制作人：上海建桥学院大学英语
Unit 7 Learning about English
Jan, 2008
Jan, 2008
Text A
The Glorious Messiness of English
Contents
 Warm-up Activities
 Background Information
 Words and Phrases
 Text Learning



Text Organization
Sentences Study
Rhetorical Devices in Text A
 After Reading

Summary of Text A
Warm-up Activities
Class Discussion
• What’s your impression of the English
language?
Class Discussion
• Why there are so many people learning
English in present China?
Class Discussion
• Do you think the globalization of English
means the Anglicization of the global?
Background Information
The History of English
Old English (450—1100)
 The Germanic Conquest
-- the historical mark of the beginning of the Old English
 The Main Characteristics of Old English
 Foreign Influences on Old English
Middle English (1100—1500)
 The Norman Conquest
 Foreign Influences on Middle English
Modern English (1500—1900)
 The Conditions for the Changes
 The Features of English during this Period
Old English (450—1100)
The Germanic Conquest
-- the historical mark of the beginning of the Old English
• Around the year 449 Britain was conquered by the three
Germanic tribes : the Jutes, Saxons and Angles. They
settled in the areas they occupied and established
separate kingdoms. They became the founders of the
English nation.
• The history of a language is always closely related
with the history of its speakers!
The Germanic Conquest
The Main Characteristics of Old English
 The Germanic tribes were exposed to Latin before
they invaded England, so the languages they spoke
did have some Latin influence. After converting to
Christianity, Latin had more influence, as evidenced
in words pertaining to the church.
 Celtic did not have a large impact on
English, as only a few place names are
of Celtic origin, but Danish (Old
Scandinavian) did contribute many
vocabulary words.
Foreign Influences on Old English
• The Celtic Influence
The defeated native Celts left a small number of words,
mainly place names for the Germanic invaders, such as
Lunden (London), Temese (Thames).
• The Great Effects of Christianity
The introduction of Christianity from Rome to Britain
in 597 exert the greatest influence of Latin on not
only the old English language but on the
whole English civilization. It is estimated
that 450 Latin words, mainly religious
words entered the Old English vocabulary,
more than 350 of which were used as the
core words.
• The Scandinavian Influence
Near the end of the Old English period, the language
underwent a third foreign influence. With the
Scandinavian attacks on England, the Old Norse was
brought to Old English by the Danes.
Not like the introduction of Christianity as a different
civilization, the Scandinavian civilization is very much
like the English. Consequently, the Scandinavian
elements entered the English language are
such through the give-and-take of everyday
life. Therefore the Scandinavian influences
dominates the fields as wide as laws and
administrative, names of places and people,
daily words, etc.
Middle English (1100—1500)
The Norman Conquest
 The Norman Conquest in 1066 is regarded as one big
event that changed the whole course of the English
language as a Germanic language.
 The Norman ruling of the English people brought
about the use of French by the upper class and
French literature at
the court; while the
English language
was sustained
among the lower
class.
Foreign Influences on Middle English
• French Influence on the Vocabulary and its Assimilation
After the Norman Conquest, the French rulers came
with their language. Inevitably English received huge
impacts in every aspect, the most direct of which is the
vocabulary. However, most of the new French
words are assimilated by adding the English
endings so that they became the basis of the
derivatives. (e.g., faith, gentle)
• The Borrowings from Latin
During the ruling of the Norman
Conquerors, three languages: French,
English and Latin were adopted
respectively by the three classes: the upper
rulers, the lower workers and the middle
ecclesiastics and men of learning. So a large
number of literary works
were written in Latin,
which contribute to the
direct Latin borrowings
of the Middle English.
(e.g., history, genius)
Modern English (1500—1900)
The Conditions for the Changes of English from Middle to Modern
• The introduction of the process of
printing from movable type exerted
an eventual influence on the language
development.
• The education was widely received by
the common people.
• The communication among people in
different areas intensified by
commerce, transportation promoted
the exchange of languages.
The Factors Affecting the Language
• The colonial expansion of Great Britain
The English language was widely spread
within the colonies of the British Empire
• The growth of science
The Late Modern English witnessed the
greatest and rapidest development of science in
human history. The modern growth of science
brought the modern civilization and language.
Language is a mirror of progress.
• The frequent international communication
The English language has been
internationalized and interrelated with other
languages in the world.
The Features of English during this Period
• The increasing vocabulary of the Modern English
By a variety of ways such as borrowing, affixation,
compounding, meaning shifting, coinage, etc.
• The three types of Standards exist side by side
The literary standard (the written language)
The spoken standard ( the received pronunciation)
The popular speech (the daily English)
• English overseas
English has become the language spoken in
the most countries of the world.
Words and Phrases
corrupt: vt.
1) cause errors to appear in
- The Academy ruled that such foreign expressions
were not permitted, as they corrupted the language.
2) cause to act dishonestly in return for personal gains
- To our great surprise, the former mayor
turned out to have been corrupted by the
desire for money and power.
- To gain more profits, the businessman
tried every means to corrupt the officials
in the local government.
ban:
1. vt. forbid (sth.) officially
- The local government will ban smoking in all public
places in 2010.
- Tom was banned from driving for one month after
being caught speeding again.
Pattern: ban sth.
ban sb. from (doing) sth.
2. n. ban (followed by on)
- The ban on underground nuclear tests
is a vital step toward disarmament.
necessity: n.
1) sth. You must have in order to live properly or
do sth.
- Water and air ate the basic necessity of life.
- Nowadays many people would consider a car as a
necessity.
2) the state of being necessary; the need for sth.
- There is absolutely no necessity for
you to be involved in the project.
/- They reached an agreement on the
necessity of educational reforms.
arouse: vt.
to provoke (a particular feeling or attitude)
– The man’s strange behavior aroused the policeman’s
suspicions.
– The teacher tried his best to arouse his students’
interest in English learning.
surrender: vi.
give in
– We will never surrender to terrorism
despite the terrorist attacks.
Pattern: surrender to sb./sth.
resemble: vt.
be like or similar to
– He resembles his mother more than his father. n
– The kid would pound spoons on any surface that
resembled a drum.
descend: vi.
come down (from a source)
– The Japanese are thought to be
descended from tribes from the north
of China.
Pattern: descend from...
establish: vt.
1) cause to be, set up
- The PRC was established in Oct. 1st, 1949.
- The bank helps people wanting to establish their business.
2) place or settle ab./oneself in a position, an
office,etc.
- They are establishing themselves as the
market leaders.
/- She established her fame as an actress.
Pattern: establish ab./oneself as.
pass (sth.) on to (sb.):
hand or give (sth.) to (sb.)
– The rich man passed on much of his fortune to his
daughter.
– When you have finished reading the novel, please
pass it on to Mary.
put (sth.) into practice:
– We should put what we have learned
into practice.
– Having delayed several times, we must
put this plan into practice now.
enrich: vt.
1) make rich or richer
- The development of oil fields enriched many Arabian
countries.
- That once poor village has been enriched by the profits
from tourism.
2) improve
- Travel enriches people’s lives.
/- It is important to enrich the soil prior
to planting.
modify: vt.
change slightly
– The school authority plans to modify the school
regulation.
– The computer programmers tired to modify the design
of the software to make it suitable for commercial
products.
source: n.
a place from which sth. comes or is
obtained.
– Tourism, which is the major source of
income for the city, has been seriously
affected by economic crisis.
out of control:
no longer able to be controlled
– The fire was out of control by the time the fire fighters
arrived.
– There was nothing they could do about it. The
situation was out of control.
strike out:
start being independent;
start doing what one wants to do in life
– After working for his father for about ten
years, he decided to strike out his own.
Text Learning
Part Division of the Text
Parts
Lines
1
1-17
2
18-89
3
90-102
Main Ideas
Massive borrowing from other languages is a major
feature of the English language.
Tells about the history of the English language from
the Indo-European parent language to modern
English.
Tolerance, love of freedom, and respect
for the rights of others -- these qualities
in the English-speaking people explain
the richness of their language.
Sentences Study
1. …so they invent a word, balladeur, which French
kids are supposed to say instead -- but they don't.
Paraphrase this part of the sentence.
- French children are expected to say the word “balladeur”
instead of “Walkman” but they don’t say it.
Pattern: sb. be supposed to do sth.
- 某人被期望/要求（按规则，惯例
等）做某事
Exercises: P.222, Structure, part 2
2. The history of English is present in the first words a
child learns about identity (I, me, you); possession (mine,
yours); the body (eye, nose, mouth); size (tall, short); and
necessities (food, water).
1) Paraphrase this part.
- The history of English is revealed in
the first words a child learns about …
2) Translate this part into Chinese.
- 英语的历史体现在孩子最先学会用来
表示……的词汇当中。
3. Fortunately their idea has never been put into practice.
That tolerance for change also represents deeply rooted
ideas of freedom.
What can we infer from this sentence about the author’s
attitude towards English?
- The author prefers what English is
today to what some British scholars
wanted it to do.
Rhetorical Devices
1. THE GLORIOUS MESSINESS OF ENGLISH
1) Translate the title into Chinese.
- 英语中绚丽多彩的杂乱无章现象.
2) What kind of rhetorical device is used in the title?
- The rhetorical device used here is called oxymoron
(矛盾修饰法). An oxymoron puts two contradictory
terms together to puzzle the reader, luring him/her to
pause and explore why. Here “Glorious” is a
commendatory(褒义的) term, while “Messiness” is
derogatory(贬义的). As the reader reads on, he/she
will know that English is messy, but the messiness
reflects some commendable qualities of English, such
as tolerance, the love of freedom, and the respect for
others’ rights. At this point the reader cannot but
admire the author’s ingenuity.
2. “ We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the
landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the
streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never
surrender.”
What kind of rhetorical device is used here? And what’s the
function of it?
- The rhetorical device used here is called
parallelism(排比法). With this device the
sentences become more powerful and will
leave a deeper impression on listeners or
readers.
3. The country now had three languages: French for the
nobles, Latin for the churches and English for the common
people.
What kind of rhetorical device is used here?
- The rhetorical device used here is called
metonymy( 转 喻 ). Here the word
“churches” stands for religious institutions
and those who are involved in religious
practices. For another example, in the
sentence “The kettle boils.”, the word
“kettle” stands for “the water in the kettle”.
4. Translations of Greek and Roman classics were poured
onto the printed page, and with them thousands of Latin
words like capsule and…
What is the Chinese version of this part?
- 希腊罗马经典著作的译文纷纷印
成书册.
What kind of rhetorical device is used here?
- The author uses personification(拟人
法) in this part.
5. Consider that the same cultural soil producing the English
language also nourished the great principles of freedom and rights of
man in the modern world. The first shoots sprang up in England,
and they grew stronger in America. The English-speaking peoples
have defeated all efforts to build fences around their language.
What kind of rhetorical device is used in these sentences?
- The rhetorical device used in these sentences is called
metaphor. Here the author uses a sustained metaphor: the
cultural soil, the first shoots sprang up, … grew stronger,
build fences around their language. In this case the English
language is compared to plants, and the various cultures
influencing it are compared to the soil, while users of
English are compared to gardeners. Besides this, the author
employs many other metaphors in this text, such as core of
English (Para. 4), another flood of new vocabulary (Para.
14), and the special preserve of grammarians (Para. 19).
After Reading
Summary of Text A
A fascinating feature of the English language
is its tolerance of new words and phrases, either
borrowed or invented. There exists no authority
to examine each new addition to the language, to
determine what is acceptable and to ban what is
not. True, some people do think that borrowed
words corrupt the language. They think the
language is running out of control. There was
even some talk at one time of establishing an
academy to maintain the purity of the language.
Fortunately the idea never took hold. Massive
borrowing from a rich variety of sources was, as
a result, left free to greatly enrich the language.