Norman Language - History

History

Further information: Old Norman

When Norse invaders arrived in the then-province of Neustria and settled the land that became known as Normandy, they gradually adopted the Gallo-Romance speech of the existing populations – much as Norman rulers in England later adopted the speech of the administered people. However, in both cases, the élites contributed elements of their own language to the newly enriched languages that developed in the territories.

In Normandy, the new Norman language inherited vocabulary from Norse. The influence on phonology is more disputed, although it is argued that the retention of aspirated /h/ and /k/ in Norman is due to Norse influence.

Examples of Norman words of Norse origin:

Norman English Old East Norse French Modern Swedish
bel court, yard (cf. bailey?) bǿli cour (cf. bal) böle
bète bait (borrowed from Norman) bæita appât bete
kanne can kanna cruche kanna
guernotte, guénotte, jarnotte earth nut, ground nut, pig nut jorðnotr terre-noix jordnöt
gradile, gradelle, gadelle (black)currant gaddʀ cassis, groseille vinbär (a neologism)
greyer prepare græiða préparer greja (to fix things)
griller, égriller slide, slip skriðla glisser skrida (to skate)
hardelle girl hóra (whore) fille (cf. hardi) hora (prostitute)
hèrnais cart (cf. harness) járnaðʀ (shod (horse)) charrette (cf. harnais, harnacher) järnad
hommet/houmet islet (diminutive of hou) hulmʀ îlot holma
hou islet ( cf. holm, mainly in placenames) hulmʀ îlot holm
hougue mound ( cf. howe, high) haugʀ monticule hög
mauve seagull mávaʀ (pl.) gaviote (Pre-Norman) /
mouette (Post-Norman)
mås
mielle dune mjalʀ dune dyn
mucre damp (cf. muggy) mygla humide mögel (mildew)
nez headland or cliff (cf. Sheerness, etc.) næs falaise (cf. nez) näs
viquet wicket (borrowed from Norman) víkjas guichet (borrowed from Norman) wicket (re-borrowed from English)

In some cases, Norse words adopted in Norman have been borrowed into French – and more recently some of the English words used in French can be traced back to Norman origins.

Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, the Norman language spoken by the new rulers of England left traces of specifically Norman words that can be distinguished from the equivalent lexical items in French:

English Norman French
fashion < faichon = façon
cabbage < caboche = chou (cf. caboche)
candle < ca(u)ndelle = chandelle, bougie
castle < castel (now catè) = château, castelet
cauldron < caudron = chaudron
causeway < caucie (now cauchie) = chaussée
catch < cachier (now cachi) = chasser
cater < acater = acheter
cherry (ies) < cherise (chrise, chise ) = cerise
mug < mogue/moque = mug, boc
poor < paur = pauvre
wait < waitier (old Norman) = gaitier (mod. guetter )
war < werre (old Norman) = guerre
warrior < werreur (old Norman) = guerrier
wicket < viquet = guichet (cf. piquet)

Other words such as captain, kennel, cattle and canvas introduced from Norman exemplify how Norman retained a /k/ from Latin that was not retained in French.

Norman immigrants to North America also introduced some "Normanisms" to Quebec French and French in Canada generally. Joual, a working class sociolect of Quebec in particular exhibits a Norman influence. Some expressions that are currently in use in Canada are: abrier for, barrure for, ber for, bers for, bleuet for, boucane for, boucaner for (also used in modern French), champelure (Norm. campleuse) for, croche for, fricot for, gourgannes for, gourgane for, gricher (Norm. grigner) for, grafigner for, graffigner for, ichite or icite or iciitou for , jouquer or juquer for , maganer for , mitan for , marganner for , maganer for , mi-aout for (also avaible in modern french), pigoche for , pognie for , pomonique for ,quasiment for (also used in modern French), racoin for , ramarrer for , ramucrir, for , mucrerancer for , ressoudre for , relever,roteux,euse for , tasserie for , train for , train de for (also avaible in modern french), sacraer for , v'lin for , vlimeux for , v'lo for , y for zius for .

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