100_places - hellog〜英語史ブログ

■ #6004. slang の役割について凝縮した読ませる文章で教えてくれる章 --- HEL in 100 Places より [100_places][helgrim][helkatsu][slang][dictionary][lexicology][lexicography]

　目下，New Zealand に来ている．持参した書籍の1つが，本ブログでも最近たびたび取り上げている A History of the English Language in 100 Places である．
　NZ 関係の記述としては「#5974. New Zealand English のメイキング」 ([2025-09-04-1]) で紹介した第52節があったが，意外なところにもう1節あった．それは第66節 "GISBORNE --- English slang (1894)" である．
　Gisborne は NZ 北島東岸の港町である．この町で英語辞書編纂界の巨人 Eric Partridge (1894--1979) が生まれたという理由で，この節にて英語の slang の話しが展開されることになるのだ．Partridge の業績のなかでもとりわけ名高いのが，A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (1937) である．この初版以来，現在まで改版が続いている影響力のある英語俗語辞書だ．
　1ページ半ほどの短い節だが，ここに slang の捉えどころのなさ，怪しさ，魅力が詰め込まれている．slang の役割についての記述も，さりげなくではありながらも本質を突いている．ここでは最後の1節を引こう．

The aim of people using and creating slang is to make up words that are not in the dictionary in order to shock, delight, amaze, intrigue and mystify. Friends and enemies alike can be the objects of this verbal gaming, but slang users have to contend with the online glossaries that are being constantly updated. The best of these is Urban Dictionary; it boasts over 6 million definitions. Hard copy slang dictionaries are far behind; the Oxford Dictionary of Slang (2003) can boast no more than 10,000 slang words and phrases. Moreover, as a word moves from speech to print and from print to dictionary, its slanginess must steadily decrease.

　今後，英語の slang 辞書編纂は，一般の辞書編纂に比べても，はるかに早く紙から遠ざかっていくだろうことが確信される．紙の辞書に捕捉された時点で，slang はその本質的な性質を半ば失っているということになるからだ．語彙変化や意味変化の領域における slang の影響力は思いのほか大きい．slang は言語変化の現場である．

　・ Lucas, Bill and Christopher Mulvey. A History of the English Language in 100 Places. London: Robert Hale, 2013.

[ 固定リンク | 印刷用ページ ]

■ #5998. 英語史旅，hel旅，あるいは helgrimage [helgrim][helkatsu][notice][chaucer][canterbury_tales][cockney][london][johnson][blend][100_places]

　「英語語源辞典通読ノート」でおなじみの lacolaco さんが，9月23日付けで興味深い note 記事を公開された．「2025年ロンドン」 と題するその記事は，単なるロンドン旅行記ではない．「英語史」というレンズを通してロンドンとカンタベリーをめぐるという，体を張った知的なhel活 (helkatsu) の記録である．
　同記事によれば，lacolaco さんは今月半ばのロンドン滞在の折に，A History of the English Language in 100 Places をガイドブックとして，英語史にゆかりのある数々の場所を訪ね歩いたという．この本については hellog でも以下の記事などで取り上げてきた．

- 「#5956. 100の場所で英語史を学ぶ本 --- A History of the English Language in 100 Places」 ([2025-08-17-1])
- 「#5968. 「あなたが選ぶ英語史ゆかりの場所100選」はおもしろい企画になりそう --- HEL in 100 Places の序文より」 ([2025-08-29-1])

　今回の lacolaco さんの旅は，まさにこの本を実践に移した旅といえる．Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?--1400) が The Canterbury Tales の構想を練ったとされる Aldgate, Cockney (cockney) の語源となった鐘の音で知られる St Mary-le-Bow，そして Samuel Johnson が英語史上初の本格的な辞書を編纂した Dr Johnson's House など，訪問地はいずれも英語史を学ぶ者にとって胸が熱くなる場所ばかりだ．極めつけは，巡礼の最終目的地である Canterbury への日帰り旅．Chaucer の像や，大聖堂に鎮座する St. Augustine's Chair --- すなわちカンタベリー大聖堂の cathedra (司教座) そのもの --- を目の当たりにした感動が伝わってくる．
　この記事でとりわけ私の心を捉えたのは，lacolaco さんが自らを helgrim （英語史聖地巡礼者）と称していることだ．これは HEL (= History of the English Language) と pilgrim （巡礼者）を掛け合わせた混成語 (blend)である．このネーミングセンスには脱帽する．
　この素晴らしいアイデアに乗っかり，英語史の巡礼行為そのものを helgrimage （英語史旅，あるいはhel旅）と呼びたい．英語史を学び，その歴史が刻まれた土地を訪ね歩く．これは，書物と向き合うだけでは得られない，身体的な学びの形である．言語が実際に使用され，変容を遂げてきた現場の空気を吸うことで，英語史年表の各項目が，単なる知識ではなく，生きた実感として立ち上がってくるはずだ．
　英語史研究は，基本的には文献学であり，書斎にこもって写本や刊本を読んだり，PCの前で電子コーパスを分析するのが一般的だ．しかし，本来，言語は常に特定の場所と結びついている．歴史言語学が，地理学，社会学，人類学などの分野と密接に関わるのはそのためだ．helgrimage は，英語史という学問にフィールドワークの側面を与え，その魅力をさらに深めてくれる可能性を秘めている．
　これまで本ブログでは様々なhel活を提案してきたが，この helgrimage はきわめて能動的な活動といえるだろう．ロンドンやカンタベリーに限らず，ヴァイキングが足跡を残したイングランド北部，古英語の写本が眠る図書館，さらには英語が世界に展開していく拠点となった要衝など，helgrimage の目的地は世界中に存在する．
　lacolaco さんの今回の実践は，英語史の楽しみ方に新たな地平を切り開くものである．多くの helgrims がこれに続くことを願ってやまない．私も helgrimage に出かけることにしよう．

　・ Lucas, Bill and Christopher Mulvey. A History of the English Language in 100 Places. London: Robert Hale, 2013.

[ 固定リンク | 印刷用ページ ]

■ #5974. New Zealand English のメイキング [new_zealand_english][maori][history][cockney][sociolinguistics][variety][founder_principle][dialect_contact][dialect_mixture][dialect_levelling][australian_english][100_places]

　ニュージーランド英語については「#1799. New Zealand における英語の歴史」 ([2014-03-31-1])，「#402. Southern Hemisphere Shift」 ([2010-06-03-1])，「#278. ニュージーランドにおけるマオリ語の活性化」 ([2010-01-30-1]) を含む new_zealand_english) の記事群で取り上げてきた．今回は最近お気に入りの A History of the English Language in 100 Places の第52節 "WAITANGI --- the English Language in New Zealand (1840)" より，New Zealand English のメイキングについての解説を読みたい (129--31) ．

On 6 February 1840, at Waitangi, Aoteoroa, Maori chiefs signed a treaty with the representatives of the British government. The Maori were agreeing to permanent white settlement in their islands. The treaty of Waitangi signalled the moment when the British, not the French, asserted possession of what was renamed New Zealand; it was also the moment when English was destined to become the dominant European language of Aotearoa.
   After 1840, European migration to New Zealand came almost exclusively from the British Isles. A census in 1871 showed that of these various migrants, 51 per cent came from England, 27 per cent from Scotland, 22 per cent from Ireland. The majority spoke regional dialects unlike the upper-class English of the colony's administrators. That division shaped linguistic attitudes and accents until the 1960s at least. At the same time, the Maori language provided many terms for local animals, plants and landscape features.
   The proportions of the 1871 census suggest the founding elements of New Zealand English, but they do not take account of the fact that there was a continuous movement back and forth between New Zealand and Australia. Some 6 per cent of the 1871 white population was born in Australia, and very large numbers of those who came from the British Isles first landed in Australia before deciding to move to New Zealand. Australian English had then --- and continues to have --- a strong influence. . . .
   As in Australia, school inspectors, administrators and leaders of opinion complained from the beginning about the kind of English that they found widespread in New Zealand. A major complaint was that many New Zealanders said 'in', not 'ing', a the ends of words; they added and dropped 'h's improperly; and generally sounded Cockney.
   New Zealand linguists challenged the idea that there were large numbers of Londoners among the immigrants to New Zealand. Moreover, within England and the Empire, Cockney was the accent most disliked by upper-class English speakers, and there was a tendency to label any disliked accent as Cockney. Arguing for a levelling of the nineteenth-century English, Irish and Scottish immigrant dialects, New Zealand linguists claim that a distinctive voice appeared about 1900 and spread rapidly through the country. It was initially noted in derogatory terms as a colonial drawl or twang. However, modern-day New Zealanders have homogenized their speech, eroding the once unacceptable drawl as well as the once superior vowels.

　ニュージーランド英語は，英語母語話者が入植した当初のイギリス諸島由来の諸方言をベースとしつつも，対蹠地の兄弟としてのオーストラリア英語の影響を被り，さらに土着のマオリ語の語彙も多く借用しながら混交してきた．オーストラリア英語と同様に，一般に Cockney の影響の強い変種とみられることが多いが，それは「Cockney ＝非標準的な諸変種」という大雑把すぎる前提に基づいた誤解である可能性が高い．ニュージーランドでは，20世紀にかけて前世紀までに行なわれていた様々な変種が水平化し，現代につらなるニュージーランドらしい英語変種が生まれてきた，と考えられる．

　・ Lucas, Bill and Christopher Mulvey. A History of the English Language in 100 Places. London: Robert Hale, 2013.

[ 固定リンク | 印刷用ページ ]

■ #5972. 現代標準英語の祖先は古英語のマーシア方言 [mercian][oe_dialect][anglo-saxon][me_dialect][london][oe_literature][100_places]

　古英語期に Mercia 方言で書かれた文献はあまり残っていない．他の方言と比べても現存する文献の量が少なく，直接には分からないことも多い．ところが，実はこの方言こそが，私たちが学んでいる現代標準英語のルーツとなっているのだ．
　連日，おもしろく読んでいる Lucas and Mulvey の第3節 "HAMMERWICH --- Mercian English, our ancestor dialect (c. 700)" より引用する (21) ．

And it is Mercian English, not West Saxon nor Northumbrian English, from which Standard Modern English has descended. Mercian is the ancestor of the prose that you are reading at this moment.
   Mercia was greatest in the eight century, and its scholars were sufficiently learned for King Alfred of Wessex to recruit them to embellish his court in the ninth century. It seems that Danish raids destroyed Mercian records as they destroyed the kingdom. When Alfred reached his compromise with the Danes in 880, Mercia was divided in two.
   Two forms of Mercian English evolved, described by the great Victorian scholar, Walter W. Skeat, in this way: 'The West Midland does not greatly differ from the East Midland, but it approaches more nearly, in some respects, to the Northumbrian.' The East Midland dialect became the speech of London, Oxford and Cambridge, and for that reason became the dialect of privilege. The West Midland dialect, says Skeat, was superseded by the East Midland dialect.

　古英語期のマーシア方言は中英語期以降は中部方言と呼ばれることになるが，それが東西に2分されたものの東の方，つまり東中部方言こそが，近代以降に威信ある標準変種へと発展してゆくことになるロンドン英語へと連なる方言だったのである．そのルーツともいえる古英語のマーシア方言が，闇に包まれているとはいわずとも，詳しいことがあまり多く知られていないというのは，何とももどかしい気がする．

　・ Lucas, Bill and Christopher Mulvey. A History of the English Language in 100 Places. London: Robert Hale, 2013.

[ 固定リンク | 印刷用ページ ]

■ #5971. 602年，Kent でローマ字が採用される [alphabet][christianity][oe][anglo-saxon][st_augustine][history][writing][runic][kentish][oe_dialect][jute][100_places]

　597年，Kent にキリスト教がもたらされた経緯については「#5444. 古英語の原文を読む --- 597年，イングランドでキリスト教の布教が始まる」 ([2024-03-23-1]) 等の記事で取り上げてきた．イングランド史上，そして英語史上，きわめて重大な出来事だったといってよい．
　様々なインパクトがあったが，そのうちの1つはキリスト教とともにローマ字 (Roman alphabet) が導入されたことだ．古来，ゲルマン民族はローマ字と親戚関係にあったルーン文字 (runic script) をもっていたが，これを機に使用文字をローマ字へと乗り換えていくことになった．
　そのローマ字の受容の象徴的な年として，602年を挙げることができる．Lucas and Mulvey (19) の "CANTERBURY --- The adoption of the Roman alphabet (602)" と題する節から，冒頭の3段落を引用する．

The Jutish kingdom of Kent is the first region of post-Roman Britannia to leave evidence of an organized realm. That is because Kent was the first area to be reconverted to Christianity. Sent by Pope Gregory, Augustine and fellow monks arrived in Canterbury in 597, bringing not only Christianity but also writing in the form of Roman script. In 602, King Ethelbert of Kent had the monks write down the laws of his people in that script.
   Those laws, called 'dooms', had been brought to Kent from Continental Europe 150 years before. They are the first surviving example, in any Germanic language, of a legal document. They are the starting point of the Anglo-American common law and tradition. They are also of great importance in the history of the English language.
   First, they show that within five years of the arrival of the Roman script, it had been adopted in place of the runic alphabet . . . . Second, they provide evidence of Kentish, a dialect of English that was to disappear altogether. Third, they are the beginning of regular and widespread written records in English, as the script of the dooms spread rapidly west and north.

　ケント王 Ethelbert が602年に法律をローマ字で書き記させたというのが，その後の英語のローマ字使用の伝統にとって決定的な出来事だったことになる．英米法の歴史の観点からも非常に重要な年だったことが分かる．
　それにしてもローマ字の広がり方が早いし速い．597年のたかだか5年後のことである．ローマ字は間違いなくキリスト教とともにもたらされたものなのだ．

　・ Lucas, Bill and Christopher Mulvey. A History of the English Language in 100 Places. London: Robert Hale, 2013.

[ 固定リンク | 印刷用ページ ]

■ #5968. 「あなたが選ぶ英語史ゆかりの場所100選」はおもしろい企画になりそう --- HEL in 100 Places の序文より [notice][review][hel][historiography][variety][world_englishes][100_places]

　「#5956. 100の場所で英語史を学ぶ本 --- A History of the English Language in 100 Places」 ([2025-08-17-1]) で紹介した書籍をパラパラと読んでいるが，意識的に場所と紐付けて英語史を考えるという視点に相変わらず興奮している．
　この本の序文 (9--10) を，David Crystal が書いている．その序文全体が読ませる文章となっているのだが，私が読んでとりわけ印象に残った2段落を引用しよう．

   Some places are included in this book because the people --- in some cases the person --- who lived there played an important role in the development of the standard language. Others are included because they identify the political and social factors that fostered the spread of the language language within the British Isles and around the world. Others are here because they represent the way their communities evolved a linguistic individuality that forms part of the kaleidoscopic mix of varieties we conveniently refer to as 'English'.
   It is an exercise in linguistic gazetteering, and one thing that strikes me about it is its highly personal character. It's impossible to say everything relevant about a place --- 100 things must have happened in London or New York that could be said to bear on the development of English. And 100 other places might compete as candidates for a particular theme. Selectivity is inevitable when creating a language's geobiography. No two people's selection for A History of the English Language in 100 Places would ever be the same. The fascination lies in the choices made, and the reasons for them. (9--10)

　gazetteering, geobiography という用語が，きれいにはまっていて気持ちよい．いずれも，先日の heldio 配信回で提案した「#1517. etymography 「語誌学」の妄想」とも関連してきそうである．
　また，英語史の場所100選という作業が個人的であるという指摘も，まさにその通りであり説得力がある．ということは「あなたが選ぶ英語史ゆかりの場所100選」なる企画を立ち上げることもできるだろう．100選は大変なので10選くらいから始めてもよいかもしれない．

　・ Lucas, Bill and Christopher Mulvey. A History of the English Language in 100 Places. London: Robert Hale, 2013.

[ 固定リンク | 印刷用ページ ]

■ #5956. 100の場所で英語史を学ぶ本 --- A History of the English Language in 100 Places [notice][review][toc][hel][historiography][100_places]

　ヘルメイトの ari さんが，7月11日にご自身の note 上に「#340【Review】A History of the English Language in 100 Places」と題する記事を公開されている．ari さんは「前から気になっていた本」として言及されていたが，私にとっても同じで，いつか読もうと思いつつも書棚に眠らせていた「気になる本」だった．

　ランダムにパラパラと読み始めたが，すこぶるおもしろい．世界中の「場所」に注目して英語史を描くという着想は，英語史記述の方法論として卓越しているし，実際に完全に奏功しているように思われる．今後じっくり読み進めていくべく，自分のためにも目次を提示する形で100の場所を挙げておきたい．

FOREWORD BY DAVID CRYSTAL

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. THE BEGINNINGS OF ENGLISH

(1) UNDLEY COMMON --- the earliest written English (c.475)
(2) CANTERBURY --- the adoption of the Roman alphabet (602)
(3) HAMMERWICH --- Mercian English, our ancestor dialect (c.700)
(4) MONKWEARMOUTH --- naming the English language (731)
(5) YORK --- the influence of Danish on the English language (866)
(6) WINCHESTER --- West Saxon English and King Alfred (871)
(7) CERNE --- Classical Old English (c.1000)
(8) HASTINGS --- the influence of French on the English language (1066)
(9) DUNFERMLINE --- the English language in Scotland (1068)

3. MIDDLE ENGLISH

(10) PETERBOROUGH --- the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the end of Old English (1155)
(11) READING --- the English language in popular song (c.1235)
(12) WESTMINSTER --- the recovery of the English language (1362)
(13) KILKENNY --- the English language in Ireland (1366)
(14) ALDGATE --- the development of Middle English (1374)
(15) CHANCERY STREET --- Chancery English (c.1419)
(16) ST PAUL'S CHURCHYARD --- the English language and the book trade (1456)
(17) PEMBROKE --- the English language in Wales (1457)

4. THE BEGINNINGS OF MODERNITY

(18) BRUGES --- the English language and the printing press (1474)
(19) COLOGNE --- the Bible in English (1525)
(20) PARIS --- the beginnings of punctuation in the English language (1530)
(21) CARLETON --- the influence of Latin on the English language (1531)
(22) NORTHOLT --- spelling and the Great Vowel Shift (1551)
(23) ARCHANGEL --- business English (1553)
(24) STRATFORD --- the development of Early Modern English (1564)
(25) CHICHESTER --- English grammar (1586)
(26) HAMPTON COURT --- the English language and the King James Bible (1604)

5. THE BEGINNINGS OF WORLD ENGLISH

(27) JAMESTOWN --- the English language in the Americas (1607)
(28) HAMILTON --- the English language in the West Indies (1609)
(29) THE MERMAID TAVERN --- the refining of English punctuation (1623)
(30) SALISBURY --- the English language and the language of the law (1631)
(31) HOLBORN --- making English the language of science (1660)
(32) TRINITY COLLEGE --- English proverbs (1670)
(33) PHILADELPHIA --- the development of Midland American English (1682)
(34) NÎMES --- using place names to make up new words (1695)
(35) BOSTON --- the development of New England English (1704)

6. THE STANDARDS AGENDA

(36) LICHFIELD --- setting standards for the English language (1709)
(37) TEMPLE --- the idea of an English Language Academy (1712)
(38) CANONGATE --- British spelling (1760)
(39) SMOCK ALLEY --- English elocution (1762)
(40) MONTREAL --- the English language in Canada (1763)
(41) KEW GARDENS --- botanical English (1771)
(42) KOLKATA --- the birth of linguistics and the origins of English (1786)
(43) MARYLEBONE --- the language of sport (1788)
(44) SYDNEY --- the English language in Australia (1788)
(45) ST MARY-LE-BOW --- Cockney English (1803)
(46) COUPVRAY --- the English language in Braille (1809)
(47) MONROVIA --- the English language in West Africa (1822)

7. THE INDUSTRIAL AGE

(48) STOCKTON-ON-TEES --- the English language and the steam engine (1825)
(49) HARTFORD --- establishing an American standard for English (1828)
(50) CHENNAI --- the English language in India (1834)
(51) ST MARTIN-LE-GRAND --- the English language and the Uniform Penny Post (1840)
(52) WAITANGI --- the English language in New Zealand (1840)
(53) THE STRAND --- English as a language of satire (1841)
(54) BALTIMORE --- the English language and the telegram (1844)
(55) SALFORD --- literacy and free libraries (1850)
(56) HANNIBAL --- English comic writing (1851)
(57) HYDE PARK --- industrialization and its impact on English (1851)
(58) TIMES SQUARE --- The New York Times (1851)
(59) MANCHESTER --- the vocabulary of English and the thesaurus (1852)
(60) BERDICHEV --- exophonic English (1857)
(61) CHRISTCHURCH COLLEGE --- English nonsense (1865)
(62) LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLL --- English place names (1868)
(63) EXETER PLACE --- the English language and the telephone (1876)
(64) CAPE TOWN --- the English language in South Africa (1881)
(65) DUBLIN --- extreme English (1882)
(66) GISBORNE --- English slang (1894)

8. THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

(67) POLDHU --- the English language and the radio (1901)
(68) NEWGATE --- the English language and prison patter (1902)
(69) NEW ORLEANS --- African American English (1902)
(70) FLEET STREET --- tabloid English (1903)
(71) NEW YORK --- the language of crosswords (1913)
(72) HAYMARKET --- rule English (1914)
(73) GUERNSEY --- modern English usage (1926)
(74) PORTLAND PLACE --- BBC English (1926)
(75) OXFORD --- the Oxford English Dictionary (1928)
(76) BLETCHLEY PARK --- English language and code (1939)
(77) EMPIRE STATE BUILDING --- the language of advertising (1941)
(78) ISLINGTON --- plain English (1946)
(79) ETON --- the English of the English upper class (1956)
(80) LIVERPOOL --- British urban English (1963)
(81) ATLANTIC CITY --- sexist English (1968)

9. THE TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION

(82) SEA OF TRANQUILLITY --- English on the moon (1969)
(83) LOS ANGELES --- the language of e-mail (1969)
(84) BELMOPAN --- the English language in Belize (1970)
(85) ST PANCRAS --- the British Library (1973)
(86) ISLAMABAD --- the English language in Pakistan (1973)
(87) THE BRONX --- language of rap (1973)
(88) SAN JOSE --- the English language and text preservation (1975)
(89) SINGAPORE --- English in Singapore (1987)
(90) GENEVA --- the language of the World Wide Web (1991)
(91) HELSINKI --- the English language and texting (1993)
(92) SWARTHMORE --- the language of the blog (1994)
(93) NICHOLSON STREET --- global reading phenomenon (1995)
(94) WINDRUSH SQUARE --- multicultural London English (1998)
(95) SAN FRANCISCO --- Twitter English (2006)
(96) BEVERLY HILLS --- Teen Speak (2008)
(97) KIGALI --- English as an official language (2008)
(98) NEWCASTLE --- the English language and contemporary regional accents (2011)
(99) BEIJING --- English and Mandarin (2012)
(100) VIENNA --- English as a global lingua franca (2012)

10. AFTERWORD

REFERENCES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

　狙いが素晴らしい．これから hellog でも折に触れて参照していきたい．

　・ Lucas, Bill and Christopher Mulvey. A History of the English Language in 100 Places. London: Robert Hale, 2013.

[ 固定リンク | 印刷用ページ ]