An Analysis on the Influence of Christianity on English Language
I.Introduction
The diversity of culture is a reminder that the history of English is a story of culture during the past 1,500 years. The English language people use today went through three stages. Namely, old English ,middle wnglish and modern English. if people look back to the history of English, it’s certain to say that many elements have helped to shape the language, but one element that so crucial that we should pay special attention to is the influence of Christianity.
II.on English General Vocabulary
In the west, Christianity has always been an important part of ideology, and infiltrated into all aspects of English vocabulary.
2.1.Day-to-day Words
The word breakfast originally came from the Christian habbit of “breaking the fast”; the worldwide word restaurant came from Bible, to be exact, rest came from bible. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” In 1766, Chef Boulanger opened a shop to provide people with food .A large sign hang in front of the door that reads the sentence. Thus, the word restaurant became popular. Some words people take for granted also came form bible. when people part , they say goodbye, its original meaning is “god be with you”. The original meaning of holiday means “holy day” ; Christmas came from old English “cristes moesse” or “the mass or festival of Christ”, and “ Christ” means “Jesus”. Most of The British and Americans are chritians, they regularly go to church, they believe in god, devil, heaven and hell. Some religious terms inevitably remain on English language, such as “go to church” “damn it” “power of the keys” and so on.
2.2 Taboo Words
Taboos’ existence has promoted the development of language and enriched the vocabulary. Surely, different background, different taboos. Due to their unique cultural background, the British and American taboos show distinctive traces of bible culture. The New Testament recorded that Judas, the betrayer, was the 13th in the
The diversity of culture is a reminder that the history of English is a story of culture during the past 1,500 years. The English language people use today went through three stages. Namely, old English ,middle wnglish and modern English. if people look back to the history of English, it’s certain to say that many elements have helped to shape the language, but one element that so crucial that we should pay special attention to is the influence of Christianity.
II.on English General Vocabulary
In the west, Christianity has always been an important part of ideology, and infiltrated into all aspects of English vocabulary.
2.1.Day-to-day Words
The word breakfast originally came from the Christian habbit of “breaking the fast”; the worldwide word restaurant came from Bible, to be exact, rest came from bible. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” In 1766, Chef Boulanger opened a shop to provide people with food .A large sign hang in front of the door that reads the sentence. Thus, the word restaurant became popular. Some words people take for granted also came form bible. when people part , they say goodbye, its original meaning is “god be with you”. The original meaning of holiday means “holy day” ; Christmas came from old English “cristes moesse” or “the mass or festival of Christ”, and “ Christ” means “Jesus”. Most of The British and Americans are chritians, they regularly go to church, they believe in god, devil, heaven and hell. Some religious terms inevitably remain on English language, such as “go to church” “damn it” “power of the keys” and so on.
2.2 Taboo Words
Taboos’ existence has promoted the development of language and enriched the vocabulary. Surely, different background, different taboos. Due to their unique cultural background, the British and American taboos show distinctive traces of bible culture. The New Testament recorded that Judas, the betrayer, was the 13th in the
References: Good News Bible [M] United Bible Societies 1981 Miller.John.W. The Origins of The Bible [M ] New York: Paulist Press, 1994 Freeborn. D, From Old English To Standard English [M] 北京：外语教学与研究出版社 中文参考文献 周方珠，英汉典故比较与翻译[J] 中国翻译，1991 朱维之. 基督教与文学[M]. 上海：上海书店，1992