英語史

英语中 who 和 whom，he 和 him，she 和 her 等词，都是古代宾格和与格融合的结果，介词后面的属格也是这种融合产生的。这种融合的形式被称作“间接格”，英语术语为 oblique case 或 object (objective) case。这是由于该词格变化用于动词的动作对象（Object），也用于指出某词是介词所指的对象。原有的靠词格变化传递信息的方式，在现代英语中通常由介词和语序的变化所代替。古英语、现代德语以及冰岛语中，这些词格变化都还存在。

虽然“宾格”和“与格”这两个传统术语仍为某些语法学家所用，但现在来看这些只是形式而已，他们在现代英语中已经失去了真正的“格”的意义。也就是说，whom 这个词也许能表现出宾格或与格的意义（还可能是工具格或介词格），但它只是一种单一的形态，因此属于单格。这与主格 who 和属格 whose 的关系形成对比。许多语法学家使用更为直观的术语，如“subjective”，“objective”，“possessive”来表达代词的主格、间接格和属格。

现代英语名词只在属格上和主格有所不同，也有语言学家指出，这根本就不算词格变化，只是一种附着词素而已。

¹ - 某些方言中，who 在正式英语中必须用 whom，尽管方言差异必须考虑在内

² - 通常被 of what 代替

（古英语也有一套单独的双数系统，比如用 wit 表示 we two 等等，这种形式在演变过程中完全消失了。）

注意 ye 和 you 的区别仍然存在，至少有些时候存在，比如在近代英语 “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” 就有所体现（参见《钦定版圣经》）。

这里的字母 þ（可以和 ð 互换） 和 th 有关联。

（they 的现代形式的起源通常被认为是古诺尔斯语的 þæir, þæim, þæira。这两套不同的词根共存了一段时间，但现在他们余存的共同点就只有 'em 这个缩略形式了。）

节选自《贝奥武甫》第 1 到 11 行, 约公元900年

Hwæt! Wē Gār-Dena	in geārdagum,
þēodcyninga	þrym gefrūnon,
hū ðā æþelingas	ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scēfing	sceaþena þrēatum,
monegum mǣgþum,	meodosetla oftēah,
egsode eorlas.	Syððan ǣrest wearð
fēasceaft funden,	hē þæs frōfre gebād,
wēox under wolcnum,	weorðmyndum þāh,
oðþæt him ǣghwylc	þāra ymbsittendra
ofer hronrāde	hȳran scolde,
gomban gyldan.	Þæt wæs gōd cyning!

以下是 Francis Gummere 对上文的翻译，以供参考:

Lo, praise of the prowess of people-kings
of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,
we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!
Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,
from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,
awing the earls. Since erst he lay
friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:
for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,
till before him the folk, both far and near,
who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,
gave him gifts: a good king he!

节选自《The Voyages of Ohthere》《Wulfstan》。全文可在维基文库中的 The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan 找到。

Ōhthere sǣde his hlāforde, Ælfrēde cyninge, ðæt hē ealra Norðmonna norþmest būde. Hē cwæð þæt hē būde on þǣm lande norþweardum wiþ þā Westsǣ. Hē sǣde þēah þæt þæt land sīe swīþe lang norþ þonan; ac hit is eal wēste, būton on fēawum stōwum styccemǣlum wīciað Finnas, on huntoðe on wintra, ond on sumera on fiscaþe be þǣre sǣ. Hē sǣde þæt hē æt sumum cirre wolde fandian hū longe þæt land norþryhte lǣge, oþþe hwæðer ǣnig mon be norðan þǣm wēstenne būde. Þā fōr hē norþryhte be þǣm lande: lēt him ealne weg þæt wēste land on ðæt stēorbord, ond þā wīdsǣ on ðæt bæcbord þrīe dagas. Þā wæs hē swā feor norþ swā þā hwælhuntan firrest faraþ. Þā fōr hē þā giet norþryhte swā feor swā hē meahte on þǣm ōþrum þrīm dagum gesiglau. Þā bēag þæt land, þǣr ēastryhte, oþþe sēo sǣ in on ðæt lond, hē nysse hwæðer, būton hē wisse ðæt hē ðǣr bād westanwindes ond hwōn norþan, ond siglde ðā ēast be lande swā swā hē meahte on fēower dagum gesiglan. Þā sceolde hē ðǣr bīdan ryhtnorþanwindes, for ðǣm þæt land bēag þǣr sūþryhte, oþþe sēo sǣ in on ðæt land, hē nysse hwæþer. Þā siglde hē þonan sūðryhte be lande swā swā hē meahte on fīf dagum gesiglan. Ðā læg þǣr ān micel ēa ūp on þæt land. Ðā cirdon hīe ūp in on ðā ēa for þǣm hīe ne dorston forþ bī þǣre ēa siglan for unfriþe; for þǣm ðæt land wæs eall gebūn on ōþre healfe þǣre ēas. Ne mētte hē ǣr nān gebūn land, siþþan hē from his āgnum hām fōr; ac him wæs ealne weg wēste land on þæt stēorbord, būtan fiscerum ond fugelerum ond huntum, ond þæt wǣron eall Finnas; ond him wæs āwīdsǣ on þæt bæcbord. Þā Boermas heafdon sīþe wel gebūd hira land: ac hīe ne dorston þǣr on cuman. Ac þāra Terfinna land wæs eal wēste, būton ðǣr huntan gewīcodon, oþþe fisceras, oþþe fugeleras.

译文：

Ohthere said to his lord, King Alfred, that he of all Norsemen lived north-most. He quoth that he lived in the land northward along the North Sea. He said though that the land was very long from there, but it is all wasteland, except that in a few places here and there Finns [i.e. Sami] encamp, hunting in winter and in summer fishing by the sea. He said that at some time he wanted to find out how long the land lay northward or whether any man lived north of the wasteland. Then he traveled north by the land. All the way he kept the waste land on his starboard and the wide sea on his port three days. Then he was as far north as whale hunters furthest travel. Then he traveled still north as far as he might sail in another three days. Then the land bowed east (or the sea into the land — he did not know which). But he knew that he waited there for west winds (and somewhat north), and sailed east by the land so as he might sail in four days. Then he had to wait for due-north winds, because the land bowed south (or the sea into the land — he did not know which). Then he sailed from there south by the land so as he might sail in five days. Then a large river lay there up into the land. Then they turned up into the river, because they dared not sail forth past the river for hostility, because the land was all settled on the other side of the river. He had not encountered earlier any settled land since he travelled from his own home, but all the way waste land was on his starboard (except fishers, fowlers and hunters, who were all Finns). And the wide sea was always on his port. The Bjarmians have cultivated their land very well, but they did not dare go in there. But the Terfinn’s land was all waste except where hunters encamped, or fishers or fowlers.[17]

节选自14世纪杰弗里·乔叟所写的《坎特伯雷故事集》

Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open yë
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);
Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages

近代英语

节选自约翰·弥尔顿所写的《失乐园》，1667年版

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, Heavenly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,
In the beginning how the Heavens and Earth
Rose out of chaos: or if Sion hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flowed
Fast by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,
That with no middle Flight intends to soar
Above the Aonian mount, whyle it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.

现代英语

节选自查尔斯·狄更斯所著的《雾都孤儿》，1838年版

The evening arrived: the boys took their places; the master in his cook's uniform stationed himself at the copper; his pauper assistants ranged themselves behind him; the gruel was served out, and a long grace was said over the short commons. The gruel disappeared, the boys whispered each other and winked at Oliver, while his next neighbours nudged him. Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger and reckless with misery. He rose from the table, and advancing, basin and spoon in hand, to the master, said, somewhat alarmed at his own temerity—

"Please, sir, I want some more."

The master was a fat, healthy man, but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupefied astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder, and the boys with fear.

"What!" said the master at length, in a faint voice.

"Please, sir," replied Oliver, "I want some more."

The master aimed a blow at Oliver's head with the ladle, pinioned him in his arms, and shrieked aloud for the beadle.

参见

• 中文：
  • 英语音系学
  • 古英语
  • 中古英语
  • 近代英语
  • 现代英语
  • 英语音韵史
  • 英语语言研究
  • 中古英语的格变化
• 英文：
  • 英美英语区别
  • 墨水壶争论（英文）
  • 英国语言（英文）
  • 苏格兰语言史（英文）
  • 古英语词汇变化（英文）

注释

1. Baugh, Albert and Cable, Thomas. 2002. The History of the English Language. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp. 79-81.
2. Examples include Simek (2007:59—60) and Mallory (2005:135).
3. Crystal, David. 2004. The Stories of English. London: Penguin. pp. 24-26.
4. Shore, Thomas William, 1nd, London: 3, 393, 1906
5. . Bl.uk. 2007-03-12 [2010-06-19]. （原始内容存档于2019-07-22）.
6. . Uni-kassel.de. [2010-06-19]. （原始内容存档于2010-02-01）.
7. The Oxford history of English lexicography, Volume 1 By Anthony Paul Cowie
8. Baugh, Albert and Cable, Thomas. 2002. The History of the English Language. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp. 92-105.
9. Baugh, Albert and Cable, Thomas. 2002. The History of the English Language. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp. 91-92.
10. Filppula, Markku, Juhani Klemola und Heli Pitkänen (eds.). 2002. The Celtic Roots of English. Joensuu: University of Joensuu, Faculty of Humanities.
11. Baugh, Albert and Cable, Thomas. 2002. The History of the English Language. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp. 158-178.
12. Crystal, David. 2004. The Stories of English. London: Penguin. pp. 341-343.
13. See Fausto Cercignani, Shakespeare's Works and Elizabethan Pronunciation, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1981.
14. Algeo, John. 2010. The Origins and Development of the English Language. Boston, MA: Wadsworth. pp. 140-141.
15. Algeo, John. 2010. The Origins and Development of the English Language. Boston, MA: Wadsworth. pp. 182-187.
16. Peter S. Baker. . The Electronic Introduction to Old English. Oxford: Blackwell. 2003. （原始内容存档于2015-09-11）.
17. Original translation for this article: In this close translation readers should be able to see the correlation with the original.

引用

• Cercignani, Fausto, Shakespeare's Works and Elizabethan Pronunciation, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1981.
• Mallory, J. P (2005). In Search of the Indo-Europeans. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-27616-1
• Simek, Rudolf (2007) translated by Angela Hall. Dictionary of Northern Mythology.D.S. Brewer. ISBN 0859915131

外部链接

• Scandinavian loans in Old and Middle English, and their legacy in the dialects of England and modern standard English
• Penn Corpora of Historical English （页面存档备份，存于）