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What did the Norman conquest do to England? It gave in French kings and nobles. The Normans also brought with them the French language After the Norman conquest there were three languages in England. There was Latin, The language of church and the language in which all learned men wrote and spoke; the kings wrote their laws in Latin for some time after the Conquest. It was difficult for the people to understand these laws. Then there was French, the language which the kings and nobles spoke and which many people wrote. Finally, there was the English language which remained the language of the masses of the people. Some men might know all these languages; many knew two; but most of the people knew only one. There were some people who understood the French language though they could not speak it. Rich people who owned land, the landowners, often knew French an Latin. But poor people, the peasants, did not understand French or Latin. They understood only English. In time, however, came the general use of the English language. About 1350 English became the language of law; and at that time there lived the first teacher who taught his boys to read and write English and to translate, not from Latin into French (4), but from Latin into English. Then between 1350 and 1400 lived Wycliffe [Sviklif] who made the first complete translation of the Bible into English, and Chaucer (5), the father of English poetry. The English language when it came into general use (6) was not quite the same as it was before the Conquest. The grammar remained, but many words came into from the French language. Примечания (1) the battle of Hastings битва при Гастингсе - порт на юго-востоке Англии. (2) Vikings - участники морских походов скандинавов в конце VIII -сер. XI вв. (3) Some 150 years before - за какие нибудь 150 лет до ... (4) from Latin into French - с латинского на французский. Заметьте предлоги: to translate from... into ... (5) Chaucer [tfo:s3] - Чосер, английский поэт конца XIV в. (6) came into general use - вошел во всеобщее употребление. Новые слова adopt [a dopt] v принимать, усваивать after [ a 'fts] ргр после, за; adv потом against [s'geinst] ргр против battle ['bastf] n битва become [Ы'клт], Past. Ind. became [bilceim] v стать before [bi'fo:]j>r/> перед, до; adv раньше, впереди between [bi'twim] ргр между Bible fbaibl] n Библия bring fbrig] Past. Ind. brought [brat] v приносить Christian [’kristjsn] а христианский church [tfs:t/] г церковь complete [kem'plrt] а полный; v завершать 143
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