History
Further information: Old NormanWhen 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 .
Read more about this topic: Norman Language
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