返回浅析英语中源于希腊神话地词汇

2021年1月21日发(作者：frequency是什么意思)



学号：
2011060110

师大学

学士学位论文



题




目



英语中来源于《希腊神话》词汇的研究

学




生



王乐阳

指导教师



瑞丹

年




级



2011
级商务英语
2
班

专




业



商务英语

系




别



商务英语系

学




院



西语学院














哈

尔

滨

师


大

学

学士学位论文开题报告






论文题目

英语中来源于《希腊神话》词汇的研究

学生

王乐阳

指导教师

瑞丹

年

级
2011
级商务英语
2
班

专

业

商务英语










2015
年

3
月










说








明


本表需在指导教师和有关领导审查批准的情况下，要求学生
认真填写。

说明 课题的来源
（自拟题目或指导教师承担的科研任务）
、
课
题研究的目的和意义 、课题在国外研究现状和发展趋势。

若课题因故变动时，应向指导教师提出申请，提交题目变动论证
报告
。
















课题来源：导师指导下自拟题目。







课题研究的目的和意义：


目的：本课题研究以分析英语中源于《希腊神话》的词汇为主要目的，试图较深

入的了解英语中源于《希腊神话》的词汇的分类组成和这种词源现象。旨在分析

该类词汇以了解其在英语中各个领域的用途，以及对其他英语词源进行更进一步

的了解。




意义：

此课题的分析研究对于语言学中英语词汇词源的了解与学习有着重要的意

义。通过分析英语中源于《希腊神话》的词汇，我们可以对英语词汇有一个更深

的认识与了解。对于研究英语词汇的其他词源也有重要意义。






国外同类课题研究现状及发展趋势：


国外：

《希腊神话》作为西方文化两大源头之一，一直是国外学者研究的热点

课题。
Lorena Stookey
在
2004
年出版的
Thematic Guide to World Mythology
提出了

希腊神话对于西方文化和英语本身的巨大影响。
Claude Calame
在
2003
年出版的

Myth and History of in Ancient Greece
中首次提出了希腊神话对于英语词汇的影响

并对其进行了详细的分析举例。
Harold Newman
在
2005
年出版的
A Genealogical

Chart of Greek Mythology
中将英语对于西方文化、英语以及英语词汇的影响作了

详细和总结性的述。

国：

在国的希腊神话研究领域中，许多高校教师将其与英语词汇和语言学进

行结合，研究 其在英语词汇语言中的应用。
1995
年，危鸣辉与建新发表了《英

语中希 腊神话词汇的用法初探》
，
第一次总结归纳了希腊神话典故在英语词汇中的
运用。随后 ，钱莉和兰英在
1998
年的《社会科学论坛》发表了《浅谈希腊神话对
英美文化的影 响》
，提出了希腊神话对西方文化的巨大影响。
2002
年，彩芬和彩
玉发表 了论文
《希腊神话对现代英语文化的影响》
，
提出了希腊神话对于英美文学
的 影响并着重表述了其对英语词产生的重要作用。

本文对这一课题的研究与
Harold Mewman
的相关研究较为类似，
但较之更为详细，
更加强调希腊神话对于英语词汇的影响及该类词汇的分类和应用。






课题研究的主要容和方法，研究过程中的主要问题和解决办法：

主要容：本文首先说明希腊神话对于西方文化，尤其是对于英语语言的发展以

及英语词汇发展的重要性。之后在文章的主要部分，通过对希腊神话的了解举出

一些英语中源于《希腊神话》词汇的例子并加以分析。之后的部分对该类词汇进

行详细的分类，再对其用法进行分类比较和分析。



主要方法：

1
、

调查法：通过研究有关《希腊神话》各类资料进行课题研究。

2
、

文献研究法：通过调查有关《希腊神话》近期及以前的各类资料文献，形成

对希腊神话的大体研究方向上的了解，进而通过该方法进行课题研究。





主要问题：

1
、对于《希腊神话》的了解程度不够深，对于其中的一些神话故事理解不透彻。




使得对于其在英语中相对应的词汇把握不到位。

2
、关于《希腊神话》的资料较为庞杂，且英文资料较少，在撰写英文论文的过




程中会造成一定困难。


解决方法：

1
、遇到问题，及时地与指导老师沟通，请教指导老师，并积极与同学讨论，研




读相关文献

2
、认真上网查阅相关的资料以及到图书馆查阅期刊及文献资料，细致探讨和挖




掘文中涉及到的词汇。

3
、认真研究相关语言理论，围绕主题更细致地从多个角度分析课题。

课题研究起止时间和进度安排：


1. 2014
年
11
月
14
日至
11
月
28
日：选导师及撰写论文方向 。

2. 2014
年
11
月
29
日至
1 2
月
31
日：与导师商榷论文题目。

3. 2015
年< br>1
月
1
日至
2015
年
3
月
15< br>日：撰写并提交开题报告。

4. 2015
年
3
月
16
至
2015
年
4
月
24
日：撰写并提交毕业论 文。

5. 2015
年
4
月
25
日至
2 014
年
5
月
9
日：准备参加毕业论文答辩。





课题研究所需主要设备、仪器及药品：电脑；互联网；学校图书馆等设施。


















外出调研主要单位，访问学者：

师大学西语学院

瑞丹

















指导教师审查意见：





同意开题





指导教师










（签字）












































2015
年
3
月

14
日

教研室（研究室）评审意见：








理论教研室主任












（签字）













































2015
年
3
月

14
日

系（部）主任审查意见：








英语系（部）主任











（签字）














































2015
年
3
月

14
日





GRADUATION PAPER
FOR BACHELOR DEGREE

HARBIN NORMAL UNIVERSITY






















TITLE: Research on English Words Which Originate
from
the Greek Mythology

STUDENT: WANG Le-yang
TUTOR: ZHANG Rui-dan
GRADE: Grade 2011
MAJOR: Business English
DEPARTMENT: Business English Department
COLLEGE: Faculty of Western Languages

and Literatures






















May, 2015
HARBIN NORMAL UNIVERSITY


Research on English Words Which Originate from
the Greek
Mythology
WANG Le-yang

Abstract:
The
Greek
Mythology
is
one
of
the
origin
of
western
culture
and
it
has
significant impacts on almost every aspect of western culture, especially English itself.
There is a huge amount of words in English originating from the Greek Mythology.
On
the
other
hand,
vocabulary
plays
an
important
role
in
learning
English.
In
conclusion, it is
of great
significant
to
carry on
a research on English words which
originate from
the Greek Mythology
. This paper analyses these words by firstly stating
the
important
role
which
the
Greek
Mythology

plays
in
English
words
and
the
influences
the Greek Mythology
put on the western culture, then the paper will show
you the classification of these words and explore the applications of them, aiming at
providing help for English leaner to comprehend, memorize words in a better way.
Key Words:
Linguistic;
the Greek Mythology
; English words





1. Introduction

The Western culture has two headstreams, one is the Hellenic culture, the other is
the
Hebrew
culture.
The
Greek
Mythology

of
Hellenic
culture
has
a
significant
influence on English. It appears that English language absorb part of the words from
the Greek Mythology
in the expression of English words, these words are resolvable
or traceable words. The information included by these pedigrees can not only help the
English learners to understand the meaning of every particular word in a more precise
way,
increase
the
interest
of
memorizing
words,
but
also
can
specially
record
and
describe the differences and communication between English and the Hellenic culture,
which
expresses
historic
and
entertaining.
The
Roman
Mythology
is
always
connected
with
the
Greek
Mythology
,
it
has
a
very
much
the
same
story
with
the
Greek
Mythology

except
the
names
of
the
deities.
The
Roman
Mythology
and
the
Greek Mythology
nurture the English
words just like the Hippocrene
from
the fairy
tale. There comes out a lot of beautiful and moving tales about English words from
the Hippocrene, which strengthen the vitality of English.

2.
The Greek Mythology
Influences Western Culture and English Words





The Greek Mythology
, as the oral or literal mythology about the deities, heroes,
nature and history of the universe of the ancient Greeks. It
’
s the spiritual product of
the
primitive
clan
society
and
also
the
earliest
literary
form
of
Europe.
The
Greek
Mythology

emerged
about
before
8
th

century
B.C.
The
Greek
Mythology

formed
its
basic scale on the basis of the orally passes on primarily between the ancient Greeks.
These
tales
were
recorded
in
the
Homer
’
s
Epic
and
poems,
dramas,
history,
philosophy writings of the ancient Greek. The later generations arranged these tales


into
the Greek Mythology
today, it is divided into stories of the deities and the legend
of heroes.










2.1
The Greek Mythology
Influences Western Culture





As time goes on, the ancient Greek Mythology gradually spread to Europe, and
became
one
of
the
important
headstreams
of
western
society
and
western
culture
development.
The
Greek
Mythology

has
a
huge
impact
on
many
aspects
of
western
society especially during the Renaissance and the period after it. We can now find the
affect
and
heritage
of
the
Greek
Mythology

in
ideology,
culture,
language
and
literature and other aspects.




The enormous impact which
the Greek Mythology
bring to western languages is
mainly show up in words. There are a huge number of phrases and words base on
the
Greek Mythology
. These phrases and words are extremely vivid and flexible because
they
have
stories
from
the
Greek
Mythology

to
be
the
background
information.
In
English,
more
than
1,000
words
of
this
kind
form
a
wonderful
vocabulary
world.
Theses
phrases
and
words
may
just
be
simple
names
of
people,
deities,
places
or
plants when they first combine with English. However, the meanings of these phrases
and
words
have
been
changed
and
get
deeper
during
the
long
process
of
historical
development. A big part of these phrases and words lost their background information
of
the Greek Mythology
and turn into normal English words.




As one of the origins of European and American literature,
the Greek Mythology

has a huge impact on European and American literature, this impact has been deeply
branded
in
their
nationality.
The
effect
of
the
Greek
Mythology

started
in
the
Renaissance
period.
The
Greek
Mythology

had
infiltrated
every
aspect
of
literature
during that period. The art of poetry, painting, sculpturing and building, even the field
of recent movies, they all draw nutrition from
the Greek Mythology
to get ideological
inspiration.
The
modern
news
reports
often
cite
the
humanity
knowledge
from
the
Greek Mythology
to make the report more attractive.





Since
the
filmmaking
technology
has
been
invented,
the
tentacle
of
the
Greek
Mythology
spread to this new field. There are more than 50 movies which used
the
Greek Mythology
as their themes in the last century. The movies based on
the Greek
Mythology
have attracted a huge amount of audience with the help of new developed
technology in this decade of 21
st
century. For example,
Immortals, Clash of the Titans,
Troy,
these movies clearly describe the complex relationship between the deities from
the
Greek
Mythology
.
The
Greek
Mythology

provides
plenty
of
literal
themes
for
modern
creation
of
movies.
Themes
such
as
betrayal,
revenge
and
searching
for
immortal
souls
are
essential
elements
of
the
movies
in
this
kind.
With
the
dreamy
sceneries made by modern technology, the movies about Greek Mythology own epic
visual effect, and there starts an international learning of
the Greek Mythology
.





2.2
The Greek Mythology
Influences English Words





The
deities
and
their
stories
in
the
Greek
Mythology

are
the
origin
of
many


English words.





The basic phrases and words effect of
the Greek Mythology
mainly behave in the
foundation and causes during the forming of these words and phrases. We can find the
motivations of many words and phrases in
the Greek Mythology
.





There is the goddess of destiny named Fate in
the Greek Mythology
, we have fate
for destiny in modern English; there is the goddess of reverberation named Echo, we
have echo for reverberation in modern English; there is the goddess of rainbow named
Iris, we have iris for rainbow in modern English; there is the river of disremembering
called Lethe, we have lethe for disremember in modern English; there is the Helicon
Mountains
where
the
goddess
of
literature
and
art
named
Muse
live
in,
we
have
helicon for the origin of poetry inspiration in modern English; there is the goddess of
fear named Pan, we have pan for fear in modern English.




The place names belong to proper nouns in English, they are also an important
part
of
English
phrases
and
words.
Some
English
place
names
originate
from
the
Greek
Mythology
.
The
name
of
Europe
comes
from
the
Greek
goddess
of
farming
named Europa. She was a beautiful princess of the secular world, then Zeus happened
to love her and they had a child at this very land, and that
’
s why the land is named
after her. We
all know Athens as
the capital
of Greece. Athena is
one
of the major
deities in
the Greek Mythology
. She charges talent and skill. According to
the Greek
Mythology

she
and
Poseidon
had
chosen
a
land
in
the
southern
part
of
Attica
peninsula of Greece to be the shelter at the same time. The neither of the two deities
would give in. Zeus invited the local inhabitants to make the decision. These people
preferred
olive
branch
which
Athena
gave
them
as
a
present.
Therefore
Athena
became the lord god of this city at seaside and this city is named Athens. The name of
the
Atlas
Mountains
in
Africa
came
from
the
offspring
of
Titans
in
the
Greek
Mythology
whose name is Atlas. As the story goes, he had the strongest body all over
the world. However, his giant body happened to be changed into stones after he saw
Medusa in the eye. His body became a mountain, his beard and hair became capacious
forest; his shoulders, hands and bones became the mountain ridge; his hair turned into
the mountaintop which soars above the horizon.
That
’
s where the name
of Atlas of
this famous mountain in Africa came from. In addition, the ancients considered that
the location of Atlas is at very western. Therefore the ocean at western of Europe is
called the ocean of Atlantic. These household stories enrich English vocabulary.




Idioms are fixed word-combination. Idioms possess the oneness in meaning and
the
fixity
in
structure.
Idioms
are
a
indivisible
entity
in
meaning.
The
integral
meaning
of
an
idiom
often
cannot
be
founded
in
the
meaning
of
each
word
of
the
idiom. In structure, idioms have its own integrity. Every part of the idiom is fixed and
cannot
be
disconnected
and
replaced
by
optionally.
There
are
plenty
of
idioms
in
English that come from
the Greek Mythology
. They possess more intensive meanings
under their literal meanings. For example, Achilles
’
heel means the fatal or only weak
point of a person. Achilles
is
a son
of a god and a human. Soon after his born, his
mother handled his heel and soaked him upside down in the water of Styx. After that
his
body was
invulnerable except
his
heel
that had not
been soaked in
the water of
Styx. His heel became his only weak point. He was invincible at wars until one day


Apollo
shot his
heel
with an arrow and he died.
Idioms which are formed by some
events or the spirit and feature of someone in
the Greek Mythology
are very common.





3. English Words Originated From
the Greek Mythology






3.1 English Words Originated From
the Greek Mythology


1)

Achilles
’
heel: the fatal or only weak point of a person.(modern)
Achillean: brave. (modern)
Achilles: The hero of Homer
’
s Iliad, the son of Peleus and Thetis and slayer
of Hector.

2)

Adonis: a very handsome young man. (modern)
Adonis: a strikingly beautiful youth loved by Aphrodite.
3)

Athenaeum; (modern)
Athena
(Roman:
Minerva):
The
goddess
of
wisdom,
the
practical
arts,
and
warfare.
4)

atlas: a person who supports a great burden. (modern)
Atlas: a Titan condemned by Zeus to support the heavens upon his shoulders.
5)

flower, flour, flourish, floral, florist (modern)
Flora: She is the goddess of flower, she married Zephyr, the god of west wind.
Her husband gave her a garden full of exotic flowers and rare herbs. In
spring,
when
Flora
and
her
husband
Zephyr
walk
in
the
garden,
all
flowers bloom together by the path they just walked through. The word
Flora means plant in modern English.
6)

museum, music, amuse, amusement (modern)
Muses:
Muses are nine
deities of the art in
the Greek Mythology
. They
are
History, Lyric, Comedy, Tragedy, Song and dance, Love poems, Carol,
Astronomy and Epic. The art of Muses formed the word Music. The
place where the artworks show is the Museum. The happiness given
by art is called Amuse or Amusement.
7)

panic (modern)
Pan:
He
is
the
god
of
herding
and
forest.
He
will
shout
loudly
when
he
is
disturbed.

8)

atlas (modern)
Atlas: He is one of the Titans in
the Greek Mythology
. He was punished to
heave
the
sky
in
the
west
end
of
the
world
because
he
had
betrayed
Zeus.
In
16
th

century,
Mercator
the
geographer
made
the
picture
of
Atlas
heaving
the
sky
a
illustration
of
a
map
book.
The
later
generations all rush to imitate his
behavior. Therefore the word Atlas
possesses
the
meaning
of
map,
book
of
maps
and
a
person
with
a
heavy burden.

9)

Cereals (modern)
Ceres: She is the patron goddess of crops. The ancient Rome had suffered a
great drought, so the priests searched an augury from a witch woman.


The result of the augury showed that people must set up a new goddess
named Ceres, and people shall enshrine and worship her, then she will
bring
rains
to
this
dried
land.
Since
then,
Ceres
became
the
patron
goddess of crops. The word Cereal is changed from Latin, it means
“
of
Ceres
”
.
10)

chronic, chronology (modern)
Cronos: He is the father of Zeus. He had swallowed his offspring because he
was terrified of his children against him. His behavior is just like the
motionless
time
swallows
everything.
Therefore
the
root
“
chron
”

possesses the meaning of time.

11)

erotic; cupidity (modern)
Eros: He is the god of love. He is a very handsome young man. He is also
known as Cupid in the Roman Mythology. No matter Eros or Cupid, he
is
just
fly
round
and
round
and
occupied
with
nothing
but
practicing
archery.
This
behavior
made
everyone
jittery.
Therefore
every
word
originate from him is negative.
12)

hygiene (modern)
Hygeia:
She
is
the
god
of
health
in
the
Greek
Mythology
.
She
is
a
young
woman, wearing a long white dress and there is a hat of flamen on her head.
She fed a snake with a bowl.
13)

morphine, marijuana (modern)
Morpheus: He is the god of dream in
the Greek Mythology
. He is the son of
Hypnos who is the god of sleep. Morphine and marijuana are both extract of
opium. Morphine owns the function of calming people down.





3.2 Classification of English Words Originated From
the Greek Mythology






Some English words are straightly quoted from the names of deities and objects
of these fairy tales, their meanings are not changed in modern English. Some English
words are derived from
the Greek Mythology
, but their meanings are closely related to
the
original
meanings.
There
are
other
English
words
which
extend
in
meanings.
Therefore we can classify the vocabulary effect caused by
the Greek Mythology
into
three kinds: straightly quoted words, derived words and extended meaning words.









3.2.1 Straightly Quoted Words





Many modern English words are straightly quoted from the names of deities and
objects
of these fairy tales,
and their meanings
are not
changed in
modern English.
For example, the English words
“
chaos
”
means disorder and confusion. This word is a
typical straightly quoted word from
the Greek Mythology
. Chaos is the oldest god, it
represents
the
origin
of
the
universe.
The
initial
land
is
in
a
situation
of
riot
and
confusion.
Therefore
the
word
“
chaos
”

means
disorder
and
confusion
in
modern
English. In addition there are straightly quoted words as follows:
1)

The
word
“
amazons
”

means
strong
women
in
modern
English.
This
word


originated
from
the
Amazons,
a
race
of
tall,
strong
and
manly
female
warriors in
the Greek Mythology
.

2)

The word
“
hyacinth
”
means a kind of flower named hyacinth. In
the Greek
Mythology
, Hyacithus is the son of the king of Sparta. One day Apollo killed
him
by
accident
by
throwing
discus.
After
he
died,
a
flower
grew
from
Hyacithus
’
blood. This flower was named hyacinth.
3)

The
word
“
narcissus
”

is
originate
from
Narcissus
who
was
the
most
handsome young man in ancient Greece. He was lamenting himself lonely all
the
day
because
he
was
infatuated
with
his
inverted
image
in
the
lake.
He
finally died by falling to the lake. After that, a fascinating flower grew from
the
lake
where
he
fell
into.
This
charming
flower
is
called
narcissus
or
daffodil.
4)

The meaning of the word
“
echo
”
is related with
“
narcissus
”
. Echo, who is the
goddess
of
forest
in
ancient
Greece,
had
loved
Narcissus.
However,
Narcissus doesn
’
t like Echo. Zeus
’
wife Hera dislikes Echo because she is a
noisy speaker. Hera punished Echo by making her only be able to repeat the
last
words
of
other
’
s
talk.
She
wandered
in
deep
mountain
by
herself.
She
became
thinner
day
by
day
and
finally
she
faded
away
only
her
voice
reverberates
over
the
mountains.
Therefore,
the
word
“
echo
”

means
repeat
and resounding in modern English.
5)

The word
“
terpsichorean
”
means orchestic in modern English. Terpsichorean
is the goddess of dance in the Muses.

The
Greek
Mythology

has
affected
western
countries
profoundly.
People
are
familiar with the stories and characters in
the Greek Mythology
. They often use some
names
of
the
deities
and
objects
of
the
Greek
Mythology

in
oral
expressions
and
written materials. The meanings and morphology of the words in the examples above
keep their original style and features. This phenomenon adds a shade of quaint flavor
to the language.

3.2.2 Derived Words

There are plenty of English words are derived from
the Greek Mythology
. The
forms or classes of these words have been changed while they still possess meanings
that
have
close
relationship
with
the
Greek
Mythology
.
For
example,
the
word
‘
tantalize
”
means to show or promise something that someone really wants but then
not
allow
them
to
have
it.
This
word
is
originated
from
Tantalus
of
the
Greek
Mythology
. According to the tales, Tantalus was punished because he offended Zeus.
There are beautiful lake and delicious fruits in front of his eyes, but he could
n’
t reach
them no matter how he tried. Therefore, this story formed the word
“
tantalize
”
. Here
are some great examples for derived words below:
1)

The word
“hermaphrodite”
is originated from Hermaphroditus. He is the son
of
Aphrodite
and
Hermes
who
had
a
love
affair
stealthily
with
each
other.
Hermaphroditus
owned
the
handsome
of
male
and
the
beauty
of
female
in