Old Norman, also called Old Northern French or Old Norman French, was one of many langues d'oïl dialects. It was spoken throughout the region of what is now called Normandy and spread into England, Southern Italy, Sicily, and the Levant. It is the ancestor of modern Norman, including the insular dialects (such as Jèrriais), as well as Anglo-Norman French. Old Norman is close to and then often confused with Old French, which is sometimes used to describe all langues d'oïl dialects together.
Old Norman French was an important language of the Principality of Antioch during Crusader rule in the Levant.
Old Norman contained many Norse (and a few Celtic) loanwords unknown in Old French at that time.
Writings of the Jersey-born poet Wace are among the few records of Old Norman that remain.
Famous quotes containing the word norman:
“I haven’t eaten in three days. I didn’t eat yesterday, I didn’t eat today and I’m not going to eat tomorrow. That makes it three days!”
—S.J. Perelman, U.S. screenwriter, Arthur Sheekman, Will Johnstone, and Norman Z. McLeod. Chico Marx, Monkey Business, a complaint shipboard stowaway Chico makes to fellow stowaway Groucho Marx (1931)