History of the English Language / 英语的历史
The English language began when people from a number of Germanic tribes emigrated from the European mainland to Great Britain. From that times, English evolved to become the most useful language in the world.
英语起源于一些日耳曼部落的人从欧洲大陆移居到英国。从那时起，英语逐渐发展成为世界上最有用的语言。
The history of the English language can be split into four major periods:
· Old English (450 AD – 1150 AD)
· Middle English (1150 AD – 1500 AD)
· Early Modern English (1500 AD – 1700 AD)
· Modern English (1700 AD – Present)
英语的历史可以分为四个主要时期：
古英语（公元450年－1150年）
中古英语（公元1150年－1500年）
早期现代英语（公元1500年－1700年）
现代英语（公元1700年－现在）
Old English (450 AD – 1150 AD) / 古英语（公元450年－1150年）
The English language started to evolve when the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, from what is now called Germany and Denmark, crossed the North Sea to settle in the South and East of Great Britain. Their dialects merged together to form the earliest version of English. It replaced Latin after the Romans withdrew from Great Britain and also pushed against the Celtic language then prevalent in Scotland and Ireland.
英语开始演变是因为来自现在德国和丹麦的盎格鲁人、撒克逊人和朱特人穿越北海到英格兰南部和东部定居。他们的方言融合在一起形成了最早的英语版本。在罗马人撤出英国后，它取代了拉丁语，同时也对当时在苏格兰和爱尔兰流行的凯尔特语产生了影响。
This early version of English would incomprehensible to modern English speakers and its grammar resembled German rather than today’s English. However, this period provided words that are still in use today such as arm, drink and bed. Viking invaders from Scandinavia who also settled in Great Britain also introduced new words such as egg, sky, and skin.
这种早期的英语对现代英语使用者来说几乎难以理解，它的语法更像德语而不是今天的英语。不过，这个时期产生的一些词直到今天仍在使用，比如arm (胳膊 )、drink ( 饮料 ) 和bed ( 床)。从斯堪的纳维亚入侵并定居在英国的维京人也引入了新的单词，比如egg (鸡蛋 )、sky(天 ) 和skin (皮肤)。
During this period, the first book in English was written called ‘Beowulf’. It is an exciting story about a man’s battle against a frightening, supernatural monster.
在这段时间里，第一本英语书写成了，叫《贝奥武夫》。这是一个关于一个人和可怕的超自然怪物战斗的精彩故事。
Middle English (1150 AD – 1500 AD) / 中古英语（公元1150年－1500年）
There was a major change when the Normans from France invaded in 1066 and took control of England. Initially, the Norman ruling class used ‘Old French’ whereas the ordinary people continued to use ‘Old English’. However over time, the two languages merged to form ‘Middle English’. As a result, the English language incorporate thousands of new French words such as fruit, castle and justice. At the same time, the complex Germanic grammar started to simplify.
当法国的诺曼人在1066年入侵并控制英格兰时，发生了重大变化。一开始，诺曼统治阶层使用“古法语”，而普通人仍使用“古英语”。不过随着时间推移，这两种语言融合形成了“中古英语”。因此，英语吸收了成千上万的法语新词，比如fruit、castle和justice。同时，复杂的日耳曼语法也开始简化。
English literature started to become widely available during this period. The most famous book of this period is ‘The Canterbury Tales’ by Geoffrey Chaucer. This is a collection of stories shared by a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury.
在这个时期，英语文学开始广泛传播。这个时期最著名的书是乔叟的《坎特伯雷故事集》。这是一本讲述一群朝圣者在去坎特伯雷路上分享的故事的合集。
Early Modern English (1500 AD – 1700 AD) / 早期现代英语（公元1500年－1700年）
The Renaissance in Europe triggered a huge interest in science and the Arts. The cultures of the Greeks and Romans were assiduously studied and thus many words from Latin and Greek were incorporated into the English language such as philosophy, agenda and school.
欧洲的文艺复兴引发了人们对科学和艺术的浓厚兴趣。人们认真研究希腊和罗马的文化，因此很多拉丁语和希腊语的词汇被引入英语，比如philosophy (哲学 )、agenda (议程 ) 和 school (学校)。
Although the invention of the printing press standardised the spelling of many English words, the English language has not undergone a formal standardisation process like the French or German languages. In addition, the ‘Great Vowel Shift’ (1400 AD – 1700 AD) significantly altered the pronunciation of many English words. Both these factors has caused the confusion over the spelling and pronunciation of some English words for many foreigners attempting to learn English.
虽然印刷术的发明使许多英语单词的拼写标准化了，但英语并没有像法语或德语那样经历过正式的标准化过程。此外，“大元音推移”（1400 年－1700年）也显著改变了许多英语单词的发音。这两个因素导致了许多试图学习英语的外国人在拼写和发音方面感到困惑。
The Early Modern English period was a highly creative time for English literature. During this time, the Shakespeare wrote his famous plays and an English version of the Bible was produced and distributed across England.
早期现代英语时期是英语文学非常有创造力的时期。在这段时间里，莎士比亚写了他著名的戏剧，同时一版英文圣经被发布并在英国各地传播。
Modern English (1700 AD – Present) / 现代英语（公元1700年－现在）
The Industrial Revolution in the U.K. and development of the British Empire dramatically increased number of number of English speakers. If you wanted to communicate or do business with British people, you had to speak English. This situation continues to this day. If a Frenchman, German and Italian wish to have a conversation among themselves, they will probably speak to each other in English.
英国的工业革命和大英帝国的发展大大增加了讲英语的人数。如果你想和英国人沟通或做生意，你就得说英语。这个情况一直持续到今天。如果法国人、德国人和意大利人想聊聊天，他们很可能会用英语交流。
The dominance of British and American culture has also helped to spread the knowledge and use of English. British and American pop groups and singers are known throughout the world. Films and TV shows made in America and the U.K. are also extremely popular. Indeed, many foreigners have learnt their English from watching ‘Friends’.
英美文化的主导地位也帮助推广了英语的知识和使用。英美的流行乐队和歌手在全世界都很有名。美国和英国制作的电影和电视剧也非常受欢迎。事实上，很多外国人都是通过看《老友记》学会英语的。
Many English words, such as email, WiFi and sofa have now been incorporated into other languages. This flow of new words however has not just been one way. The English language incorporates many words such as jungle, pyjamas, ketchup and kung fu, from other languages.
许多英语单词，比如 email (电子邮件)、WiFi (无线网络) 和 sofa (沙发)，现在已经被其他语言吸收了。不过，新词的流入并不是单向的。英语也吸收了很多来自其他语言的单词，比如 jungle (丛林)、pyjamas (睡衣)、ketchup (番茄酱) 和 Kung Fu(功夫)。
The English language continues to be a living and growing language with more than a thousand new words and expressions added to the Oxford English Dictionary every year.
英语仍然是一门活的、不断发展的语言，每年牛津英语词典都会新增一千多个词语。