Английский язык. Ч. 4. Гималетдинова Г.К - 9 стр.

                                               10


facts appear not to explain everything about the development of the language. There
is at least one interesting question. Why did not the British learn Latin from the Ro-
mans? After all, France, Spain, Portugal and Romania all kept the imperial language
after the end of the Roman Empire. The answer may be the distance from Rome; the
province of Britannia was on the wild and uncooperative margins of Europe. Al-
though the Romans were here for 400 years, they did not leave very much behind
them. It is hard to know how much the Celtic language of the Britons took on a Latin
flavour. Actually its living descendant, Welsh, has a lot of Latin roots in it, so perhaps
in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, they were on their way to creating another great Ro-
mance language. But it was not to be. The Anglo-Saxons who took over from the
Romans in Britain were relatively untouched by Latin influences, so Celtic was re-
placed by Germanic, and the British romance with Romance was, temporarily, over.
      In 1066, the French-speaking Normans invaded England. Over the next 300
years, their French merged with Anglo-Saxon to create a new language: the writ-
ing of Chaucer (1343-1400) is not very far from modern English. As in the rest of
Europe, Latin, especially in its written form, remained for a long time the language
of science, philosophy and the Church. But English was growing stronger; it was
soon not only the language of everyday life but also that of a flowering literature.
Caxton introduced printing into the country in 1476, and that did much to stan-
dardise forms – spelling was very inconsistent at that time. Latin and Greek clas-
sics and the Bible were translated into English. By the time of Shakespeare
(1564-1616), the language was highly developed and very healthy indeed.
                                         Словарь
formal or technical vocabulary – официаль-          to create – создавать
    ная или техническая терминология                creation – создание
Latinate vocabulary – насыщенная лати-              Anglo-Saxons – англосаксы
    низмами лексика                                 relatively – относительно
linguistic mixture – лингвистическое сме-           untouched – нетронутый
    шивание                                         influence – влияние, воздействие
historical facts – исторические факты               to influence – влиять
development of the language – развитие языка        to replace – заменять
the Romans – римляне                                Germanic – германский (язык)
the Roman Empire – римская империя                  Romance – романский язык
to keep the imperial language – сохранить           temporarily – временно
    имперский (относящийся к империи)               the Normans – норманны
    язык                                            to invade – вторгаться
distance – расстояние                               invasion – вторжение
wild and uncooperative margins of Europe –          to merge – сливаться
    дикие, обособленные окраины Европы              written form – письменная форма
not to leave very much behind – немногое            to remain – оставаться
    оставить после себя                             to grow stronger – расти, становиться
the Celtic language – кельтский язык, язык              мощнее, сильнее
    кельтов                                         flowering literature – процветающая лите-
the Britons – бритты                                    ратура
Latin flavour – особенность, ‘привкус’ ла-          to introduce – внедрять, вводить
    тинского языка                                  to standardise forms-spelling – нормализи-
descendant – потомок                                    ровать, стандартизировать правописа-
Welsh – валлийский, уэльский язык                       ние, орфографию
Latin roots – латинские корни                       inconsistent – противоречивый
AD = anno Domini – нашей эры                        highly developed – высоко развитый