法语对英语的影响(1)(2)
2015-12-02 01:07
导读：The languages brought into relationship by descent or progressive differentiation from a parent speech are conveniently called a family of languages. It is assumed that there are roughly 300 language
The languages brought into relationship by descent or progressive differentiation from a parent speech are conveniently called a family of languages. It is assumed that there are roughly 300 language families in the world, and the Indo-European, one of these, is made up of most languages of Europe, the Near East, and India. The parent tongue from which the Indo-European languages have sprung had already became divided and scattered before the dawn of history. The surviving languages show various degrees of similarities to one another, the similarity bearing a more or less direct relationship to their geographical distribution. They accordingly fall into eleven principal groups: Indian, Iranian, Armenian, Hellenic, Albanian, Italic, Balto-Slavic, Germanic, Celtic, Hittite, and Tocharian. [1]
The Italic branch has its center in Italy, and to most people Italy in ancient times suggests Rome and the language of Rome, Latin. The various languages that represent the survival of Latin in the different parts of the Rome Empire are known as the Romance or Romanic languages. The most extensive of the Romance languages are French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. The common form that the languages of the Germanic branch had before they became differentiated is known as Germanic or Proto-Germanic. The languages descended from it fall into three groups: East Germanic, North Germanic, and West Germanic. West Germanic is the group to which English belongs. [2] In short, both French and English belong to the Indo-European Family.3. Many English words coming from other languages, especially from French
As we know, the English language is of a mixed character. On one hand, it shares with West Germanic languages many common words and similar grammatical structures. On the other hand, more than half of the English vocabulary is derived from Latin, Greek, notably French.4. The influence of the French language upon the English language
4.1 The social background of the influence
4.1.1 The origin of Normandy
On the northern coast of France is a district known as Normandy. It derives its name from the bands of Northmen who settled there in the ninth and tenth centuries. The Normans had soon absorbed the most important elements of French civilization. They gave up their own language and learned French. For some years before the Norman Conquest the relations between England and Normandy had been fairly close. In 1002
