附近空调维修:法语对英语的影响

法语对英语的影响

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英语

法语

语言学

教育

The English language has been shaped by a number of other languages over the centuries, and many English speakers know that Latin and German were two of the most important. What many people don't realize is how much the French language has influenced English.

几个世纪以来，英语一直被几种不同的语言影响塑造着，很多操英语为母语者都知道这些语言中，拉丁语和德语是最为重要的。但许多人没有意识到的法语对英语的影响有多么大。

Without going into too much detail, I want to give a little bit of background about the other languages which shaped English. It was born out of the dialects of three German tribes (Angles, Jutes, and Saxons) who settled in Britain in about 450 A.D. This group of dialects forms what linguists refer to as Anglo-Saxon, and at some point this language developed into what we know as Old English. This Germanic base was influenced in varying degrees by Celtic, Latin, and Scandinavian (Old Norse) - the languages spoken by invading armies.

在此我不涉及太多细节，我想稍稍谈谈那些除法语外影响塑造了英语的语言的背景。三个德国部落（盎格鲁、朱特和撒克逊）的方言构成了英语的最早形态，这三个部落在约公元450年定居不列颠。这些部落的方言总和被语言学家称之为盎格鲁-撒克逊语。在某一时间，这种语言进化成了为我们所知的古英语。这种日耳曼语在不同程度上受到了盖尔语、拉丁语和斯堪的纳维亚语（古斯堪的那维亚语）的影响，也就是入侵者所操的语言。

Bill Bryson calls the Norman conquest of 1066 the "final cataclysm [which] awaited the English language." (1) When William the Conqueror became king of England, French took over as the language of the court, administration, and culture - and stayed there for 300 years. Meanwhile, English was "demoted" to everyday, unprestigious uses. These two languages existed side by side in England with no noticeable difficulties; in fact, since English was essentially ignored by grammarians during this time, it took advantage of its lowly status to become a grammatically simpler language and, after only 70 or 80 years existing side-by-side with French, Old English segued into Middle English.

比尔·布莱森把1066年诺曼征服称作“英语面临的终极灾难”。在征服者威廉统治了英格兰之后，法语席卷上流宫廷、行政管理和文化领域——之后300年如一日。同时，英语被“贬低”到了下里巴人的地位。这两种语言至此并存于英格兰，并没有带来什么麻烦。事实上，正是由于英语在此时期被语法学家极尽蔑视，才使其能够利用自身的卑微地位，演变成一种语法相对简单的语言，仅仅与法语并存七八十年之后，古英语演变为中古英语。

Vocabulary
During the Norman occupation, about 10,000 French words were adopted into English, some three-fourths of which are still in use today. This French vocabulary is found in every domain, from government and law to art and literature - learn some. More than a third of all English words are derived directly or indirectly from French, and it's estimated that English speakers who have never studied French already know 15,000 French words. (2) You can see 1,700 words that are identical in the two languages right here: True cognates.

词汇 

诺曼统治时期，大约有一万个法语词进入英语，其中大约四分之三使用至今。这些法语单词在各个领域都有，从政府和法律到艺术和文学。超过三分之一的英语单词或直接或间接源自法语，有统计表明，一位英语为母语，从未学习过法语的人已经能认识一万五千个法语单词。

Pronunciation
English pronunciation owes a lot to French as well. Whereas Old English had the unvoiced fricative sounds [f], [s], [θ] (as in thin), and [∫] (shin), French influence helped to distinguish their voiced counterparts [v], [z], [ð] (the), and [?] (mirage), and also contributed the diphthong [?y] (boy).

发音

英语发音也有许多借鉴法语的地方。虽然古英语有清擦音[f], [s], [θ] (thin)，还有[∫] (shin)，但是由于法语的影响，才使英语中有了相对的浊擦音[v], [z], [ð] (the),和[?] (mirage)，同时法语还带来了一个双元音[?y] (boy)。

Grammar
Another rare but interesting remnant of French influence is in the word order of expressions like secretary general and surgeon general, where English has retained the noun + adjective word order typical in French, rather than the usual adjective + noun used in English.

语法

还有一个少见而有趣的现象可以看出英语中法语影响的残留，那就是如secretary general 或surgeon general 这些词组的词序。在这些英文词组中，保留了“名词+形容词”的典型法语词序，而不是“形容词+名词”的惯常英语词序。

附：英语和法语中一样的词http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/vraisamis.htm

外研社官方博客：http://blog.sina.com.cn/fltrp19