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1、Multinational cultures and English vocabulary1. IntroductionLanguage, as a special form of culture, will develop itself by absorbing the valuable elements from other cultures and languages. In my thesis, I would introduce the multinational cultural influences such as the culture of French, Latin, Gr
2、eek, Scandinavian, Chinese and others on English vocabulary, and the English-speaking countries as Canadian, Australian and new Zealand cultures, made great contributions to English vocabulary. These cultures influenced English vocabulary in different history stages, and different fields. As languag
3、e is the carrier of the culture, the spreading of cultures depends on the communicating of languages. The purpose of a language enriching its vocabulary is for studying and absorbing the advanced culture. That is to say, the enriched vocabulary reflected the culture especially the advanced culture o
4、f a country. The thesis also introduces some ways through which the multinational cultures entered English vocabulary. The most important thing is to have a particular understanding on English vocabulary and history, by the study of foreign vocabulary.2. Culture and Vocabulary 2.1 The Definition of
5、CultureThere have been more than 160 descriptions about culture, but there is a common understanding, culture includes the broad sense and the narrow sense. In the broad sense, culture is the sum of the human society with practical activities and imperishable spirit. In the narrow sense, culture is
6、a kind of expressions of a language. some experts believe that culture is a complex entity, representing itself in economy, art, religion, scientific knowledge, morality, habits and psychology etc. in a certain period of time. Some consider that culture should be divided into two parts: the first on
7、e is “culture of capital letter”, the other one is “culture of small letter”. The “culture of capital letter” includes art, literature, music, architecture, philosophy, and technology etc. which directly reflect every aspect of human civilization. The “culture of small letter” includes customs and h
8、abits, life style, code of conduct, social custom, the way of the world, the social organization and the correlativity etc. Culture has been enriched and consummated with the development of social history. At different stage of social history, culture has different characteristics. Language is the m
9、ost important component of social culture, it plays an important role in the formation and development of culture. E.Sapir considered that language is a guide for culture. Certainly , the language is an important tool that can help people understand the social essence and social culture. In the mean
10、 time, it is the most important condition for understanding a culture.2.2 Significance of Studying Cultural Connotation of English VocabularyLanguage, as a special form of culture, will develop itself by absorbing the valuable elements from other cultures and languages. English language is like a hi
11、gh building and a large mansion, the pronunciation is its foundation; the grammar is its drawing and structure; the vocabulary is all its building materials. Without the building materials the large mansion can only be a drawing. This is the function that the vocabulary plays in the language. Accord
12、ing to relevant materials, there are more than 6000 languages in the world; English is used as a extensive language. there are about 600 billion people who take English as their mother tongue. The popuation who regards English as the second language or foreign language is 3 billion. Over half of the
13、 scientific literatures in the world were written in English. Over 60% of broadcast programs are reported in English. Over 70% of letters or E-mails are written in English. Especially , in international politics, economy, culture and transportation etc. English is taken as the communicative media. I
14、n China, English has already become the most important language in developing economy and exchanging experiences. It is useful for understanding English vocabulary.2.3 A Brief Introduction to the Characteristics of English VocabularyEnglish vocabulary is composed of 26 letters, so it is flexible. Th
15、e original spelling of English vocabulary was irregular, so, many words had more than 10 kinds of spellings. It was said that the word “Shakespeare” had about 17 spellings. Afterwards, the Scotland dialect especially London dialect was taken as the standard spelling. Gradually, the spelling of Engli
16、sh vocabulary was united. The derivation of English vocabulary is multiplex. A great number of English vocabulary are borrowed from French such as: beef, pork, entre(dish served between the fish and meat courses at a formal dinner),(Hornby, 2002: 482) filet(small tender piece of beef without bones,
17、cut from a sirloin), maladroit(not clever or skillful, clumsy) etc. Some words come from Greek, like, adonis(handsome young man), amazon(tall strong athletic woman), basso(low voice), jovial(very cheerful), opera(play in which words are sung to a musical accompaniment), solo(piece of music, dance, e
18、ntertainment etc. performed by only one person) etc. Some words came from Spain, such as: matador(bullfighter whose task is to fight and kill the bull), cabana(bathroom) etc. Opening is another characteristic of English vocabulary. The words which come from different nations are made up freely, and
19、form new English words. According to statistics, English vocabulary has reached about 1million, but 80% of them are loan-words. Just as Mr. Zhang Boran said: “ English is the sum of European cultures, and concentrate the European human civilizations.” That is to say, English vocabulary is really a k
20、ind of “cosmopolitan vocabulary”. As a carrier of culture, language reflects its national culture. And the vocabulary is the characteristic of national culture. Namely, vocabulary is the characteristic of national culture.2.4 Borrowed Words in the English VocabularyThe most important influence of a
21、culture on English vocabulary is in the field of borrowed words. What are borrowed words in the English vocabulary? Borrowed words or loan-words are words taken from foreign languages. Latin, Greek, French are the three languages that have made great contributions to the English language. that is to
22、 say, many loan-wards in the English vocabulary have been taken from these three languages.2.4.1 Causes and Means of Borrowings in EnglishThere are two causes of borrowings in English: Historical and social.Historically, on the one hand, English share with West Germanic language many common words an
23、d similar grammatical structures; on the other hand, more than half of the English vocabulary is derived from Latin. Some of these borrowings have been direct, but a great many of them came through French, some through other Romance languages, such as: Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. The influence
24、of foreign languages on English language has been the result of the succession of invaders who came into contact with the English people during the Middle Ages, on the one hand. On the other hand, invasions and trade by the English themselves have carried English to most parts of the world, and at t
25、he same time, brought many words from foreign languages into English.Socially, as the world develops so does the English language. Especially, in the twentieth century, owing to the rapid development of the modern mass media, the international and cultural exchange and formation, a great number of b
26、orrowed words have come into English. They have become a component part of the English vocabulary to satisfy needs of society. In what ways have loan-wards come into through conquest, commerce, travel, literature, mass media, for instance: newspaper, radio broadcast, television and many other ways.
27、In other words, loan-words have come into English through the spoken word, on the one hand. And through the written word, on the other hand.2.4.2 Four Groups of Loan-wordsForeign borrowings is the main influence of foreign culture and may be divided into four groups according to their character.The
28、first one is aliens. Aliens are words borrowed from foreign language without any change of the foreign sound and spelling. They are usually considered as foreign words. The following French borrowings are aliens: automobile, elite.The second one is denizens. Denizens are words taken from a foreign l
29、anguage with a transformation of the foreign sound and spelling into native sound and spelling. Many Scandinavian words, for instance, egg, get, give, skill, skin, sky, take.Sometimes denizens conform to native words even in adoption of English affix: suffix or prefix, e.g.Poorness (French root with
30、 English suffix )Ungracious (French root with English prefix and )Eventful (a Latin root-event with an English suffix-ful )Talkative (an English root-talk with a Latin suffix-ful )Hybrids are also denizens, because they are words made up of two parts, each from a different language, such as:Sociolog
31、y (a French element-socio with a Greek element-logy )Hydroplane (a Greek element-hydro with a Latin element-plane ) (林承章, 2005: 41)The third one is translation-loans. The translation-loans are words borrowed from foreign language by means of translation. The translation-loans are compounds. Sometime
32、s English compounds are borrowed from other languages, but their components are translated into English. These are called loan-translation or translation-loans, for instance,The compound black humor is a translation-loan from French hum our noir.The last one is semantic borrowings. Words which have
33、acquired a new meaning under the influence of other language are called semantic borrowings. The words bloom means flower come from Scandinavian blom. So was the word gift, the old English word gift meant the price of a wife, while the Scandinavian word gipt meant gift, present. The word has acquire
34、d a new meaning under the influence of the Scandinavian language. In China the word modernization is used in the phrase four modernizations. The word represent is used in the phrase three Represents (representing the development trend of Chinas advanced productive forces; representing the orientatio
35、n of Chinas advanced culture; and representing the fundamental interest of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people). So are the words one and two in one divided into two, and the word shock in shock bridge or shock worker. The word postliberation is also a semantic borrowing from China. (Lin
36、 et al , 2005:49-52)3. The Influences of Multinational Cultures on English Vocabulary3.1 The Element of French Culture in English Vocabulary3.1.1 The Reason Why French Vocabulary Has Such Important Status in EnglishNowadays French still takes an important role in English, that is because the four ma
37、in points as follow:First of all, French is close to Great Britain, this condition is useful for the cultural communication, accordingly, it also promotes the interaction especially reflects in the field of vocabulary. Secondly, in British universities, French is a traditional course. This is a good
38、 passage for French infiltrating into English. Thirdly, in the fields of dress design, art, entertainment and cooking, French made a great contribution. Therefore the vocabulary in these fields was French words. In the process of absorbing the advanced culture, these French words infiltrated into En
39、glish vocabulary. At last the events in the history also had great influences on English vocabulary.3.1.2 The French Element in the English VocabularyWhen in January 1066, Edward the confessor died childless. England was again faced with the choice of a successor. The day after the Edwards death Har
40、old was elected King. William, the Duke of Normandy, however, was a second cousin to the late king. While William was on a visit to England, Edward promised him that he should succeed him. Only by force, then could William hope to obtain the English crown. The battle of Hastings, fought in 1066, res
41、ulted in the defeat of the Anglo-Saxon army. While William won the battle of Hastings, he had not yet succeeded to the England throne. It was only after he had burned and plundered the southeast of England that the citizens of London decided that further resistance would be useless. At last, they su
42、rrendered and on Christmas Day 1066 William was crowned King of England. This is one of the most important events in the history of England. The conquerors became masters of the country for a long time and left a deep influence upon the English language. after the Norman conquest it was about three
43、hundred years in which the king spoke French. All the important places in the government, at the courts of the conquerors. These conditions brought about by the Norman conquest opened the door for a great influx of French words. Of course, not all landowners attached to the courts and in the countri
44、es. But the common people in England speak English. Therefore England became a bilingual country at that time.The Normans belonged to a race of Scandinavian origin, but during the residence in Normandy they had given up their native language and had adopted the French dialect of that region. The Nor
45、mans introduced into England a variety is Parisian French. By the end of the thirteenth century, Parisian French began to enter England. And more still in fifteenth century. A large number of French words made their appearance in the works of Chaucer and other English writers, especially in many Eng
46、lish translations of French literary works published at that time. In the sixteenth century, the words borrowed from French were in the fields of war, trade and society. The seventeenth century, is a shining stage on the history. In this age, the people in the palace all could speak French, and the
47、government was absorbing French culture, meanwhile, the words in the fields of economy, technology and military were borrowing into English. In the eighteenth century, French symbolized fashion and privileged stratum. There was an interesting phenomenon, the live animals people called in English, bu
48、t when they were cooked and put into dishes people used French words to name them. There list some words as follow:EnglishswineOxCalfSheepDeerFrenchPorkBeefVealMuttonVenisonNormans brought some names of fruits into English such as: date, grape, lemon, orange, etc. In the nineteenth century, a large
49、number of French vocabulary were borrowed into English in the fields of art, furniture, and textile, etc. the French influence on English language brought great changes in its grammar and vocabulary. Till now, the French influence never stop.In the influence of the French language upon the English language is direct and evident. These two languages existed side by side for a long time in England, and the transference of French words into the English vocab
