Itisassumedthatthereareroughly300languagefamiliesintheworld,andtheIndo-European,oneofthese,ismadeupofmostlanguagesofEurope,theNearEast,andIndia.TheparenttonguefromwhichtheIndo-Europeanlanguageshavesprunghadalreadybecamedividedandscatteredbeforethedawnofhistory.Thesurvivinglanguagesshowvariousdegreesofsimilaritiestooneanother,thesimilaritybearingamoreorlessdirectrelationshiptotheirgeographicaldistribution.Theyaccordinglyfallintoelevenprincipalgroups:

Indian,Iranian,Armenian,Hellenic,Albanian,Italic,Balto-Slavic,Germanic,Celtic,Hittite,andTocharian.[1]

TheItalicbranchhasitscenterinItaly,andtomostpeopleItalyinancienttimessuggestsRomeandthelanguageofRome,Latin.ThevariouslanguagesthatrepresentthesurvivalofLatininthedifferentpartsoftheRomeEmpireareknownastheRomanceorRomaniclanguages.ThemostextensiveoftheRomancelanguagesareFrench,Spanish,Portuguese,andItalian.ThemonformthatthelanguagesoftheGermanicbranchhadbeforetheybecamedifferentiatedisknownasGermanicorProto-Germanic.Thelanguagesdescendedfromitfallintothreegroups:

EastGermanic,NorthGermanic,andWestGermanic.WestGermanicisthegrouptowhichEnglishbelongs.Inshort,bothFrenchandEnglishbelongtotheIndo-EuropeanFamily.

3.ManyEnglishwordsingfromotherlanguages,especiallyfromFrench

Asweknow,theEnglishlanguageisofamixedcharacter.Ononehand,itshareswithWestGermaniclanguagesmanymonwordsandsimilargrammaticalstructures.Ontheotherhand,morethanhalfoftheEnglishvocabularyisderivedfromLatin,Greek,notablyFrench.

4.TheinfluenceoftheFrenchlanguageupontheEnglishlanguage

4.1Thesocialbackgroundoftheinfluence

TheoriginofNormandy

OnthenortherncoastofFranceisadistrictknownasNormandy.ItderivesitsnamefromthebandsofNorthmenwhosettledthereintheninthandtenthcenturies.TheNormanshadsoonabsorbedthemostimportantelementsofFrenchcivilization.TheygaveuptheirownlanguageandlearnedFrench.ForsomeyearsbeforetheNormanConquesttherelationsbetweenEnglandandNormandyhadbeenfairlyclose.In1002ÆrhelredtheUnreadyhadmarriedaNormanwifeandtheirsonEdward,whohadthusbeenbroughtupinFrance,wasalmostmoreFrenchthanEnglish.In1042,EdwardwasrestoredtothethroneandhebroughtwithhimanumberofhisNormanfriendsandgavethemimportantplacesinthegovernment.AstrongFrenchatmospherepervadedtheEnglishcourtduringthetwenty-fouryearsofhisreign.

TheNormaninvasion

AthissuccessionthemostinfluentialnoblewasGodwin,earloftheWestSaxonearldom.Hiseldestson,Harold,waselectedkingwhenEdwarddiedin1066.Buthiselectiondidnotlonggounchallenged.William,thedukeofNormandyatthistime,wasasecondcousintothelateking.AlthoughthisrelationshipdidnotgivehimanyrightofinheritancetotheEnglishthrone,hehadneverthelessbeenlivinginexpectationofbeingEdward’ssuccessor.Hehopedtoobtainthecrownbyforce.OnSeptember1066,WilliamlandedatPevensey,onthesouthcoastofEngland,withaformidableforce.HaroldwaskilledduringthebattleandtheEnglishweresooninfullretreat.OnChristmasDay1066,WilliamwascrownedkingofEngland.

TheNormanSettlement

William’spossessionofthethronehadbeenamatterofconquestandwasattendedbyalltheconsequencesoftheconquestofonepeoplebyanother.Oneofthemostimportantoftheseconsequenceswastheintroductionofanewnobility.ForseveralgenerationsaftertheConquesttheimportantpositionsandthegreatestateswerealmostalwaysheldbyNormansormenofforeignblood.Similarly,Normanprelatesweregraduallyintroducedintoallimportantpositionsinthechurch.ItislesseasytospeakwithcertaintyoftheNormansinthelowerwalksoflifewhocameintoEnglandwithWilliam’sarmy.Manyofthemdoubtlessremainedintheisland,andtheirnumberwasincreasedbyconstantaccretionsthroughouttherestoftheeleventhcenturyandthewholeofthenext.LikewisemerchantsandcraftsmenfromthecontinentseemtohavesettledinEnglandinconsiderablenumbers.ItisquiteimpossibletosayhowmanyNormansandFrenchpeoplesettledinEngland,butbecausethegoverningclassinbothchurchandstatewasalmostexclusivelymadeupfromamongthem,theirinfluencewasoutofallproportiontotheirnumber.

4.2TheinfluenceofFrenchuponEnglishintheMiddleEnglishperiod

TheuseofFrenchbytheupperclass

WhatevertheactualnumberofNormanssettledinEngland,itisclearthatthemembersofthenewrulingclassweresufficientlypredominanttocontinuetousetheirownlanguage.Thiswasnaturalenoughatfirst,astheyknewnoEnglish;buttheycontinuedtodosoforalongtimetoe,pickingupsomeknowledgeofEnglishgraduallybutmakingnoefforttodosoasamatterofpolicy.For200yearsaftertheNormanConquest,FrenchremainedthelanguageofordinaryintercourseamongtheupperclassesinEngland.ThenobilitychosetomaintainFrenchasthelanguageofsociety,administrationandmerce.AtfirstthosewhospokeFrenchwerethoseofNormanorigin,butsoonthroughintermarriageandassociationwiththerulingclassnumerouspeopleofEnglishextractionmusthavefoundittotheiradvantagetolearnthenewlanguage,andbeforelongthedistinctionbetweenthosewhospokeFrenchandthosewhospokeEnglishwasnotethnicbutlargelysocial.ThemostimportantfactorinthecontinueduseofFrenchbytheEnglishupperclassuntilthebeginningofthethirteenthcenturywasthecloseconnectionthatexistedthroughalltheseyearsbetweenEnglandandthecontinent.ThesubjugatedEnglishwerenotkilledoff,norweretheydrivenfromtheircountry.Theywererelegatedtothestatusofaninferiorpeople,goodswineherdsandservants.Therefore,Englandbecameabilingualcountry.

TheNormansbelongedtoaraceofScandinavianorigin,butduringtheresidenceinNormandytheyhadgivenuptheirnativelanguageandhadadoptedtheFrenchdialectofthatregion.TheNormansintroducedintoEnglandavarietyoftheFrenchlanguagewecallNorman-French,theothervarietyisParisianFrench.BytheendofthethirteenthcenturyParisianFrenchbegantoenterEngland,andmorestillinthefifteenthcentury.AlargenumberofFrenchwordsmadetheirappearanceintheworksofChaucerandotherEnglishwriters,especiallyinmanyEnglishtranslationsofFrenchliteraryworkspublishedatthattime.

Fusionofthe