精美英文欣赏:英语中的法语(上)

French in English

英语中的法语

There is no doubt that today English is one of the most important and richest of the world's languages.

毫无疑问,英语是当今世界上最重要、最丰富多彩的语言之一。

Probably the most significant factor accounting¹ for the latter quality was the Conquest of England by the Normans more than 900 years ago.

影响英语后一特征最重要的因素很可能来自于九百多年前的诺曼人对英格兰入侵。

The conquering Normans spoke² French. Most of the inhabitants of the conquered nation spoke varieties of Anglo-Saxon of Germanic origin.

被征服的诺曼人讲法语,这些被侵略的国家的大部分居民都讲着各种由日耳曼语起源的各种盎格鲁撒克逊语言。

Of course, the Normans were stronger than the local inhabitants politically and naturally their language became the language of the King's court.

当然,诺曼人在政治方面比当地居住的其他种族都要强势,自然而然,他们的语言就成为了宫廷用语。

It also became the language for written documents, together with Latin, and was generally regarded as "more literary" and somehow "better" than the language of the common people.

后来还同拉丁语一起成为了官方书写文件的语言。他们普遍认为,自己的语言比平民用的语言更"好"且更文雅。

In spite of apparently³ being "worse", however, the language of the ordinary inhabitants of England, and especially the language spoken by the inhabitants of the central part of the country, did not die out.

抛开明显的"缺陷", 英格兰普通居民的语言,特别是中部地区的语言,在今日并未消亡。

For centuries, the two languages continued to exist side by side.

数世纪以来,英语和法语一直并存。

Besides this invasion French has influenced English in several others ways.

除了这次侵略外,法语也在其他几个方面影响着英语。

First, France had its renaissance⁴ earlier than England and was a wealthier country than England for many centuries, so England borrowed many words and phrases for cooking, fashion, and arts from France.

首先,法国比英国更早进行文艺复兴运动,且数世纪以来都比英国更加富裕,英语中许多有关烹饪,时尚和艺术的词汇都是从法语中借用来的。

Second, French became the official language of diplomacy⁵, so that many words and phrases for law, war, and travel came into English.

其次,法语是官方的外交用语,因此英语中也借用了许多有关法律,战争和旅行的词汇。

1 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

5 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。