http://www.sis.zju.edu.cn/sischinese/2019/0320/c12574a1084121/page.htm
Fifteenth Lecture by Research Center of Medieval and Renaissance Studies Rounded Off
On March 19, 2019, Prof. Hans Sauer, a renowned German scholar gave an academic lecture themed “1500 Years in 90 minutes: A Brief History of English” in meeting room No. 201, East Building 5. Co-organized by Research Center of Medieval and Renaissance Studies of the School of International Studies (SIS) and Institute of Foreign Literature and presided by Prof. Hao Tianhu, the lecture attracted 30-odd students and teachers including Prof. Yan Jianhua from Zhejiang University of Technology, Prof. He Chang and Prof. Ying Ying from Hangzhou Normal University, Will Greenshields, researcher of Hundred-Talent Program of SIS, Associate Prof. Zhu Zhenyu and Mrs. Ding Guang.
As emeritus professor of University of Munich, Germany, academician of University of Agder, Norway, foreign academician of Polish Academy of Sciences, as well as professor of Vistula University, Poland, Prof. Hans Sauer has done in-depth researches on English language, literature and history in medieval times, with abundant masterpieces written and fruitful achievement registered. “Tower of Babel” in Bible was cited by Prof. Sauer for a brief explanation of the evolution of English, from original Indo-European languages, original Germanic languages, Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English to Modern English. He laid emphasis on key historical events, linguistic features and representative literary works that had great impact on English in its development. Then, British history of thousands of years was presented gently and concisely by Prof. Sauer.
Later, a significant question in the evolution of a language was raised by Prof. Sauer as “Why does a language change?” and he summarized reasons externally, internally and socially. Besides, he illustrated profoundly English spelling, great vowel shift, semantic change and vocabulary for a detailed presentation of English evolution.
Prof. Sauer also pointed out an interesting phenomenon that new spellings have been created with the development of internet slang, such as “4(four) you”, “c (see) you” and “m(mate)8”. He quoted copiously, including application of language by Chaucer, Shakespeare, etc. to illustrate the evolution of English, showing his erudition and high literary quality.
Two hours passed quickly. By the end of the lecture, Prof. Hao Tianhu had a discussion with Prof. Sauer on the openness of English and how dictionaries are utilized by English learners, taking the absorption of alien words in English as an example. Audience also put forward questions and expressed their perspectives on the future, normalization and stimulus of change of English. At last, Prof. Sauer introduced his new book on English history to be published this year, igniting great passion of the audience. The intriguing lecture benefited the students and teachers present a lot.
Written by Wu Yarong
Photo by Lin Weijian and Wu Yarong
Translated by Liu Liu and Li Qian
Edited by Xu Xueying
