参考译文：

英语的起源(上)

 

    从今天开始，我们分两期节目介绍英语的历史。

在当今世界，努力学英语的人要比学任何其他语言的人都要多的多。英语是世界政治谈判和国际贸易的通用语言，英语还是科学和医学的国际通用语言。国际条约规定民航客机的飞行员必须说英语。

在南美洲和欧洲的绝大多数学校里，英语是最主要的外语。菲律宾和日本的学生在八岁之前就开始学英语。英语还是七十五个国家的官方语言，这些国家包括英国、加拿大、美国、澳大利亚和南非。有些国家有许多各语言同时在使用，而英语通常是作为官方语言，以便 讲各种语言的人进行沟通。印度就是一个很好的例子：英语是印度的通用语言，同时在印度，超过百万人说的语言至少有34种。

那么英语是从何而来的呢？英语为什么会如此受欢迎？如此普及呢？要回答这个问题，我们就必须回到五千多年前的欧洲东南部的黑海北部地区，专家们说那个地区的人讲一种叫Proto-Indo-European的语言，但这种语言流行的时间并不长。研究人员不能确切地知道这种语言是如何发音的，但，专家认为，Proto-Indo-European语是绝大多数欧洲语言的祖先，这些欧洲语言包括后来演变成古代希腊语、古代德语和古代拉丁语。拉丁语作为一种口语消失了，但它后来却演变成三种伟大的语言，这三种语言后来演变成了现代的西班牙语、法语和意大利语。古德语后来演变成了荷兰语、丹麦语、德语、挪威语、瑞典语，这些语言中的一种后来又演变成了英语。

英语是几百年来外敌入侵英国这个岛国的一个结果。这些入侵者居住在欧洲的北部海岸。第一批入侵者是盎格鲁人，他们大约在1500年前入侵英国。盎格鲁人是一个德国部落，他们横穿英吉利海峡。后来，又有两批人入侵英国，他们是撒克逊人和朱特人。

这些入侵者在英国发现了当地的凯尔特人，这些凯尔特人在英国居住已经有好几千年的历史了。凯尔特人与这些入侵者战斗。但不久，绝大多数凯尔特人不是被杀害，就是被强迫做奴隶。有些凯尔特人逃到现在被称之为威尔士的地区。随着时间的流逝，撒克逊人、盎格鲁人和朱特人将他们各自的语言融合在一起，其结果就形成了盎格鲁—撒克逊语，又叫古代英语。古代英语非常难以理解，只有少数专家才能读懂这些早期的英语。

有几部古代英语时期的著作保存至今，其中最著名的也许是《Beowulf》(《贝奥武夫》)，这是最古老的英国诗歌。专家们说这部著作写于1500多年前，该诗的作者是谁我们并不清楚。《贝奥武夫》讲述了一位与妖怪作战的伟大的国王的故事，他是一位优秀的国王，深受他的人民的爱戴。下面请听沃伦.斯切尔用现代英语朗读这个古老故事的开篇。

接下来对英国的主要入侵是来自遥远的北方，大约始于1100年前。这些凶猛的人叫北欧海盗，他们袭击英国沿海。北欧海盗来自丹麦、挪威和其他一些欧洲的北部国家。他们志在抢夺贸易货物和奴隶及一切有价值的东西。北欧海盗非常强悍，他们还在一些地方建了一些临时的基地。这些临时的基地有时也就成为了永久性居住点。后来，许多北欧海盗就留在英国。今天我们所说的英语中有许多词汇就是来自这些北欧海盗的语言，如“sky(天空)”、“leg(腿)”、“skull(头骨)”、“egg(鸡蛋)”、“crawl(爬行)”、“lift(举起)”和“take(拿)”等就是来自这些遥远的北方国家的古老语言。

再一次对英国的主要入侵发生在九百多年前的1066年。历史学家将这次入侵称之为诺曼底征服。征服者威廉领导这次入侵。诺曼底人是来自法国北部的诺曼底，他们讲法语。他们入侵英国后成为了英国新的统治者。这些新统治者在头几百年只说法语，法语在当时是世界上最重要的语言，法语也是英国人接受教育的语言，但英国普通人仍然说古代英语。

古代英语从诺曼底法语中吸收了许多词汇，其中一些是“damage(损害)”、“prison(监狱)”和“marriage(结婚)”等，英语中绝大多数描述法律和政府的词汇也都是来自诺曼底法语，如“jury(陪审团)”、“parliament(国会)”和“justice(公正、正义)”等。到800年前，诺曼底统治者使用法语极大地改变了英国人的说话方式，英语逐渐演变成了专家们所说的中世纪英语。随着时间的流逝，诺曼底统治者也不再说纯正的法语了，他们所说的语言已经融合了法语和中世纪英语。

中世纪英语听起来像现代英语，但对现代人来说仍然很难理解。这一时期的许多著作得到了保存，其中最著名的也许是由杰弗里.乔叟所写的作品，他是生活在伦敦的一名英国诗人，他于1400年去逝。乔叟最著名的著作是《The Canterbury Tales》(《坎特伯雷故事集》)，这部故事集创作于600多年前。《坎特伯雷故事集》是一部描写各种各样的人来到坎特伯雷镇情形的诗集。下面请听沃伦.斯切尔朗读的乔叟著名的《坎特伯雷故事集》的开篇。

现在你再听一听斯切尔先生再次朗读这些句子，不过这次他是用现代英语来朗读的。

英语专家们说杰弗里.乔叟是使用英语创作的第一位重要的作家，专家们还认为乔叟那伟大的中世纪英语诗歌清晰地勾勒出他所处时代人民的生活景象。你刚才听到的这个序言，就描述了一群宗教布道士正向坎特伯雷镇而来的情形，他们为了自娱自乐，他们一致同意一边行进一边讲故事。《骑士的故事》讲述的是两个男人为获得一位漂亮女人的爱而展开竞争的故事。而《米勒的故事》则是一个滑稽有趣的故事，它讲述的是一个年轻男人爱上了一位已婚的女士的故事，这两个人给这位妇女的年老丈夫设计了一个卑鄙的诡计。

在《坎特伯雷故事集》中最著名的人物是巴斯的妻子，她是一位非常强壮而又顽固的女人，她喜欢谈论她生活中的许多冒险经历和她的婚姻。《坎特伯雷故事集》中所描写的人：有些既聪明又勇敢，而有些则既乏味又愚蠢；有些人自认为他们非常重要；有些人非常可爱，而有些人则非常卑鄙。不过，所有这些人看起来似乎都是真实的。

关于中世纪英语向我们现在所讲的现代英语演变的历史，我们将在下周继续向你讲述。

简评：

英语，之所以能够如此的普及，如此重要，主要得力于英国和美国。

英国，自十八世纪末十九世纪初以来，分别战胜西班牙和法国之后，成为了当时世界上最强大的国家(当时的中国正处于闭关锁国之时，虽然强大，但对世界没有什么太大的影响)，他们在全世界抢占领土，掠夺资源，建立起庞大的日不落帝国。他们所到之处，无一例外都推行他们的语言。他们在强力推行英语的同时，残酷地灭绝当地的语言。正因为如此，英语才会在七十五个国家成为官方语言。

而到了二十世纪初，美国取代了英国，成为世界上最强大的国家。而美国的官方语言也是师从其母国—英国，自然是英语。正是由于美国的强势崛起，进一步巩固了英语在世界的地位。

英语之所以能够在当今世界独领风骚，除了英国与美国先后在世界上统治百年以外，还有一个重要的原因，那就是英语与当今的科技发展趋势很好地融合在了一起，又一次赢得了快速发展的良机。

语言源于国家，它既为国家的强盛贡献力量，同时，国家的强盛又为它的发展和推广奠定了坚强的基础。

因此，我们现在要发展，要想成功，在很大程度上离不开英语，不承认这一点不行!

同样，今天，由于我们中国的快速发展，国力逐步强大，世界各地学习汉语的人也就越来越多，汉语向世界的进一步推广也就指日可待。

 

 

Where Did the English Language Come From?

 

Today we present the first of two programs about the history of the English Language. 

More people are trying to learn English than any other language in the world. English is the language of political negotiations and international business. It has become the international language of science and medicine.  International treaties say passenger airplane pilots must speak English.

Native Cape Verdean students learning English as a second language in Brockton, Massachusetts

English is the major foreign language taught in most schools in South America and Europe. School children in the Philippines and Japan begin learning English at an early age.  English is the official language of more than seventy-five countries including Britain, Canada, the United States, Australia, and South Africa.  In countries where many different languages are spoken, English is often used as an official language to help people communicate. India is good example.  English is the common language in this country where at least twenty-four languages are spoken by more than one million people.

Where did the English language come from? Why has it become so popular? To answer these questions we must travel back in time about five thousand years to an area north of the Black Sea in southeastern Europe. Experts say the people in that area spoke a language called Proto-Indo-European. That language is no longer spoken. Researchers do not really know what it sounded like. Yet, Proto-Indo-European is believed to be the ancestor of most European languages. These include the languages that became ancient Greek, ancient German and the ancient Latin.  Latin disappeared as a spoken language. Yet it left behind three great languages that became modern Spanish, French and Italian. Ancient German became Dutch, Danish, German, Norwegian, Swedish and one of the languages that developed into English. 

The English language is a result of the invasions of the island of Britain over many hundreds of years. The invaders lived along the northern coast of Europe.  The first invasions were by a people called Angles about one thousand five hundred years ago. The Angles were a German tribe who crossed the English Channel.  Later two more groups crossed to Britain. They were the Saxons and the Jutes.

These groups found a people called the Celts, who had lived in Britain for many thousands of years. The Celts and the invaders fought. After a while, most of the Celts were killed, or made slaves. Some escaped to live in the area that became Wales. Through the years, the Saxons, Angles and Jutes mixed their different languages.  The result is what is called Anglo-Saxon or Old English. Old English is extremely difficult to understand.  Only a few experts can read this earliest form of English.

'Beowulf,' a 2007 movie, starred Ray Winstone and Angelina Jolie

Several written works have survived from the Old English period. Perhaps the most famous is called Beowulf. It is the oldest known English poem. Experts say it was written in Britain more than one thousand years ago.  The name of the person who wrote it is not known.  Beowulf is the story of a great king who fought against monsters. He was a good king, well liked by his people. Listen as Warren Scheer reads the beginning of this ancient story in modern English：

So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by

and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness.

We have heard of those princes' heroic campaigns.

There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes,

a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes.

This terror of the hall-troops had come far.

A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on

as his powers waxed and his worth was proved,

In the end each clan on the outlying coasts

beyond the whale-road had to yield to him

and begin to pay tribute. That was one good king.

 

The next great invasion of Britain came from the far north beginning about one thousand one hundred years ago. Fierce people called Vikings raided the coast areas of Britain. The Vikings came from Denmark, Norway and other northern countries. They were looking to capture trade goods and slaves and take away anything of value. In some areas, the Vikings became so powerful they built temporary bases. These temporary bases sometimes became permanent. Later, many Vikings stayed in Britain. Many English words used today come from these ancient Vikings. Words like "sky," "leg," "skull," "egg," "crawl," " lift" and "take" are from the old languages of the far northern countries. 

The next invasion of Britain took place more than nine hundred years ago, in ten sixty-six. History experts call this invasion the Norman Conquest. William the Conqueror led it. The Normans were a French-speaking people from Normandy in the north of France. They became the new rulers of Britain. These new rulers spoke only French for several hundred years. It was the most important language in the world at that time. It was the language of educated people. But the common people of Britain still spoke Old English.

Old English took many words from the Norman French. Some of these include "damage,"  "prison," and "marriage." Most English words that describe law and government come from Norman French. Words such as "jury," "parliament," and "justice."   The French language used by the Norman rulers greatly changed the way English was spoken by eight hundred years ago.  English became what language experts call Middle English. As time passed, the ruling Normans no longer spoke true French. Their language had become a mix of French and Middle English. 

A 15th century painting of Geoffrey Chaucer, commonly called the Harvard Chaucer Portrait

Middle English sounds like modern English. But it is very difficult to understand now.  Many written works from this period have survived. Perhaps the most famous was written by Geoffrey Chaucer, a poet who lived in London and died there in fourteen hundred. Chaucer's most famous work is "The Canterbury Tales," written more than six hundred years ago.  "The Canterbury Tales" is a collection of poems about different people traveling to the town of Canterbury.  Listen for a few moments as Warren Scheer reads the beginning of Chaucer's famous "Canterbury Tales." ：

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote

The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,

And bathed every veyne in swich licour

Of which vertu engendred is the flour; 

Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth

Inspired hath in every holt and heath.

Now listen as Mister Scheer reads the same sentences again, but this time in Modern English：

When April with his showers sweet with fruit

The drought of March has pierced unto the root

And bathed each vein with liquor that has power

To generate therein and sire the flower;

When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,

Quickened again, in every holt and heath,

The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun.

English language experts say Geoffrey Chaucer was the first important writer to use the English language. They also agree that Chaucer's great Middle English poem gives us a clear picture of the people of his time. The prologue you just heard describes a group of religious travelers going to Canterbury. To entertain themselves, they agree to tell stories while they travel. The Knight's Tale is about two men who compete for the love of a beautiful woman. The Miller's Tale is a funny story that tells about a young man who is in love with a married woman. The two play a mean trick on the woman's old husband.

One of the most famous characters in the series of stories is the Wife of Bath. She is a strong, and opinionated woman who likes to talk about her many adventures in life and marriage.  Some of the people described in "The Canterbury Tales" are wise and brave; some are stupid and foolish. Some believe they are extremely important. Some are very nice, others are mean. But they all still seem real.

The history of the English language continues as Middle English becomes Modern English, which is spoken today. That will be our story next time.

http://www.21voa.com/path.asp?url=/mp3/voa-se-exp-history-english-pt1-20aug08.mp3