羅馬人在公元43年至410年間生活在英國。羅馬人對英語語言的影響深遠，直到今天，人們?nèi)栽谑褂靡恍┯衫≌Z衍變的詞匯，尤其是與食物、飲品、建筑以及英國地名有關(guān)的詞匯。本文介紹羅馬文明對英語語言的影響。

詞匯：Latin 拉丁語

The Romans lived in Britain between 43AD and 410AD but their?legacy?is still felt today and not just in physical?ruins. The Romans left us language, including some common English words.

羅馬人在公元43年至410年期間居住在英國，但他們的遺產(chǎn)今天仍然可以感受到，而且不僅僅是有形的廢墟。羅馬人給我們留下了語言，包括一些常見的英語單詞。

During the Roman?Empire, Latin, an?ancient?language, was spoken in many parts of Britain. While the Romans wrote in classical Latin, they?conversed?in?vulgar?Latin –?colloquial, everyday language that was used between soldiers and in?trade. Because of trade, words that?stuck?often relate to food and drink, such as ‘wine’, which came from the Latin ‘vinum’. Others relate to?dwellings?such as ‘kitchen’, derived from the verb ‘cook’, and ‘wall’, which originally referred to a?stake?or post outside a?fort.

在羅馬帝國時期，拉丁語，一種古老的語言，在英國的許多地方被使用。雖然羅馬人用古典拉丁語寫作，但他們用通俗的拉丁語交談——在士兵和貿(mào)易中使用的口語和日常用語。由于貿(mào)易的原因，單詞通常與食物和飲料有關(guān)，比如“wine”，它來自拉丁語“vinum”。還有一些與住所有關(guān)，比如源自動詞“cook”的“kitchen”，以及最初指堡壘外的木樁或柱子的“wall”。

Settlements?and roads in Roman times were?extensive. The word ‘street’, used generally as well as being used for specific names of streets, originally came from ‘strata’ which meant?paved?road. On a similar note, academic research from the field of linguistics indicates many well-known place names in the UK?owe their origin?to Latin. For example, the Romans used ‘castrum’ to refer to a city, which developed into the common place ending -chester, -caster or -cester. Consider Manchester. It is a?former?Roman fort which was known as Mamuciam. Other places with Roman?derivations?include Lancaster and Leicester.

在羅馬時代，定居點和道路是廣闊的?！皊treet”這個詞，通常也用于特定的街道名稱，最初來自“strata”，意思是鋪設(shè)的道路。同樣，語言學(xué)領(lǐng)域的學(xué)術(shù)研究表明，英國許多著名的地名都源于拉丁語。例如，羅馬人用“castrum”來指一個城市，它發(fā)展成以“chester”、“caster”或“cester”結(jié)尾的普通地方?？紤]曼徹斯特。它是一個前羅馬堡壘，被稱為Mamuciam。其他有羅馬血統(tǒng)的地方包括蘭開斯特和萊斯特。

A significant impact on English which came from the Romans is the use of the Roman?alphabet.?Manuscripts?of Old English texts have shown a version not unalike written English today. Differences include some letters however, such as two symbols called ‘a(chǎn)sh’ and ‘eth’. Nowadays you are more likely to see these symbols in a guide to pronunciation.

羅馬人對英語的一個重要影響是羅馬字母的使用。古英語文本的手稿顯示了一個與今天的書面英語相似的版本。不過，區(qū)別還包括一些字母，比如兩個符號:ash和eth?，F(xiàn)在你更可能在發(fā)音指南中看到這些符號。

So, even though 1,600 years have passed, the Romans live on.

所以，盡管已經(jīng)過去了1600年，羅馬人仍然活著。

詞匯表

legacy 遺產(chǎn)
ruins 遺址
Empire 帝國
ancient 古老的
converse 和…交談
vulgar 通俗的
colloquial 口語的，非正式的
trade 買賣，貿(mào)易
stuck 保留下來
wine 紅酒
dwellings 房屋
stake 樁子
fort 堡壘
settlements 定居點
extensive 廣闊的，覆蓋范圍廣的
paved 鋪砌的
owe their origin 起源于
former 早前的
derivations 衍生物，起源
alphabet 字母表
manuscript 手寫本

測驗與練習(xí)

1.?閱讀課文并回答問題。

1. True or false??The Romans left behind physical ruins and some language.

2. What language did the Romans write in?

3. Why did words related to food and drink stay in English?

4. What did the Latin word ‘strata’ mean?

5. Which three places originally derived from Latin place names?

2.?選擇意思恰當(dāng)?shù)膯卧~或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. All that is left of the civilization are _______ of ancient buildings.? ?

settlements? ? ? ? ? ? ?ruins? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?fort? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?dwelling

2. Zoe didn’t enjoy her _______ job as much as her new one.

ancient? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?colloquial? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?vulgar? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?former

3. They _______ luxury goods at the market.

alphabet? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?trade? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? manuscript? ? ? ? ? ? ?language? ? ??

4. His novel was considered his _______ when he died.?

origin? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? derivation? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?left? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? legacy

5. He had studied both contemporary and _______ acting.

classical? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?extensive? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? significant? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?everyday

答案?

1.?閱讀課文并回答問題。?

1. True or false??The Romans left behind physical ruins and some language.
True. They left physical ruins and some common words still used today.??

2. What language did the Romans write in?
The Romans wrote in classical Latin.

3. Why did words related to food and drink stay in English?
Because they were used in trade.

4. What did the Latin word ‘strata’ mean?
‘Strata’ originally meant ‘paved road’ and evolved into the word ‘street’.

5. Which three places originally derived from Latin place names?
Manchester, Lancaster and Leicester.

2.?選擇意思恰當(dāng)?shù)膯卧~或詞組來完成下列句子。

1. All that is left of the civilization are?ruins?of ancient buildings.

2. Zoe didn’t enjoy her?former?job as much as her new one.

3. They?trade?luxury goods at the market.

4. His novel was considered his?legacy?when he died.?

5. He had studied both contemporary and?classical?acting.

文章來源BBC，侵權(quán)刪，本文僅用于英語學(xué)習(xí)。