英语的发展

英语已经有了1500多年的历史了，在这1500年间，每一次历史的巨变都为英语引入了大量外来词汇，随着历史的进程，这些英语词汇不断完善和变更，最终形成了今天的语言形态。

追溯英语的发展，我们通常将它分为三个时期： 1 古英语时期（450~1100） 2 中古英语时期（1100~1500） 3 近代英语时期（1500~？）

Tracing the development of English, we can divide it into three periods: 1.Old English period (450～1100)2.Middle English period (1100～1500)3. Modern English period (1500～Present)

1.

公元5世纪，三个日耳曼部落入侵英国。这几个部落分别是:盎格鲁人，撒克逊人和朱特人。入侵英国的这几个日耳曼部落，其语言基本相近，这些语言的融合形成了我们现在称的古英语。现代英语最常用的词语中，大约就有一半起源于古英语。例如be,strong和water。

In the 5th century AD, three Germanic tribes invaded England. The tribes are the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. The languages of these Germanic tribes were basically similar, and the fusion of these languages formed what we now call Old English. About half of the most commonly used words in modern English originated from Old English, such as 'be','strong' and 'water'.

2.

1066年，诺曼底公爵威廉率兵征服了英国。在诺曼征服后，可以算是古英语时期的结束。诺曼人的入侵对英语有显著的冲击，为英语带来了大量的法语词汇，这使得现代英语中存现大量的同义/近义词。In 1066, Duke William with his army from Normandy invaded England.After the Norman Conquest, it could be regarded as the end of the Old English period. The Norman Conquest had a significant impact on English and brought a large number of French words to English, which led to the existence of a large number of synonyms in modern English.

3.现代英语一般分为早期现代英语与后期现代英语。早期现代英语时期，对英语词汇的影响最大的是文艺复兴运动。在这一时期，强调研究古代希腊、罗马文化，以对抗中世纪的封建文化。于是许多外来词，主要是拉丁语和希腊语的词语传入英语，成为英语的书面语和术语词的基本部分。同时也为英语提供了大量的同义词。早期现代英语与晚期现代英语的主要区别是词汇。晚期现代英语增加了许多词汇，这主要有两个因素:首先，工业革命的出现需要更多的新词;其次，英帝国在其鼎盛时期覆盖了地球大约四分之一的面积，英语从许多其他国家吸收了很多新词。

Modern English is generally divided into Early Modern English and Advanced Modern English. In the Early Modern English period, it was the Renaissance that had the greatest influence on English vocabulary. During this period, emphasis was placed on the study of ancient Greek and Roman cultures in order to counter the feudal culture of the Middle Ages. As a result, many loanwords, mainly Latin and Greek, were introduced into English and became the basic part of the written language and terminology of English. At the same time, it also provided a large number of synonyms for English. The main difference between Early Modern English and Advanced Modern English is vocabulary. Advanced modern English was added many words, which were mainly due to two factors: First, the emergence of the Industrial Revolution needed more new words. Second, the British Empire covered about 1/4 of the earth in its heyday, which made English  absorb a lot of new words from many other countries .