A brief analysis on English etymology

说文解字文艺生活LITERATURE LIFE2015-02A brief analysis on English etymology李明珠(北京人文大学外国语学院,北京101300)Abstract:In the process of learning English, proficiency in vocabulary is the key point to study a language well. Obviously, it' s verycrucial to know about the origin and history of the words. Research on English etymology is conducive to memory, interpretationand understanding of the words. Generally speaking, English etymology is closely connected with British history. W estern culturealso has exerted profound impact on English etymology, which leads to considerable borrowings pouring into English vocabulary.In brief, this disertation will inquire into English etymology preliminarily.Key words:vocabulary, English etymology, British history, borrowings中图分类号:H319文献标识码:A文章编号:1005- 5312(2015 )06- -0068 -02What is English etymology? Why should we explore it? Don' t made England part of Scandinavian empire. So many Scandinavianworry. I will tell you the reasons and the definition. Etymology is a words came into English language. But they don' t bring in new ideadiscipline closely related to the lexicology. However, lexicology is a and new things in that Anglo- Saxon language and Scandinavianbranch of linguistics. As the name implies, it' s not difficult for us to words are all identical, all belong to the Germanic. For example,conclude that etymology is a discipline that chielly studies the origin,‘mother ’，“ summer'，“house' ', etc. The Old English is a typicalknowledge of etymology contributes to memorizing the English words adverbs all have complicated endings and/or vowel inflection.for students effectively. In general, this thesis will cite some specifie(二)Middle English (1150- 1500)examples to deal with English etymology in details from the followingIn 1066， French Norman invaded Britain. Old Englishaspects.underwent great change. Although English borrowed words from Latin-、the impact of British history on the evolution of before, English language was primarily afected by the Germanic. Inits vocabularythe reign of the Norman kings, the Norman culture flowered on theThe earlier sttler in Britain was Celts. The Celtic belongs to theBritain continent. A large quantity of French words input EnglishCeltic group of Indo-Eurpean language family. The second major language continuously,language of England was Latin of Romans. The Brtish history starts prince, etc. French became the oficial language used by thewith the Romans invasion. In 55 BC, the Romans invaded Britain forupper- -class. Almost everyone learned French in that English had nothe frst time. But the Romans didn't oceupy the whole Britain market. Latin was employed in the church and scool. French, Latinsesauly unil AD 43. When the Roman Empire began to dedine, and English coexisted for over a century. In the 14h cntury, Wyelifthey decided to withdraw for several reasons in AD 410. In thetranslated the Bible into English. Chaucer and Langland began tomid-5th century, as the Germanic tribes came to Britain and brought create lierature in English. So Englsh returned to the importatit under their absolute control, the Celie faded away gradually position agin and was respected as a crucial language. Word endingTherefore, the Celtic left only a small number of words to Englishinflection in Middle English was reduced, much fewer than OldEnglish.vocabulary, such as London, Kent, crag, etc.(一)Old English (450-1150)(三)Modern Engish (1500 to present)Afer the Romans, Angle, Saxon and Jutes, three GermanicModern English began with the establishment of printing. In thetribes, came to Britain. Their language, known as Angle- Saxon,14th century, European countries initiated the revival of interest indominated and totally replaced the Celtic. Generally people regard theancient Greek and Roman classics, which was called Renaissance inAngle- -Saxon as Old English. At the end of the 6th century, thehistory. At that time, Latin and Greek was regarded as the worldLatin-speaking Roman missionaries, St. Augustine' s followers,literature heritage. The English scholars translated these classics intogrealy contributed to the convesion of common peple to English and brrowed numerous Latin words which have become partChristianity，laying a good foundation for well-establishedof English vocabulary. After the Second World W ar, with the advanceChristianity. The introduction of Christianity had a big impact onof science and technology, thousands of new words were created toEnglish vocabulary. With many new thoughts and customs broadly express new ideas in politics. conmerce, technology, eltc. It deservesspread, some rligous terms entered in. For example, “amthem”， noing that even if borowings indeed have played a vital role in the“priest”，“nun’ ，‘altar' ，“ abbot”, etc. In the 9th century, Vikings中国煤化工d, more words areand Danes invaded Britain. They plundered and conquered Britainborn from word: -f(YHCNMH Gwe all know Oldbrutally. At last, British once chose a Danish leader as King who English is a highly Ttteted language, whereas Modem English tends682015- -02.文艺生活LITERATURE LIFE说文解字to become the analytic language with words endings mostly lost. They“kulak”is from“kyrak”(Russian)are quite different from each other.4.Semantic-loans二.the influence of foreign words on the Englishvocabularying instead of the form. Their form is native. In other words, the exist-(一) What is the foreign wordsing words of English are endowed with new meanings. Take“ dream”"By origin, English words can be divided into natve words and for example. Its original meaning was‘hppnes" and' 'music ，foreign words. Native words are originated from the Germanic tribes whereas its modem meaning was borowed from Old Norse. Besides,including Angle, Saxon and Jutes, also known as Angle- Saxon lan-“bridge”is an English word. When it means a sort of playing cardguage. The number of Angle- Saxon words is small, but it constitutesgames, its meaning was borrowed from' ponte” of Italian.the core of English vocabulary. Conversely, the words coming from(三) Borrowings are one of the most important reasons thatother languages are defined as foreign words or borrowings, also bor-change in word meanings and the production of synonymsrowed words or loan words. The browv ings from Latin and French are and homonyms of Engish vocabulary.full of literary flavor, being very formal and poetic, always employedThe patterns of semantic change follow several ways, mainlyby man of ltterse. Borrowing can be conducted directly or indirectly. such as extension, narrowing, elevation, degradation, analogy andTake the word,“feast", for instance. It was borrowed from French in transfer. From the diachronic angles, semantic change gives rise to theMiddle age directly, while “ algebra ' was borrowed from Arabicpolysemy of English words. Nevertheless, the influx of borrowingsthrough Spanish idiretly. A lot of English words derived from Greek partly results in the narrowing of word meaning. For example,“deer”"were borrowed via Latin or French indirectly.originally meant' animal ' , but‘ animal" was borrowed from Latin and(二)Cssification of borrowings“beast" was borrowed from French. These three words were synony-Throughout the whole history, English has adopted considerablemous. Hence，‘ animal" remained the primary meaning.‘ deer”wasborrowings from various languages. On the basis of the degree of as-specialized and "beast" was changed in word color. Another phe-similation and the means of borrowing, we could classifty the foreign nomenon is that the form or meaning of foreign words is identical towords into four classes.native words accidently. Consequently, owing to borrowings, modern1.DenizensEnglish possesses the extremely abundant synonyms and homonyms.Denizens denote the words which were borrowed from other lan-The synonyms related to borrowings can be exemplified as:"ask"guages in the early period but have been assimilated by English now,(native words),‘'question' (F rench), and‘ interrogate" (Latin) all meanaccording with the spelling and pronunciation of English. Some wordsare asmilaled so very well that only a few prlessionals can idenify can be exemplfied as:' fair' ”which means‘"market" is from“feria”" oftheir origin. These words were borrowed from Latin, Greek, FrenchLatin;“fair”which means“beautiful”is from“foeger”of Old Eng-and Scandinavian earlier in the past. For example:“port” is fromlish.“portus”(Latin), “shirt" is from“skytra”(Old Norse),“pork" is from三、Etymological Motivation“pore”(French).2.Aliensthe linguistic sign and meaning. The meaning of many words is di-The form and meaning of aliens are both borrowed. They pre- retly associated with their origin. Most English words meaning hasserve the original sound and spelling. We can make out it as alien undergone a long historical evolution. In other words, the history ofmerely in terms of its form. Sometimes in order to conform to the the words expounds the sense of the word. That is the implication ofphonological rules of new language, it may go through a slight change. etymological motivation. For instance,“butcher” is originated fromThey can be exemplifed as: d e cor (French), status quo (Latin), kow-‘bochier" of French. It was said that a queen was married to a butch-tow (Chinese), bazaar (Persian), etc.er. Since then, the profession as a butcher was very respected. The3. Translation -loansroot“boc" of“bochier” means he- goat. Hence,“butcher" in EnglishTranslation-loans, also called loan translation or calque, refer to .formerly means“the man who kills the goat or the man who sells theusing the English words to create the expressions modeled after for- goat meat . Afterwards, this meaning is extended. Furthermore, all ofeign language. I's a very special kind of borrowings. Properly speak- the words commonized from proper noun can be explained in light ofing, every morpheme or word is all translated from the counterpart of their origin. An example will sufice to iustrate this point. “boycot"another language correspondingly. It can be a word, a phrase, or even means‘ to resist' '， derived from a man' s name called Charles Cun-a sentence. On the whole, they can be subdivided into two categories: ningham Boycott. The history of this word can be traced back to theW ords translated according to the meaning:19th century in County Mayo of lreland. Charles Cunningham Boy-“black humour" is translated from“humour hoir”(French)cott, a retired captain, was a manager of tenants-in-chief. In 1880,“long time no see”is translated from“hajubujian" (Chinese)the famine resulted in crop failure in Ireland. The peasants couldn' t“free verse”is translated from“verse libre" (I atin)make a living. This man reiected to reduce the land rent and withdrew“masterpiece" is translated from“Meisterstuck" (German)parts of the rented中国煤化工ts. Under the ini-W ords translated according to the sound:tiative of the IrishIYHCNMHGofCharleStewart“Lama”is from“lama”(Tibetan)Partnell, the Irish nationalist politician, the residents (下转第97页)592015-02.文艺生活LITERATURE LIFE乐舞歌赋光月影宜相照;时而又是一江春水向东流;既能表现自嗟自叹、(二)刚柔并济反映出袖舞的审美特征伤感.无奈的情绪,又能表现灵巧、喜悦的情绪。那么袖劲是如何刚劲与柔劲是对立统一- ,缺- - 不可的。水袖质料柔软,它可达出人物情感的。袖劲力度的大小直接影响着袖姿和袖技。力度以借助手臂的带动在空间中产生飘逸柔韧、爆发、连绵不断的较小的袖技有扬袖、绕袖，以气带腰,腰带肘,肘带腕,水袖在空变换力度,也可以形成上下翻飞、婉转起伏、线条交错的动势形中产生出有弧度的袖姿。动作灵巧、轻柔.优美,通常能表现出欢态。 柔劲产生出清新、典雅、婉秀、飘逸的柔情美,而刚劲产生出快喜悦的情绪。放纵磅礴、激昂、刚毅的刚性美。无论是刚与柔,都能反映出袖反之,力度较大的袖技有冲袖、抓袖等。除了与其他袖技一舞独特的意境美。刚柔并济的劲力使得动作与动作之间形成强样的发力方式外,重要的是手腕给予水袖的爆发力,冲袖的要求烈对比和映衬，使之具有高度的含蓄性和想象力,同时反映出袖是水袖需在空中像箭一样挺 直,抓袖则利用“反衬劲”与收袖的舞“刚健挺拔 、含蓄柔韧”的气质美。袖舞的美感和韵味就是在圆惯性,瞬间用反力将水袖收住。这两个动作具有较强的冲击力，曲的体态,起承转合的袖势,忽展忽叠的形态以及或强或弱的劲在组合或作品中表现出愤怒、刚烈并带有反抗的情绪。可见,袖力中,通过动静、高低、强弱的对比,将袖和身体的韵律融为-技在空间流动过程中能表现出不同的水袖形态，也就能表达出体,并将袖舞对中国古典舞圆、游之美的崇尚,通过袖的变化婉人物变化.复杂的情绪。如果袖劲在袖技流动过程中再加以强弱转 地展现出来。的对比,那么扬袖与绕袖不仅能表现出喜悦之情,还能产生出哀四、结语怨、挣扎与纠结的心理;像冲袖和抓袖此类强度较大的袖技,也袖舞的历史源远流长。沿着“长袖善舞”的历史长河,它继承能表现出思念.激动地情绪。了中国古代歌舞水袖的表现形式，吸收了中国传统文化精神的所以,袖劲是人物情感表现力的基础，它能表达以及转换袖内涵与意蕴,融合了中国古典舞身韵的“形神劲律”,经历了历史技在不同场景中应产生的人物情绪与场景效果。由此可见，袖劲的 不断演变。袖舞是世界上独一无二并最具有民族代表意义的不光产生出水袖的舞蹈动作,也赋予了水袖“生命”。它将舞者内舞蹈形式。通过袖劲的产生、运用以及对中国古典舞审美性的影心的情感以及情绪的波动都通过水袖展现了出来。响,从不同角度进行了深入的研究与分析。三、袖劲反映出袖舞的审美特征总而 言之,袖劲在袖舞中的运用是丰富多变,并且具有决定水袖通过袖劲能表现出“行云流水”般的美感。正因为袖舞性作用的。 袖舞作为中国最具有代表性的传统文化艺术,会随着独特的审美性,以至于自古水袖便运用于古代歌舞之中,以供帝不同时代的文化背 景和审美意蕴发展、继承下去。王赏悦。如何将水袖产生出圆游之美的意境,这就需要我们掌握好袖劲的刚柔并济。参考文献:(一)刚劲与柔劲[]邵未秋.中国古典舞袖舞教程[M].上海:上海音乐出版社200.从劲的力度与速度区别出,发劲快而猛,表现为刚，而动作[2]唐满城,金浩中国古典舞身韵教学法[M].上海:上海音乐出版社,慢而轻,表现为柔。发劲时,是- - 种能量爆发性的释放,外形刚2006.猛,主要是动能,则为刚劲;而运动时是缓慢的释放,外形柔美，[3]李珍. 中国古典舞教材新编:技巧.剑舞.长袖[M].北京:人民音乐出主要是力在作用距离上做的功,则为柔劲。我们用眼睛是很难看版社.2001.到柔劲的,但从袖势的变化是能感觉到其存在的。[4]夏梦.浅谈袖舞的审美感和文化感[J].中国体卫艺教育论坛200705).(上接第69页)in the whole county took a joint action. They didn' t English. This fusion produces many synonyms and homonyms ofwork for him. The shop didn' t sale the commodity to him. His house English vocabulary, the division of which is very difficult for students.was attacked. His property was robbed and destroyed. He even was Nevertheless, almost the birth of every word has its unique story. Ifshot, nearly dying and fleeing to England finally. This event became you know about its origin, it will be easy to remember it. Admittedly,the headline of newspaper at that time. So the meaning of "boycot' "isresearch on the English etymology is of great help and significance fortaken from this man' s behavior.us to be aware of the relationship between language and society.四、ConclusionWhen exploring the history of English vocabulary, we will in-dentify that English is a rather mixed language. In the[1 ]张维友英语词汇学[M].北京:外语教学及研究出版社,1999.development of English language,, English vocabulary is mixed with[2]庄和诚英语词源趣谈[ M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,2009.Latin, French, Greek and Scandinavian, etc. Statistically speaking,[3]胡壮麟.语言学教程(第四版)(英文版)[M].北京:北京大学出版社，English has integrated the words of approximately 80 languages from[4]余志远英语国家概况[M北京:外语教学及研究出版社2005.AD1 to now. Some of these borrowings retain the trace of original lan-[5]李柬学细说英语词源[M].杭州:浙江大学出版社2013.guage, whereas more can' t be seen in form, toally assimilated by中国煤化工YHCNMH G .)7