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1、本科毕业论文英国战争对英语习语的影响学生姓名： 学生学号： 200310206006 院（系）： 外国语学院 年级专业： 2003级英语本科3班 指导教师： 二七年五月The Influences of British Waron English IdiomsZhong ShaoyingUnder the Supervision ofWei XingcaiSchool of Foreign Languages and CulturesPanzhihua UniversityMay 2007ContentsAbstract Key Words摘要关键词Introduction1I. The En
2、glish Idioms Derived from Conquests and Invasions in Britain 3A. The Influences of Roman Conquest on English Idioms3B. The Influences of Teutonic Conquest on English Idioms5C. The Influences of Invasion of Vikings on English Idioms6D. The Influences of Normandy Conquest on English Idioms7II. The Inf
3、luences of the Two World Wars on English Idioms8 A. The English Idioms Originated from World War I9 B. The English Idioms Originated from World War II10III. The Military Words Used in English Idioms11Conclusion14Acknowledgements16Bibliography17AbstractEnglish is one of the languages with most abunda
4、nt vocabulary in the world. English idioms are permeated with a strong flavor and intertwined with the influences of other members of the nation. With the change of times, the old language gradually declined, a new language emerges constantly. Idiom is a mirror of a nation. It comprises the historic
5、al and cultural background as well as the attitude to life and the ways of people. The formation of English idioms is influenced by such cultural factors as geographical conditions, historical developments, customs, religious beliefs, literature and arts of the British nation. The origin of English
6、idioms goes back to ancient times. It has a strong expressiveness and vivid national character. A right use of them in speech and writing will add much to variety, strength and vividness of the language. With the increasing cross-cultural communication, approaches to the comprehension and translatio
7、n of English idioms are urgently needed. An appropriate translation of English idioms plays a significant role in the more frequent cross-cultural communication. Through expounding the origins, characteristics, translation principles and methods of English idioms, the thesis aims to help English lea
8、rners have a better understanding of British War and develop their abilities of English idioms translation by listing many lively examples. This article mainly discusses the influences of the history of British war on English idioms. People can have a deep understanding of English idioms through the
9、 study of the development of the history of British War. Key WordsEnglish idioms; origin; British war; language; influence摘要英语是世界上词汇最丰富的语言之一。英语习语渗透着浓厚的西方文化气息，交织着其他民族的巨大的影响。随着时代的变迁，旧的语言逐渐衰亡，新的语言不断产生。习语是民族的一面镜子，它包含了一个民族的历史文化背景，他们对生活的态度及其生活，思维的方式等众多的信息。英语习语的形成受到英语民族的地理环境，历史发展，风俗习惯，宗教信仰，文学艺术等诸多文化因素的影响。英
10、语习语源远流长，有很强的表现力和鲜明的民族色彩。恰当地使用习语能够丰富语言，增添其形象性和表达力。随着跨文化交际的增多，迫切需要对英语习语理解和翻译的方法进行探索。恰如其分的习语翻译对日益频繁的跨文化交际起着重要作用。本文通过对英语习语来源，特征及翻译的原则和方法的详述，结合大量生动的例子，旨在帮助英语学习者更好地了解英国战争，提高他们翻译有关英国战争英语历史的习语的能力。文章主要探讨了与英国战争历史有关的习语。通过对英语习语的英国战争历史发展的研究，更加深入的理解英语习语。 关键词英语习语; 来源;英国战争; 语言; 影响Introduction“An idiom is a phase wh
11、ose meaning is different or sometimes impossible to guess by looking at the meanings of the individual words it contains.” (A S Hornby, 2004, B19) Language is being regarded as a purely social product of the development of the society. At the beginning of the formation of the earth, there was nothin
12、g. such as air, water, plant, human, language did not exist. So the language is improving with the development of society. And languages are always developing. The English idioms are the fruits of the development of language and are used for a long time in language using. With the changes of times,
13、old language became feeble gradually and the new ones bring out continuously to replace the old ones. The vestiges of history mainly remain in idioms. Referring to the fundamental characteristics of the culture, concrete and superficial elements, and a cultural pattern in which a nation or a communi
14、ty has been living for long are rather stable. However, it may be encountered with certain crises resulting from drastic changes in a particular period. When these changes grow drastic enough, the original cultural pattern cannot efficiently control its residents any more and needs to be reconstruct
15、ed. This kind of reconstruction is named cultural transformation. During a cultural transformation, the original cultural pattern is gradually giving place to a new cultural pattern, with the much-disconcerted original society adjusts to meet with the tremendous exterior changes. As a result, a new
16、cultural pattern comes into being, and the society sees a fast development. In English, thousands of idioms originated from great historical events and the societies transformations. For the historical reasons Englishmen usually use the idioms consists of other countries and other words to despise o
17、ther countries people-Frenchmen, Dutchmen, Greek and so on. But with the development of society and flashing of time, some of them have faded their original meaning.To some extent, the geography has an impact on idiom formation, and the language would be different in terms of the clime, the climate
18、and the environment etc. U.K is an island country, and England is the first largest island in Europe. He has a winded seacoast, and the total length is 11.450km. The only way out to many European countries is the North Sea, the Dover Channel, and the English Channel, whereas, it is one of the busies
19、t voyage passage. The position of U.K., an island, has a vital meaning for its own development, and has a huge influence on forming idiom. The article mainly discusses the influences of the history of British war on English idioms. Idioms in terms of the historical development of British War were ex
20、tremely important that only through understanding the idioms of the British War history. For a Better understanding of the war, the British translation of English Idioms, and the rote or literally scrutiny, these two approaches are not feasible. English idioms related to the war that is necessary fo
21、r studying the development of history.I. The English Idioms Derived from Conquests and Invasions in BritainLooking back at the development of human being, the great influences on national cultures are mainly the changes of the earths crust, national movement, the national conquest and assimilation,
22、and the war between nations. The change of the earths crust is very slow. The archaeological excavations of cultural and historical relics make known that before the movement to the west of ancient nomadic tribe in India and Europe, on the island of Great Britain had lived Paleolithic Man. At that m
23、oment, the island was together with the continent of Europe. The national migrations and national conquests on todays land of England started in about three thousand years ago. At that time the Iberians from the Mediterranean resided on the Great Britain. They brought with Neolithic culture and at t
24、he same time they subjugated the Old Stone Man. From about 500 BD, the Celts who lived in todays North German of the Continent of Europe invaded and captured the island of Great Britain. They killed the Iberians cruelly at everywhere they went. The Gaels who lived in the countryside of the north and
25、 west part of Scotland are still using the language of Celtic. Celtic was the earliest language that can be found on the island of Great Britain according to the record of historical data.A. The Influences of Roman Conquest on English Idioms In 55 BD, the commander in chief of Roman, Julius Caesar,
26、came to the Great Britain after conquering the Gaul, but did not have conflict with the local Celts. And the next year Caesar came to the Great Britain second time. But this time he made his root firmly in the northeast of the Great Britain; he fired with the local ones. Although the Caesars won but
27、 they did not bring the Celts to their knees, so they did not make great influences on the social cultures of the Great Britain.“Appeal to Caesar”， “Great Caesar”, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesars”, these three idioms are left by the emperor Caesar who had captured the Great Britain. “A
28、ppeal to Caesar,” means that resorting to the highest leading bodies. “Great Caesar” equals Great Heavens. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesars,” mean that everything belongs to its own. So from these we can see that Caesar had influenced the language a lot till now.And in 49 BD，Pompous Mag
29、nus, the person is at the helm of Roman, assault Caesar in conspiracy with senate. At that moment there was a river at the juncture of Caesars manor Gallia Cisalpine and the central department of Italy named Rubicon. Caesar led his army outrageously in all desperation to fight with Pampers. When he
30、crossed the River he said: “The die is cast.” And then after he crossed the River he burned the boats to make the soldiers had no way to retreat but only to go straight to fight against the enemy and win. So there were three idioms left according to the story of Caesar. “Cross the Rubicon” means tak
31、e action in great dangers. “Burn the boats,” means to break the cauldrons and sink the boats to cut off all means of retreat. “The die is cast.” means that wood is already made into a boat and things what is done cannot be undone. From these idioms, we can see Caesars courage at that time. And also
32、some customs of Roman were left though English Idioms. “Bear the palm”, in Roman, the palm was the title of winner when he wore a palm corolla.“Worth ones salt”. In the period of Roman, salt was very valuable. In the army, the soldiers payment contained a part of salt and then it changed as some sec
33、urity named solarium that evolved salary. But “ salt equals salary in idiom” is widely used nowadays. So now if someone says “worth his salt” means that he is an employee who proved reliable. For example, any engineer worth his salt should know how machine works. “Thumbs up or down”, in order to get
34、 great pleasure, the nobles, Roman slave owner, employed slave as gladiators to fight in the public. After it was finished, they would invite the audiences to judge how to punish the loser. If the audiences thumbed up, the loser would be released. But if thumbed down, the loser would be killed. So n
35、ow people use thumbs up to show agreement and use thumbs down to show disagreement. The Rome captured Great Britain for nearly 400 years. Till 407, the Rome had to withdraw from Great Britain because Roman was besieged inside and outside. Four hundred years is enough time to form British Latin cultu
36、re. Rome went away but the influences of Great Britain by their culture were still there on the island. “Do in Rome as the Romans do.” “Rome was not built in a day.” “All roads lead to Rome.” From these idioms we can found the influences of Roman Conquest are so tremendous.B. The Influences of Teuto
37、nic Conquest on English IdiomsIn about 449, three German Tribes, resided in the northwest of Europe, invaded the Great Britain. They were Anglos, Saxons and Jutes. They crossed the North Sea and took advantages of the waning in power of Roman who could care nothing but them. They came into the Great
38、 Britain and met great defense of Celts, which made the conquest delayed one and a half centuries. At the end of 6th century, the Celtics, the original residents of the island of Great Britain, almost died out. This was the most famous conquest in the history of Britain named Teutonic Conquest. “Cut
39、 someone to the quick” here quick means skin especially the skin of the nail that will make you painful when you touch. “Quick” here is a word of Anglo-Saxon. This idiom infers that hurt somebody in motion. For example, “Her cruel words cut him to the quick.” “Go through fire and water” ，these idiom
40、s stemmed from the law of Declare Guilty in the period of Anglo-Saxon. If the suspects hands were good enough after making them into the boiling water, he was not guilty. So the meaning of this idiom is that defying all difficulties and dangers. It was widely quoted in the past. For example, I would
41、 go though fire and water to find out the truth of that matter.This conquest had great influences on the formation of English. Anglos, Saxons and Jutes had their own dialects. But they all belonged to Low West Germanic. They applied to all. And the communication of language was almost promoting with
42、 the development of society. The three tribes gradually became a united English nation, and the dialects they used were mixed together. So there was a new language Anglo-Saxon. This new language was formed after experiencing a series of nation migrations and conquests in special circumstances of geo
43、graphy and history. In fact, Anglo-Saxon was the origin of Modern English. Or more actually that West Saxon, the language of Saxon dwelling on the south of Thames, was the origin of the Standard English. So the influences of Teutonic Conquest on English were overall and had great decisive influences
44、. The Anglo-Saxon was one of the three origins of Modern English vocabulary. Many English Idioms from this period could be taken as evidence. C. The Influences of Invasion of Vikings on English IdiomsIn about 9th century, Britain was facing the widely invasions of Vikings especially the invasion of
45、Dane which began at the end of 8th century and lasted nearly three hundred years. At the beginning, they invaded as pirates and did not stay along. In the middle of 9th century, the Danes began to migrate nationwide. They annexed another countrys territory and established the “Danelaw” in the northe
46、ast of Britain. When Alfred the Great ruled the Britain in 871-899, the Danes fought against the Dane, they did not drive the Dane out of Britain. So in 878, Alfred the Great was forced to sign the treaty Peace of Wedmore. According to the treaty, the Danes still owned the “Danelaw”.Because of the i
47、nvasion and occupation of Scandinavians, the large part of Britain suffered great influences by the North European culture. Nowadays the names of the north and the east part of Britain were from Scandinavian. And also some peoples names were from Scandinavian such as Jackson, Thompson, Stevenson, an
48、d Johnson and so on. “Rain cats and dogs” stemmed from mythology of the north Europe. The main Gods of Norsemen Odin, dog and wolf symbolized “wind” and cat symbolized “rain”. So cats and dogs had the meaning of violent storms. E.g.: You cannot go out tonight; it is raining cats and dogs. “Six of one and ha
