首页
登录
职称英语
The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only. Disti
The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only. Disti
游客
2023-11-20
11
管理
问题
The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only. Distinguishing epithets were rarely added. These might be patronymic, descriptive or occupational. They were, however, hardly surnames, Heritable names gradually became general in the three centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066. It was not until the 13th and 14th centuries that surnames became fixed, although for many years after that, the degree of stability in family names varied considerably in different parts of the country.
British surnames fall mainly into four broad categories: patronymic, occupational, descriptive and local. A few names, it is true, will remain puzzling: foreign names, perhaps, crudely translated, adapted or abbreviated; or artificial names.
In fact, over fifty percent of genuine British surnames derive from place names of different kinds, and so they belong to the last of our four main categories. Even such a name as Simpson may belong to this last group, and not to the first, had the family once had its home in the ancient village of that name. Otherwise, Simpson means "the son of Simon", as might be expected.
Hundreds of occupational surnames are at once familiar to us, or at least recognizable after a little thought: Arther, Carter, Fisher, Mason, Thatcher, Taylor, to name but a few. Hundreds of others are more obscure in their meanings and testify to the amazing specialization in medieval arts, crafts and functions. Such are "Day", (Old English for breadmaker) and "Walker" (a fuller whose job was to clean and thicken newly made cloth).
All these vocational names carry with them a certain gravity and dignity, which descriptive names often lack. Some, it is true, like "Long", "Short" or "Little", are simple. They may be taken quite literally. Others require more thinking: their meanings are slightly different from the modem ones. "Black" and "White" implied dark and fair respectively. "Sharp" meant genuinely discerning, alert, acute rather than quick-witted or clever.
Place-names have a lasting interest since there is hardly a town or village in all England that has not at some time given its name to a family. They may be picturesque, even poetical; or they may be pedestrian, even trivial. Among the commoner names which survive with relatively little change from old-English times are "Milton" (middle enclosure) and "Hilton" (enclosure on a hill). [br] The underlined word "patronymic" in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to "formed from ______.
选项
A、the name of one’s father
B、the family occupation
C、one’s family home
D、one’s family history
答案
A
解析
语义推断题。作者在第二段中指出姓氏可分为四类:patronymic,occupational,descriptive and local。在接下来的四个段落中,作者分别对这四类姓氏做了分析。根据第三段的介绍,我们可以肯定A为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3204979.html
相关试题推荐
Theyear1400openedwithmorepeacefulnessthanusualinEngland.Onlyafe
Theyear1400openedwithmorepeacefulnessthanusualinEngland.Onlyafe
1 SendingachildtoschoolinEnglandisastepwhichmanyparentsdonotfind
1 SendingachildtoschoolinEnglandisastepwhichmanyparentsdonotfind
Theyear1400openedwithmorepeacefulnessthanusualinEngland.Onlyafew
Theyear1400openedwithmorepeacefulnessthanusualinEngland.Onlyafew
Janehasjust______aletterfromafriendofhersinEngland.A、returnedB、answ
WhydidSpringsellhisfalseautographsinEnglandandCanada?[br][originalt
ThoughEnglandwasonthewholeprosperousandhopeful,thoughbycomparis
ThoughEnglandwasonthewholeprosperousandhopeful,thoughbycomparis
随机试题
Itiscommonlyheldthatdrinkingmoderateamountsofalcoholcanreducethe
[originaltext]M:Jane,youknow,itissuchahugedaytomeWillyougoouteat
DuringthenextseveralweeksIwentcompletelytothewolves.Itookatiny
Itseemstomethattoday’sprime-timeleaderneedsatop-5listthatclearl
患者,女性,23岁,甲状腺功能亢进症。行I治疗中出现恶心、呕吐、大汗淋漓、神志恍
根据《招标投标法实施条例》,下列项目中,可以不进行招标的是()。A、相邻有技术生
国外某实验探讨了青年与老年被试阅读自然科学类与社会科学类文章的阅读速度是否存在差
文化与生命___________,与生命相渗透的前人的文化已随生命的消失而消
根据《合同法》的规定,以下不属于合同法基本原则的是()。A.平等原则 B.自愿
施工现场进行一级动火作业前,应由()审核批准。A.安全监理工程师 B.企业安全
最新回复
(
0
)