英语翻译
IfyouaskpeopletonametheonepersonwhohadthegreatesteffectontheEnglishlanguage,youwillgetanswerslike“Shakespeare,”“SamuelJohnson,”and“Webster,”butnoneofthesemenhadanyeffectatallcomparedtoamanwhodidn’tevenspeakEnglish—WilliamtheConqueror.
Before1066,inthelandwenowcallGreatBritainlivedpeoplesbelongingtotwomajorlanguagegroups.Inthewest-centralregionlivedtheWelsh,whospokeaCelticlanguage,andinthenorthlivedtheScots,whoselanguage,thoughnotthesameasWelsh,wasalsoCeltic.IntherestofthecountrylivedtheSaxons,actuallyamixtureofAnglos,Saxons,andotherGermanicandNordicpeoples,whospokewhatwenowcallAnglo-Saxon(orOldEnglish),aGermaniclanguage.Ifthisstateofaffairshadlasted,EnglishtodaywouldbeclosetoGerman.
Butthisstateofaffairsdidnotlast.In1066theNormansledbyWilliamdefeatedtheSaxonsandbegantheirruleoverEngland.Foraboutacentury,FrenchbecametheofficiallanguageofEnglandwhileOldEnglishbecamethelanguageofpeasants.Asaresult,EnglishwordsofpoliticsandthelawcomefromFrenchratherthanGerman.Insomecases,modernEnglishevenshowsadistinction(区别)betweenupper-classFrenchandlower-classAnglo-Saxoninitswords.Weevenhavedifferentwordsforsomefoods,meatinparticular,dependingonwhetheritisstilloutinthefieldsorathomereadytobecooked,whichshowsthefactthattheSaxonpeasantsweredoingthefarming,whiletheupper-classNormansweredoingmostoftheeating.
WhenAmericansvisitEuropeforthefirsttime,theyusuallyfindGermanymore“foreign”thanFrancebecausetheGermantheyseeonsignsandadvertisementsseemsmuchmoredifferentfromEnglishthanFrenchdoes.FewrealizethattheEnglishlanguageisactuallyGermanicinitsbeginningandthattheFrenchinfluencesarealltheresultofoneman’sambition.