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French in English
英語中的法語
There is no doubt that today English is one of the most important and richest of the world's languages.
毫無疑問,英語是當今世界上最重要、最豐富多彩的語言之一。
Probably the most significant factor accounting for the latter quality was the Conquest of England by the Normans more than 900 years ago.
影響英語后一特征最重要的因素很可能來自于九百多年前的諾曼人對英格蘭入侵。
The conquering Normans spoke French. Most of the inhabitants of the conquered nation spoke varieties of Anglo-Saxon of Germanic origin.
被征服的諾曼人講法語,這些被侵略的國家的大部分居民都講著各種由日耳曼語起源的各種盎格魯撒克遜語言。
Of course, the Normans were stronger than the local inhabitants politically and naturally their language became the language of the King's court.
當然,諾曼人在政治方面比當地居住的其他種族都要強勢,自然而然,他們的語言就成為了宮廷用語。
It also became the language for written documents, together with Latin, and was generally regarded as "more literary" and somehow "better" than the language of the common people.
后來還同拉丁語一起成為了官方書寫文件的語言。他們普遍認為,自己的語言比平民用的語言更"好"且更文雅。
In spite of apparently being "worse", however, the language of the ordinary inhabitants of England, and especially the language spoken by the inhabitants of the central part of the country, did not die out.
拋開明顯的"缺陷", 英格蘭普通居民的語言,特別是中部地區的語言,在今日并未消亡。
For centuries, the two languages continued to exist side by side.
數世紀以來,英語和法語一直并存。
Besides this invasion French has influenced English in several others ways.
除了這次侵略外,法語也在其他幾個方面影響著英語。
First, France had its renaissance earlier than England and was a wealthier country than England for many centuries, so England borrowed many words and phrases for cooking, fashion, and arts from France.
首先,法國比英國更早進行文藝復興運動,且數世紀以來都比英國更加富裕,英語中許多有關烹飪,時尚和藝術的詞匯都是從法語中借用來的。
Second, French became the official language of diplomacy, so that many words and phrases for law, war, and travel came into English.
其次,法語是官方的外交用語,因此英語中也借用了許多有關法律,戰爭和旅行的詞匯。
