词汇学 Middle English (1150-1500).pptVIP

Middle English (1150-1500) Norman conquest in 1066 Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) The battle of Hastings（黑斯廷战役） Two great results of the Norman Conquest First,it brought to an insular nation a new and larger continental culture . Second,it forced on England ‘the national idea’, a concept against which the Saxons had long struggled. The simultaneous existence of three languages The native English（本地英语） Norman French （诺曼法语） The Latin（拉丁语） Norman French became the polite speech. The native tongue was a despised language which was left to the use of boors and serfs. Latin was used by the church. The situation of the simultaneous existence of three languages continued for over a century. By the end of the 13th century, English gained its position gradually. Bit by bit it came back to the schools, the law courts, and the government and regained social status. It made the final step back to a position of importance when it emerged once again as a respected literary medium with Wycliff translation of the Bible and the writings of Chaucer, Langland and others. Speech of England Main dialects Northern Northum-brian Midland Mercian Southern Wessex Changes of the Middle English (1) The steady erosion of the Old English inflectional systems: the Old English --- a period of full endings the Middle English --- a period of leveled endings (2) The French influence on English vocabulary e. g. state, government, fashion, dress, coat, court, crime, pork, blue, scarlet, etc. (3) Latin words continued to make their way into the English vocabulary. e.g. genius, item, formula, index, superior, area, exit, circus, census, series, specimen, medium, senior, junior, curriculum, etc. Some examples of the Middle English words 海 see 铅笔 pencel 苹果 appel 男孩 boi 女孩 girle 战争 warre 活的 liven 人们 peple 武器 armes 血 blod 死亡 dien 食物 fode 　　 ——载自《坎特伯雷故事集》