Исследовательская работа по теме " Происхождение английских слов"
статья по английскому языку (7 класс)

Муниципальное общеобразовательное учреждение

Средняя общеобразовательная школа №2

ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬСКАЯ РАБОТА

на тему: «Making of the English Vocabulary»

по   английскому языку

                                                                      Ученик (ца) 9  класса                                                                

Тарасова Полина Викторова

                                                   Руководитель: Бахтина Алена Владиславовна

                                                       г. Воскресенск 2018

Contest

The Making of English

Part 1

Peculiarities of the English vocabulary:

Celtic Britain ( 700 B. C.)

Roman Conquest of Britain ( 47-407 A.D.)

Germanic tribes ( 5th A.D.)

The Story of the Scandinavian words in the English language.  (8th A.D.)

The Story of   French Borrowing in English ( 1066 year  )

Part 2

Practical part

Conclusion

Literature

The Making of English

Оur work aims to introduce the readers to the early stage of the creation of English and show the tendencies of the development of the language at later periods. Emphasis is made on the role of the history of the language in understanding the state of present-day English, the processes that are going on, the phenomena that cannot be explained otherwise.  “ Internal “ history is closely connected with “ external” history –political, social events in the history of the nation that influenced the state of the language. The material covers chief landmarks in the formation of the vocabulary of English.

While studying English we asked ourselves many times ,why English language has got so many words that are similar to other languages  and where the English Language came from.  Thus, we decided to make a research and to answer all the questions before us.  Well,

The object of our research   is the English vocabulary, its origin and its development

The subject   of our research work is

- the peculiarities of the English vocabulary.

-the meaning of English words   from its origin  up to present days

-the similarity of the English vocabulary to other languages

-the observation  of the connection between the history of the English people and the history of the English language.  

When in 1940, Winston Churchill wished to appeal to the hearts and minds of the English –speaking people, it is not by accident that he used almost all Anglo-Saxon words. “We shall fight on the beaches; we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. In this celebrated passage, only “surrender”  is a loan-word, a borrowing from French. This proves us that it is interesting to know what the OE ( or Anglo-Saxon) vocabulary, which laid the basis of modern English, was. We shall investigate the character of native English words, the ways of building up the vocabulary, borrowings and some peculiarities of the language of Anglo-Saxons.

Part 1

Peculiarities of the English vocabulary:

It is well  established that English has an unusually large vocabulary. This is partly because its history has exposed the language to an unusually large number of influences and partly because it has never been slow to borrow from any language it meets. They are factors that have caused the complexity between sounds and spelling in English Language: first factor is that the pronunciation of English Language has changed over the last 500 years and second one is the thousands of words English has taken from other languages such as French, Latin, and Greek. The development of the English language begins after the settlement of the Germanic tribes in Britain. After invading Britain they became separated from the continental tongues, and their dialects began to develop in their own way. What we call a language, was in fact, a group of dialects. Firstly they were tribal dialects. The origins of the English language consisted of a number of tribal dialects, mainly Anglo-Saxon and Frisian dialects. After the settlement, when kingdoms appeared, the tribal dialects turned into regional dialects. Many centuries passed before one of the dialects prevailed and turned into a national language  which we know now as English language.

Celtic Britain ( 700 B. C.)

  In 700 B. C. the first wave of Celtic invaders entered Britain. In Britain the first Celtic invaders were the Gaels. Two centuries later came the Brythons ( 500 B. C.)  A third wave of invaders consisted of the Belgae from Northern Gaul. They arrived about 100 B.C. and occupied the South- East of Britain. The Celts had their language,   that is still spoken by the people living in the part of Britain known as Wales. And   though many changes happened on the British Isles, some Celtic words are still used in the English language.

There are not many Celtic loan words in the OE vocabulary. However, among those that have entered English, place names occupy the first place. The name London according to some scholars goes back to   Celtic name Lynn-dum, which was  later changed by the Romans into Londinium.  A Celtic element is to be found in a number of English place-names: Winchester, Salisbury, Worcester, Canterbury.

Various Celtic words   meaning “ water” were  understood by the Anglo-Saxons as proper names, that is why many names of rivers are Celtic: Exe,  Esk,  as well as Thames, Dover, Avon. Celtic word loch (lake)   is preserved in  the names of Scottish lakes: Loch Lomond, Loch Katrine.

Roman Conquest of Britain ( 1st centuary )

The real conquest of Britain began in 43 A.D.  under Emperor Claudius. The Roman Occupation of Britain lasted nearly 400 years. If   the influence of Celtic upon OE was slight, the influence of Latin was considerable. Latin was the language of a race with a higher civilisation than the native population of Britain, a race from whom there was much to learn. Contact with that civilization, at first commercial and military, later religious and intellectual, extended over centuries and was constantly renewed.

The Names of the Months lead to Rome

The Modern English names for the months of the year all come from Latin. January, February comes from Latin Februa, March, April from Latin-Aprilis, May, June, July, August from Latin Augustus, September, October, November. By the way the word is also Latin, its proper name is calendarium.

Days of the Week

The present English names of the days of the week appeared as a result of Latin influence on Germanic languages. Sometimes influence of the language on the other is expressed in borrowing words, sometimes in another way. In our case we have so-called “ translation-loans”: the English names of the days of the week were created on the model of Latin ones as their literary translation. The Romans used in the names of the days of the week the planets: the sun and the moon, and the names of their gods. Sunday is “ a day of Sun”. The Anglo-Saxons simply translated the Latin name “ Solies dies” Monday  “ is a day of Moon”, Tuesday is a day of Tiw” In Latin this day was named in honour of the Roman god Mars. Wednesday in Latin was the day of the Roman god Mercury. Thursday was a day of Jupiter with the Romans. Friday in Latin this day was dedicated to Venus.

 French borrowings  mainly pertain to diplomatic relations, social life, art and fashions. Examples of diplomatic terms are attaché, communiqué, dossier; the words ball, beau, cortege, cafe, coquette, hotel, picnic, restaurant refer to social life; ballet, ensemble, essay, genre pertain to art; military terms are brigade, corps, manoeuvre, marine.

Germanic tribes ( 5th A.D.)

 At the beginning of the 5th century the Roman legions left the island. The development of the English language began with the Germanic settlement in Britain. The separation of island dialects from the continental tongues gave rise to the development of new language. The English language of today is the language that has resulted from the fusion of the dialects spoken by the Germanic tribes who came to the British Isles: the Angles, the Saxons, the Jutes, and probably, the Frisians. They invaded the misty fertile island. Gradually they became one nation- English. They develop one language-English. Thus, the development of the English language began in the 5th   century.

The Story of the Scandinavian words in the English language.  (8th A.D.)

 In the 8th  century the ancient Scandinavians, called the Vikings, began to raid Britain. The Vikings continued their wars with the English until the time the Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great made a treaty with them and gave them a part of the country. The Vikings settled there, married English wives and began peaceful life on the territory of Britain. The influence of this  events on the English language was great. As a result a great number of Scandinavian words entered English: 900 Scandinavian words entered English, 700 of which are still in use now days.

How can we recognize Scandinavian Words in English?

Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish Scandinavian loan words from native words. The scholars suggest that we rely on the phonetic criteria. One of the simpliest is that consonant cluster  sh, sk    a mark of Scandinavian words.  Sky, skill, ship. In the same way the retention of the hard pronunciation of k  and g in such words as kid, get, egg is an indication of Scandinavian origin.

             The Story of Scandinavian Place Names Told by the English Map.

The most numerous names are those that contain the Scandinavian suffix –by. There are more than 600 places like Grimsby, Kirkby, Selby, Derby, Dnby. Some 300 names contain the Scandinavian word throp that meant “village” Althorpe, Linthorpe, Marblethorpe. An almost equal number contain the Scandinavian word thwaite-“ an isolated piece of land” Applethwaite, Braithwaite, Satterwaite.  About a hundred place bear names ending in toft “ a piece of ground, a messuage”  Brimfort, Landtoft, Nortoft.

Names ending in –son are of Scandinavian origin. Scandinavian personal names: Stevenson, Johnson, Davidson 

The Story of   French Borrowing in English ( 1066  )

On September 28, 1066, Duke William of Normandy with knights and barons landed in England.  The Normans came from across the Britain Channel, from the part of France called Normandy. The Normans brought into Britain not only their King, but language as well. Therefore, it explains why there are so many French words in the English vocabulary.  In the short run, it must have seemed like a disaster for the English.

Legal Terms.

The law courts were long conducted in French, and the English borrowed the legal terms from French. The name of Henry II is connected with the introduction of Common Law in England. The French terms replaced OE words now we speak of «justice and judgment»: «crime and equity». The following are French words introduced into legal vocabulary: suit, defendant, judge, attorney, bill, jury, evidence, proof, ransom, verdict, award, fine, punishment, prison, and goal. The English adopted.

Military Terms.

The introduction of many French military terms into English has its explanation. First, war played a great part in English affairs in the middle Ages. They are army, navy, peace, enemy, battle, siege, defense, retreat, soldier, guard, spy. The military ranks are French; captain, lieutenant, sergeant.

Meals. Social life.

 Learners of the English language notice that there is one name for a live beast grazing in the field and another for the same beast hen it is killed and cooked.

The matter is that the English peasants preserved Anglo-Saxon names for the animals they used to bring to Norman castles to sell. However, the dishes made of the meat got French names. That is why now we have native English names of animals. However, the dishes made of the meat got French names. That is why we have native English names of animals: ox, cow, calf, sheep, swine and French names of meals from whose meat they are cooked: beef, veal, mutton, pork.

The names of fish are French:  mackerel, sole, perch, sturgeon, salmon, sardine.

                                                          Part 2

Practical Part

We studied Rainbow English Vocabulary 9 form   and find out that it has got a lot of Borrowings from other languages.  

Adventure – The  meaning of adventure has changed over centuries. Came from Latin   advenire  “ to arrive”

Advice – advice is from Old French avis, based on latin  “ to see”  The original sense was “ a way of looking at something “  which led later to “ an opinion given”

Affair – this is old French a faire -“ to do” .

Affluent –from Latin affluere “ flow towards “ was originally used to describe water either flowing towards a place or flowing freely without any restriction. It later came to mean “ abundant” and then “ wealthy”

Agree – When we agree to something, there is a core notion of trying to please. The word is from Old French “agreer” based on Latin ad-to and gratus “ pleasing” 

Allow – this was originally used to mean “ commend”, sanction and  “ assign as a right”. Both meanings were adopted from Od French “alouer” .

Annoy – Annoy originally has a much stronger sense than the modern one. It came into English from Old French ” anoier”, meaning hateful.

Athor -in Medival  English the author of something was the person who originated, invented or caused it. The word came into English via Old French from Latin “augere” “ to increase or originate”

Axe –Since Anglo-Saxon times an axe has been a tool or weapon.

Ban –In Old English this meant “ to summon by popular proclamation” The word is Germanic and also passed into French where it had the sense “ proclamation, banishment”

Blame –is from the Old French  “blamer”, “blasmer”.

Blind-Anglo-Saxon “ unable to see”

Bore – Anglo-Saxon  the sense is “to make hole”

Bow- Anglo-Saxon.  The bow of ship has nothing to do with a person bowing in a respect or a support bowing under pressure.

Challenge – was first recorded in the sense  “ an accusation” and “ to accuse”. The latin base is calumnia “ false accusation”

Cheer – in medival English the word cheer meant “ face” , People came to use it to refer to the expression on someone’s face. Over time cheer developed the specific meaning of “ a good mood”

Claim –Latin clamare “ to call out” is the base of English claim. This was first used as a falcony term in the sense “ recal”

Cool- Anglo-Saxon . An old English word related to  “ cold was being used by black Americans to mean “ excellent, pleasing and stylish.

Copper – the verb meaning “ to catch “ comes from a northen English dialect word cap meaning to capture or arrest. This probably goes back to Latin “capere “ to take or seize” So  a copper was a catcher , which is why it became an informal word for a police officer.

Cost- this is from Old French  based on Latin “constare “ stand firm”

Currant- this comes from the phrase raisons of Corauntz, translating Anglo-Norman French raisins de Corauntz” grapes of Corinth” which was their original sourse.  

Dark –the origin of dark are mysterious, although it may be related to German “ “tarten “ –“to conceal”

Data- Originally recorded as a term in philosophy referring to “things assumed to be facts”, it is the Latin plural of datum “ a piece of information”.

Dumb- Anglo-Saxon. In Old English “dumb” signified  “ unable to speak” and could apply to both humans and animals.

Effect- Effect “result, consequence” from Latin  “effectus”, from efficere “ accomplish, work out”

Emotion – the modern meaning of emotion is surprisingly recent and very different from original sense. In the 16th century the word first meant  “ a public disturbance or commotion”. The root is Latin “movere”,  “ to move”

Exept- First meaning “ to wait for ” expect entered English from Latin “exspectare “ to look out for” , from “spectare” “ to look”

Explain – The words explain date from Latin explanare, based on planus “ plain”

Explore- This comes via French from Latin ” explorare” “ search out” , from ex “ out” and “plorare” “ utter a cry”

Fantastic- A word originally meaning “ existing only in the immigration”, unreal that comes from Greek phantasticos “ vision”

Favour – the early sense was “liking preference” It comes via Old French from Latin favor, from favere “ show kindness to”

Gun- The first device to be called  a gun in English may have been a kind of catapult used in medival warfare to hurl rocks or arrows at the enemy. It is possible that the term may have derived from a pet of the Scandinavian name Gunnhildr ( meaning war)

 Hammer- old English hamor has a Germanic origin, related to German Hammer. The original tool sense was probably “ stone tool or weapon”.

Hand –since the Middle Ages hand has had the secondary meaning “ a person as in farmhand or deckhand.

Help –old English help lies behind helpmate. This is found in the late 17th century as helpmeet   which comes from Genesis 2: 18 where Eve is described as an help meet for Adam.

Kettle- Originally a kettle was any container used to heat water over a fire. Kettle goes back to Latin catinus “ a deep container for cooking or serving food.”

Land – Caltic word such as Irish  Lann “ enclosure” and Welsh llan “ enclosure” , church are related to land as well as the closer Dutch land and German Land.

Mad –Anglo-Saxon In English mad has always meant  “ insane” . In extreme cases a person can be as mad as a hatter

Moody In Anglo-Saxon times if you were moody you were brave, passionate or strong –willed. The word came from mod sourse of  mood, which had a range or meanings including “ mind” ,  thought and fierceness

Mouse –English mouse, Dutch “muis” and German  “Maus” share their ancient ancestor with Latin and Greek mus.

Mystery –mystery goes back to Greek “musterion”, which is related to mystic and mystify. In ancient Greece mysteries were secret religious ceremonies witnessed only by the initiated, who were sworn   never to disclose their nature.

Pharaoh – goes back to Egiptian pr-“ great house”

Pocket- the first sense recorded for pocket was a “ bag sack”. It comes from  Anglo- Norman French “pocket (e)” , a little poke or pouch.

Pretend – The basic idea behind pretend is that you claim to be something that you are not. It comes from Latin praetendere “ to claim , put forward” from prae “ before” and tender “ stretch, hold out”

Quality – the early senses of this were “ character, disposition, and particular property or feature.  It comes from Latin quails of what kind, of such a kind.

Rude – the word came via Old French from Latin “rudis “ unfinished, roughly made, uncultivated, ignorant

Shy –Old English sceoh was applied to horses meaning “ easily frightened

Tear- The word meaning “ to pull apart” is found in old English

Trade- come from German and  is related to tread. It originally meant “ a track or way” and  than “ a way of life”

Trash -  Anglo-Saxon .  It was originally a word for various kinds of refuse

Trip – The early Dutch word trippen “ to skip, hop is the source of trip. The English word was initially used to describe not only stumbling by catching your foot on something   but also dancing and nimble movement.

Turn –the origin of Old English turn is Latin tornare “ tu turn” from tornos, the Greek word for a lathe.

Vacuun- this modern Latin word is from Latin vacuus “ empty “

Conclusion

 Any language development means language change. We made a vast research of the English vocabulary and came to the conclusion that Language development is closely connected with the history of this language –speaking community, that’s why it is important to know the people’s history, the geographical expansion of the community, their contacts with other peoples and nations. Well borrowing has played a vital role in the development of vocabulary, esp. in earlier times. French, Latin, Scandinavian, Greek .  Thus the English language was formed. It is true that the history of English gives clue to a great number of linguistic phenomena that are traditionally considered as “ exeptions”  it helps us to understand the differences and similarities between languages: it reveals close ties between the development of the language and the development of the nation.

Literature

1 История английского языка = A History of the English Language: учебное пособие / A. B. Иванов; Поморский гос. Ун-т им М. В. Ломоносова- Архангельск : Поморский университет, 2007.-147с.

2   The Story of The English Language. Some Landmarks In Its Early History/ Борисова Л.М. Краткий курс истории английского языка; Коломна,  2003- 248c.

3 История английского языка. Староанглийский период .=The history of the English language. Old English Period: учебное пособие/сост. Канд. филол.  Наук, доц. В.В. Панкова.-М.: Флинта: Наука, 2017. -88с.

4  Из истории английских слов. М.: Просвещение, 1993. -96с.

5    Бруннер Карл. История английского языка. М. ЛКИ, 2010.-720с.

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