Боргуль Н. М. Пособие по основам теории изучаемого языка, печать
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- § 2.2 The Latin element in the English vocabulary
| § 2.1 The
Celtic element The first known language in Britain, the land where English began, was Celtic. Once used throughout Western Europe, it is now spoken by small groups of people mainly in Ireland, Wales, and the Scottish Highlands. But aside from some place and river names (among them Kent, Thames, Avon ) and the first syllables of other ( Win chester, Salis bury, Ex eter and Glou ster) and less than 20 words (among them crag ― rock ǁ , down ― hill ǁ , dun ― colour ǁ , bin ― a chest for corn ǁ ), Celtic left no lasting impression on the English language. Why did it have so little influence? Language scholars believe the English refused to adopt the Celtic language because they considered it the language of an inferior people. The Celts, on the other hand, were forced to speak English to communicate with their rulers. After a time, the Celts in Britain found their language no longer useful. It is necessary to note that the words bard, brogue, plaid, whisky are all of the Celtic origin, but none of them existed in the English of the Anglo-Saxon period. W.Skeat registers 165 words borrowed directly or indirectly from the Celts, including in this number words of uncertain origin supposed to be derived from the Celtic. Here are a few words Celtic in origin which became international: budget, career, clan , flannel, mackintosh , etc. Some of the early Latin borrowings ( street, wall, mill, kitchen ) came through Celtic. § 2.2 The Latin element in the English vocabulary The Latin influence on English begins very early and lasts to the present day. Though a dead language nowadays, Latin has been adopted for scientific terms. Latin terms are understood by scientists all over the world. All in all about a quarter of the Latin vocabulary has been taken over by English. We must distinguish between those Latin words borrowed through immediate contact, that is orally, at the early stages of language development and those that came through writing. The first are mostly monosyllabic and denote things of everyday importance while the latter are mostly long bookish words. Oral borrowings belong to жүктеу/скачать 0,78 Mb. Достарыңызбен бөлісу:
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