Инновационный Евразийский Университет Кафедра «Английская филология и перевод» Слайд-лекция по дисциплине «История языка» на тему: Middle English Historical Background Для студентов специальностей «Переводческое дело» «Филология: иностранная филология» Разработал: ст.преп. Фанакова Л.В.

ПЛАН ЛЕКЦИИ 1.Economic and Social Conditions in the 11 th - 12 th c. 2.The Scandinavian Invasions. Their Effect on the Linguistic Situation. 3.The French Influence on the English Language: 3.1 The Norman Conquest 3.2 Effect of the Norman Conquest on the Linguistic Situation

The ME period corresponds to the transitional stage from the slave-owning and tribal system to the feudal system. In the 11th c. feudalism was already well established.

Economic and Social Conditions in the 11th-12th c. In the 11th c. feudalism was already well established. Under natural economy, most of the things needed for the life of the lord and the villain were produced on the estate. In Early ME the differences between the regional dialects grew.

In addition to economic, geographical and social conditions, dialectal differences in Early ME were accentuated by some historical events, the Scandinavian Invasions and the Norman Conquest.

The Scandinavian Invasions In the 8th c. raiders from Scandinavia (the Danes) made their first plundering attacks on England. The struggle of the English against the Scandinavians lasted over 300 years, during which period more than half of England was occupied by the invaders and reconquered again.

The Scandinavian Invasions The new settlers and the English intermixed and intermarried; They lived close together and didnt differ either in social rank or in the level of culture and customs; Their intermixture was easy as there was no linguistic barrier between them (OE and O Scandinavian belonged to the Germanic group of languages

Though the Scandinavian invasions of England are dated in the OE period (8th -10th c.), their ultimate effect on the English language became particularly apparent at a later date, mainly in the 12th -13th c.

Vocabulary changes Due to Scandinavian influence proceeded in different ways: 1.Scandinavian word could enter the language as an innovation, without replacing any other lexical item (e.g. law, fellow). 2.More often, however, the loan-word was a synonym of a native English word and their rivalry led to different results: a)the loan-word could eventually disappear or could be restricted to dialectal use; a)it could replace the native word (e.g. they, take, call, which replaced OE hie, niman, clipian); a)both the borrowed and the native words could survive as synonyms with a slight difference in meaning.

The Effect on the Linguistic Situation The Scandinavian elements were incorporated in the English language. The presence of the Scandinavians in the English population is indicated by a large number of place-names in the northern and eastern areas. The major semantic spheres of Scandinavian borrowings pertain to everyday life and do not differ from native words.

The Norman Conquest In the battle of Hastings, fought in October 1066, the English were defeated. This date is commonly known as the date of the Norman Conquest. After the victory, most of the lands of the Anglo- Saxon lords passed into the hands of the Norman barons. The Normans occupied all the important posts in the church, in the government and in the army.

For almost 300 years French was the official language in Britain

Effect of the Norman Conquest on the Linguistic Situation French loan-words spread throughout the language space and became an integral of the English vocabulary. Early borrowings were mostly made in the course of oral communication. Later borrowings were first used in literature – in translations of French books.

Effect of the Norman Conquest on the Linguistic Situation French borrowings of the ME period refer to different semantic spheres: Nearly all the words relating to the Government and Administration; The Military terms; Law and Jurisdiction; the Church and Religion; House, Furniture and Architecture; Meals and Dishes e.t.c.

Effect of the Norman Conquest on the Linguistic Situation French influence led to different kinds of changes in the vocabulary: There were many innovations. There were numerous replacements of native words by French equivalents. The adoption of French words synonymous with native words.

Assimilation of French words by the speakers of English was a difficult process. The French language belonged to a different linguistic group and had very little in common with English.

Контрольные вопросы 1.Describe the economic and social conditions in the 11th-12th c. 2.When did the Scandinavians make their first attacks on Britain? 3.How did the assimilation of Scandinavian borrowings proceed? 4.When did the Norman Conquest begin? 5.How long was French the official language in England? In which spheres of life was it used? 6.What kind of changes in the vocabulary did the French influence lead to? 7.Why was assimilation of French words by the speakers of English a more difficult process than assimilation of Scandinavian words?

Литература: Основная учебная литература: 1.Расторгуева Т.А. История английского языка: Учебник для вузов М.: Астрель, 2003 (чз-5, аб-15). 2.Иванова И., Чахоян Л., Беляева Т.История английского языка: Учебник. Хрестоматия. Словарь/ И.Иванова, Л.Чахоян,Т.Беляева СПб.: Лань, 2006 (чз-5, аб-17). Дополнительная учебная литература: 1.Ярцева В.Н.Языкознание: Большой энциклопедический словарь / Под ред. В.Н.ЯрцевойМ.: Большая Российская энциклопедия, 2000 (чз-3). 2.«Сrosscultural Aspects of The English Language History (Historical, social and cultural backgrounds of the English language history)»: учебное пособие по курсу истории английского языка/ Сост.: Р.Ж. Саурбаев, C.Г. Кулагина; Сургут. гос ун-т. – Сургут: Изд-во СурГУ, 2003 (медиатека ИнЕУ).