首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only. Distinguishing epithets were rarely added. These might be
The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only. Distinguishing epithets were rarely added. These might be
admin
2010-02-17
86
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).
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://kaotiyun.com/show/1inK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
PassageTwo(1)TheAmericanDream,definedastheabilityofeveryU.S.citizentoachievesuccessandprosperitythrough
PassageThreeWhenGeorgeOrwellwrotein1941thatEnglandwas"themostclass-riddencountryunderthesun",hewasonly
ThehistoryofindigenouseducationprovisionthroughoutAustralia’sremoteareasisrepletewithinstancesofneglect,infras
Althoughthefirstyearisreallyimportantforlanguagedevelopmentinchildren,majorlearningcontinuesthroughoutachild’s
InNewEnglandandelsewheretherearefinedairy,fruit,andvegetablefarms,buttherichestfarmlandsoftheworldlieinthe
ThemenandwomenofAnglo-SaxonEnglandnormallyboreonenameonly.Distinguishingepithetswererarelyadded.Thesemightbe
ThemenandwomenofAnglo-SaxonEnglandnormallyboreonenameonly.Distinguishingepithetswererarelyadded.Thesemightbe
Theprocessofperceivingotherpeopleisrarelytranslated(toourselvesorothers)intocold,objectiveterms."Shewas5feet
BlackdeaththatdroveNewtonfromhiscollegeandintoamomentousdiscovery,【C1】______Englandin1665.Astronomicalrecords
BlackdeaththatdroveNewtonfromhiscollegeandintoamomentousdiscovery,【C1】______Englandin1665.Astronomicalrecords
随机试题
AlongtimeaidetoPresidentBushwhowroteoccasionalguestcolumnsforhishometownnewspaperresignedonFridayeveningafte
A.三查七对B.药品说明书或者处方用法C.处方审核、评估、核对、发药及安全用药指导D.四查十对E.处方调配药师进行用药交待与指导应按照()。
NumLock键为小键盘控制键。()
期货公司可以为未签订《期货经纪合同》的客户开立账户。()
典型的代用货币是()。
以下关于活期存款的叙述中,正确的有()。
根据《劳动保障监察条例》,劳动保障监察的范围不包括()。
国家发改委会同工业和信息化部、农业部、商务部等16个部门共同制定《降低流通费用提高流通效率综合工作方案》,进一步降低企业流通费用,提高流通效率。降低流通费用会()。
战略数据规划方法的主要内容包括
question
最新回复
(
0
)