View source for Norman language

{{Short description|Romance language of Northwest France}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox language
| name          = Norman
| nativename    = ''Normaund''
| states        = 
* [[Normandy]] ([[Cotentin Peninsula]] and [[Pays de Caux]])
* [[Jersey]], [[Guernsey]], [[Sark]]
Previously used:
* [[Alderney]], [[Herm]]
* [[Kingdom of England]] (see [[England in the High Middle Ages]] and [[England in the late Middle Ages]])
* [[Lordship of Ireland]] (see [[Norman Ireland]])
* [[Canada]] (formerly used to a certain degree in Eastern Canada and Quebec)
* [[Kingdom of Sicily]] (used in a limited degree)
* [[Principality of Antioch]]
| region        = [[Normandy]]
| speakers      = {{sigfig|18,920|1}}
| date          = 2011–2015
| ref           = e25
| speakers2     = {{bulleted list|[[Auregnais]]: extinct<ref name=e25/>
|[[Guernésiais]]: {{sigfig|220|1}} (2014)<ref name=e25/>
|[[Jèrriais]]: {{sigfig|1,700|1}} (2011)<ref name=e25/>
|[[Sercquiais]]: <&nbsp;20 (1998)<ref name="BBC Voices - Jerriais">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/jerriais.shtml|title= Voices - Multilingual Nation|website=BBC |access-date=6 July 2013|archive-date=15 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215032347/http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/jerriais.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>
|[[Augeron]]: <&nbsp;100 (no date){{cn|date=January 2023}}
|[[Cauchois dialect|Cauchois]]: c. 50,000 (no date){{cn|date=January 2023}}
|[[Cotentinais]]: c. 50,000 (no date){{cn|date=January 2023}}}}
| familycolor   = Indo-European
| fam2          = [[Italic languages|Italic]]
| fam3          = [[Latino-Faliscan languages|Latino-Faliscan]]
| fam4          = [[Latin]]
| fam5          = [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| fam6          = [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]]
| fam7          = [[Western Romance languages|Western Romance]]
| fam8          = Gallo-Iberian?<ref name="glottoOil">{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/oila1234 |title=Glottolog 4.8 - Oil |date=2022-05-24 |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last=Hammarström |first=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111104954/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/oila1234 |archive-date=2023-11-11 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}</ref>
| fam9          = [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]]
| fam10         = Gallo-Rhaetian?<ref name="glottoOil"/>
| fam11         = [[Franco-Provençal|Arpitan]]–[[Langues d'oïl|Oïl]]
| fam12         = [[Langues d'oïl|Oïl]]
| ancestor      = [[Old Latin]]
| ancestor2     = [[Vulgar Latin]]
| ancestor3     = [[Proto-Romance language|Proto-Romance]]
| ancestor4     = [[Old French]]
| ancestor5     = [[Old Norman]]
| dia1          = [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]] ([[Auregnais]], [[Guernésiais]], [[Jèrriais]], [[Law French]], and [[Sercquiais]]){{Citation needed|date=June 2022|reason=Are we sure any of these other than Law French are varieties of Anglo-Norman?}}
| dia2          = [[Augeron]]
| dia3          = [[Cauchois dialect|Cauchois]]
| dia4          = [[Cotentinais]]
| script        = [[Latin script|Latin]] ([[French orthography]])
| iso3          = nrf
| iso3comment   = (partial: [[Guernésiais]] & [[Jèrriais]])
| ietf          = nrf
| glotto        = norm1245
| glottorefname = Normand
| lingua        = 51-AAA-hc & 51-AAA-hd
| map           = Langue normande.png
| mapcaption    = Areas where the Norman language is strongest include Jersey, Guernsey, the Cotentin and the Pays de Caux.
}}

'''Norman''' or '''Norman French''' ({{lang|nrf|Normaund}}, {{langx|fr|Normand}} {{IPA|fr|nɔʁmɑ̃||LL-Q150 (fra)-Lyokoï-normand.wav}}, [[Guernésiais]]: {{lang|nrf-GG|Normand}}, [[Jèrriais]]: {{lang|nrf-JE|Nouormand}}) is a ''[[Langues d'oïl|langue d'oïl]]''.<ref>Base de Français Médiéval, [http://bfm.ens-lyon.fr/IMG/pdf/Liste_BFM112.pdf "Liste des textes de la Base de Français Médiéval"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923082926/http://bfm.ens-lyon.fr/IMG/pdf/Liste_BFM112.pdf |date=23 September 2017 }}, 2012, [[École normale supérieure de Lyon]]</ref>{{sfn|Moisy|1875|pp=xix, 91}} The name "Norman French" is sometimes also used to describe the administrative languages of ''[[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]]'' and ''[[Law French]]'' used in [[England]]. For the most part, the written forms of Norman and modern French are [[mutually intelligible]]. The thirteenth-century philosopher [[Roger Bacon]] was the first to distinguish it along with other dialects such as [[Picard language|Picard]] and [[Burgundian language (Oïl)|Bourguignon]].{{sfn|Wolff|1991|p=337}} Today, although it does not enjoy any official status, some reports of the French [[Ministry of Culture (France)|Ministry of Culture]] have recognized it as one of the regional [[languages of France]].<ref>Bernard Cerquiglini, ''[http://www.dglflf.culture.gouv.fr/lang-reg/rapport_cerquiglini/langues-france.html The Languages of France]'', Report to the Minister of National Education, Research and Technology, and the Minister of Culture and Communication, April 1999</ref>

==History==
{{Further|Old Norman}}

When [[Norsemen|Norse]] [[Vikings]] from modern day [[Scandinavia]] arrived in [[Neustria]], in the western part of the then [[Kingdom of the Franks]], and settled the land that became known as Normandy, these [[North Germanic languages|North-Germanic]]–speaking people came to live among a local [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]]–speaking population.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Norman |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Norman-people |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=22 July 2020 |quote=Norman, member of those Vikings, or Norsemen, who settled in northern France...The Normans (from Nortmanni: "Northmen") were originally pagan barbarian pirates from Denmark, Norway, and Iceland |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324074550/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Norman-people |url-status=live }}</ref> In time, the communities converged, so that ''Normandy'' continued to form the name of the region while the original Norsemen were largely assimilated by the Gallo-Romance people, adopting their speech but still contributing some elements from [[Old Norse]] language and Norse culture. Later, when conquering England, the Norman rulers in England would eventually assimilate, thereby adopting the speech of the local English.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} In both cases, the elites contributed elements of their own language to the newly enriched languages that developed in the territories.

In Normandy, the Norman language inherited only some 150 words from Old Norse.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Elisabeth Ridel|title=Les Vikings et les mots|publisher=Editions Errance|year=2010}}</ref> The influence on [[phonology]] is disputed, although it is argued that the retention of aspirated {{IPAslink|h}} and {{IPAslink|k}} in Norman is due to Norse influence.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

==Geographical distribution==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2024}}
Norman is spoken in mainland [[Normandy]] in [[France]], where it has no official status, but is classed as a [[languages of France|regional language]]. It is taught in a few colleges near [[Cherbourg-Octeville]].

In the [[Channel Islands]], the Norman language has developed separately, but not in isolation, to form:

* [[Jèrriais]] (in [[Jersey]])
* [[Guernésiais]] or Dgèrnésiais or Guernsey French (in [[Guernsey]])
* [[Sercquiais]] (or Sarkese, in [[Sark]]) 
* [[Auregnais]] (in Alderney)

The British and Irish governments recognize Jèrriais and Guernésiais as [[regional language]]s within the framework of the [[British–Irish Council]]. Sercquiais is in fact a descendant of the 16th-century Jèrriais used by the original colonists from [[Jersey]] who settled the then uninhabited island.

The last [[first language|first-language speakers]] of [[Auregnais]], the dialect of Norman spoken on [[Alderney]], died during the 20th century, although some [[rememberer]]s are still alive. The dialect of [[Herm]] also lapsed at an unknown date; the patois spoken there was likely Guernésiais (Herm was not inhabited all year round in the Norman culture's heyday).

An [[isogloss]] termed the "[[Joret line]]" (''ligne Joret'') separates the northern and southern [[dialect]]s of the Norman language (the line runs from [[Granville, Manche]] to the French-speaking [[Belgium|Belgian]] border in the province of [[Hainaut (province)|Hainaut]] and [[Thiérache]]). Dialectal differences also distinguish western and eastern dialects.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

Three different standardized spellings are used: continental Norman, Jèrriais, and Dgèrnésiais. These represent the different developments and particular literary histories of the varieties of Norman. Norman may therefore be described as a [[pluricentric language]].

The [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]] dialect of Norman served as a language of administration in [[England]] following the [[Norman conquest of England]] in 1066. This left a legacy of [[Law French]] in the language of English courts (though it was also influenced by [[Standard French|Parisian French]]). In Ireland, Norman remained strongest in the area of south-east Ireland, where the [[Hiberno-Normans]] invaded in 1169. Norman remains in (limited) use for some very formal legal purposes in the UK, such as when the monarch gives [[royal assent]] to an Act of Parliament using the phrase, "[[Le Roy le veult|Le Roy (la Reyne) le veult]]" ("The King (the Queen) wills it").

The [[Norman conquest of southern Italy]] in the 11th and 12th centuries brought the language to [[Sicily]] and the southern part of the [[Italian Peninsula]], where it may have left a few words in the [[Sicilian language]]. ''See: [[Sicilian language#Norman and French influence|Norman and French influence on Sicilian]].''

Literature in Norman ranges from early [[Anglo-Norman literature]] through the 19th-century Norman literary renaissance to modern writers (''see'' [[list of Norman-language writers]]).

{{As of | 2017}}, the Norman language remains strongest in the less accessible areas of the former [[Duchy of Normandy]]: the Channel Islands and the [[Cotentin Peninsula]] ([[Cotentinais]]) in the west, and the [[Pays de Caux]] ([[Cauchois dialect]]) in the east. Ease of access from [[Paris]] and the popularity of the coastal resorts of central Normandy, such as [[Deauville]], in the 19th century led to a significant loss of distinctive Norman culture in the central low-lying areas of Normandy.

===Old French influences===
Norman French preserves a number of [[Old French]] words which have been lost in Modern French. Examples of Norman French words of Old French origin:
{| class="wikitable"
!Norman French
!Old French
!French
!Meaning
|-
|''alosier''
|''alosier''
|se vanter, se targuer
|to brag, to pride oneself on
|-
|''ardre''
|''ardre'', ''ardeir''
|brûler
|to burn
|-
|''caeir''
|''caeir'', ''caïr''
|«choir», tomber
|to drop, to fall over
|-
|''calengier''
|''calungier'', ''chalongier''<br>(became ''challenge'' in English)
|négocier, débattre
|to negotiate, to argue
|-
|''d'ot''
|''od'', ''ot''
|avec
|with
|-
|''de l'hierre'' (f.)<br />''de l'hierru'' (m.)
|''de l'iere''
|du lierre
|of ivy
|-
|''déhait''
|''dehait''
|chagrin, malheur
|grief, hardship
|-
|''ébauber'', ''ébaubir''
|''esbaubir''
|étonner
|to surprise
|-
|''éclairgir''
|''esclargier''
|éclaircir
|to lighten
|-
|''écourre''
|''escurre'', ''escudre''
|secouer
|to shake, to mix
|-
|''essourdre''
|''essurdre'', ''exsurdre''
|élever
|to raise, to lift
|-
|''haingre'' (adj.)
|''haingre''
|maigre
|thin, skinny
|-
|''haingue'' (f.)
|''haenge''
|haine
|hatred
|-
|''haiset'' (m.)
|''haise''
|barrière or clôture de jardin faites de branches
|garden fence
|-
|''herdre''
|''erdre''
|adhérer, être adhérant, coller
|to adhere, to stick
|-
|''hourder''
|''order''
|souiller
|to make something dirty
|-
|''iloc'' (with a silent ''c'')
|''iloc'', ''iluec''
|là
|there
|-
|''itel'' / ''intel''
|''itel''
|semblable
|similar
|-
|''liement''
|''liement'', ''liéement''
|tranquillement
|quietly, peacefully
|-
|''maishî''
|''maishui'', ''meshui''
|maintenant, désormais
|now, from now on
|-
|''manuyaunce''
|''manuiance''
|avoir la jouissance, la possession
|to have enjoyment
|-
|''marcaundier''
|''marcandier''
|rôdeur, vagabond
|prowler, walker
|-
|''marcauntier''
|''marcantier''
|mouchard, colporteur
|canary
|-
|''marganer''
|''marganer''
|moquer
|to make fun of, to mock
|-
|''marganier''
|''marganier''
|moqueur, quelqu'un qui se moque
|mocking, teasing
|-
|''méhain''
|''meshaing'', ''mehain''
|mauvaise disposition, malaise
|loss of consciousness, feeling of faintness
|-
|''méhaignié''
|''meshaignié''
|malade, blessé
|sick, injured
|-
|''méselle''
|''mesele''
|lèpre
|leprosy
|-
|''mésiau'' or ''mésel''
|''mesel''
|lépreux
|leper
|-
|''moûtrer''
|''mustrer''
|montrer
|to show
|-
|''muchier''
|''mucier''
|cacher
|to conceal / to hide
|-
|''nartre'' (m.)
|''nastre''
|traître
|traitor
|-
|''nâtre'' (adj.)
|''nastre''
|méchant, cruel
|mean, nasty
|-
|''nienterie'' (f.)
|''nienterie''
|niaiserie
|nonsense, insanity
|-
|''orde''
|''ort''
|sale
|dirty
|-
|''ordir''
|''ordir''
|salir
|to get something dirty
|-
|''paumpe'' (f.)
|''pampe''
|''en normand'': tige
''en anc. fr.'': pétale
|petal
|-
|''souleir''
|''soleir''
|«souloir», avoir l'habitude de
|to have habit of / to get used to
|-
|''targier'' or ''tergier''
|''targier''
|tarder
|to be late / slow
|-
|''tître''
|''tistre''
|tisser
|to weave
|-
|''tolir''
|''tolir''
|priver, enlever
|to remove, to take something away from somebody
|-
|''trétous''
|''trestuz''
|tous, absolument tous
|all, absolutely every 
|}

Examples of Norman French words with -ei instead of -oi in Standard French words 
{| class="wikitable sortable alternance"
! scope="col" |Norman French
! scope="col" |Standard French
! scope="col" |Meaning
|-
|'''la feire'''
|la foire
|fair (trade show)
|-
|'''la feis'''
|la fois
|time
|-
|'''la peire'''
|la poire
|pear
|-
|'''le deigt'''
|le doigt
|finger
|-
|'''le dreit'''
|le droit
|right (law)
|-
|'''le peivre'''
|le poivre
|pepper
|-
|'''aveir''' (final ''r'' is silent)
|avoir
|to have
|-
|'''beire'''
|boire
|to drink
|-
|'''creire'''
|croire
|to believe
|-
|'''neir''' (final ''r'' is silent)
|noir
|black
|-
|'''veir''' (final ''r'' is silent)
|voir
|to see
|}

Examples of Norman French words with ''c-'' / ''qu-'' and ''g-'' instead of  ''ch-'' and ''j'' in Standard French
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Norman French
!Standard French
!Meaning
|-
|'''la cauche'''
|la chausse, la chaussure
|shoes
|-
|'''la cose'''
|la chose
|thing
|-
|'''la gaumbe'''
|la jambe
|leg
|-
|'''la quièvre'''
|la chèvre
|goat
|-
|'''la vaque'''
|la vache
|cow
|-
|'''le cat'''
|le chat
|cat
|-
|'''le câtel''' (final ''l'' is silent)
|le château
|castle
|-
|'''le quien'''
|le chien
|dog
|-
|'''cachier'''
|chasser
|to chase / to hunt
|-
|'''catouiller'''
|chatouiller
|to tickle
|-
|'''caud'''
|chaud
|hot
|}

===Norse influences===

Examples of Norman words of Norse origin:
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!English
!Norman French
![[Old Norse]]
!Scandinavian reflexes
!French
|-
|bait 
|baite, bète, abète
|beita 
|beita (Icelandic), beite (Norw.), bete (Swed.)
|appât; boëtte (from Breton; maybe ultimately from Norman)
|-
|beach grass, dune grass
|milgreu, melgreu
|*melgrös, pl. of *melgras
|melgrös, pl. of melgras (Icelandic)
|oyat
|-
|(black) currant
|gade, gadelle, gradelle, gradille
|gaddʀ
|(-)
|cassis, groseille
|-
|damp (cf. ''muggy''), humid
|mucre
|mykr (cf. English ''muck'')
|myk (Norw.)
|humide
|-
|down (feather)
|dun, dum, dumet, deumet
|dúnn
|dúnn (Icelandic), dun (Dan., Norw., Swed.)
|duvet (from Norman)
|-
|dune, sandy land
|mielle, mièle
|melʀ
|melur (Icelandic), mile (Dan.), mjele (Norw.), mjälla (Swed.)
|dune, terrain sableux
|-
|earthnut, groundnut, pignut, peanut
|génotte, gernotte, jarnotte
|*jarðhnot
|jarðhneta (Icelandic), jordnød (Dan.), jordnöt (Swed.), jordnøtt (Norw.)
|arachide, cacahuète 
|-
|islet 
|hommet/houmet 
|hólmʀ
|hólmur (Icelandic), holm (Dan., Norw.), holme (Swed.)
|îlot, rocher en mer
|-
|mound (cf. ''[[Bowl barrow|howe]]'', ''high'') 
|hougue 
|haugʀ
|haugur (Icelandic), haug (Norw.), hög (Swe.), høj (Dan.)
|monticule
|-
|ness (headland or cliff, cf. [[Sheerness]], etc.)
|nez
|nes
|nes (Icelandic, Norw.), næs (Dan.), näs (Swed.)
|cap, pointe de côte
|-
|seagull
|mauve, mave, maôve
|mávaʀ (pl.)
|mávar (pl.) (Icelandic), måge (Dan.), måke/måse (Norw.), mås (Swed.)
|mouette, goëland 
|-
|slide, slip
|griller, égriller, écriller
|*skriðla
|overskride (Norw.), skrilla (Old Swed.), skriða (Icelandic), skride (Dan.)
|glisser
|-
|wicket (borrowed from Norman)
|viquet, (-vic, -vy, -vouy in place-names)
|vík
|vík (Icelandic), vig (Dan.), vik (Norw., Swed.)
|guichet (borrowed from Norman)
|}

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

[[File:Bar Cherbourg langue normande.jpg|thumb|A bar named in Norman (Cherbourg, 2002)]]

===Influence of Norman on English language=== 

Following the [[Norman conquest of England]] in 1066, the Norman and other languages and dialects spoken by the new rulers of England were used during several hundred years, developing into the unique insular dialect now known as [[Anglo-Norman French]], and leaving traces of specifically Norman words that can be distinguished from the equivalent lexical items in French:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! English !! Norman French !! French  
|-
| cabbage || < caboche || = chou (cf. ''caboche'')
|-
| castle || < castel (borrowed from Occitan) || = château-fort, castelet  
|-
| catch || < cachier (now cachi)<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary.'' "Catch"</ref> || = chasser
|-
| cater || < acater || = acheter
|-
| cauldron || < caudron || = chaudron
|-
| causeway || < caucie (now cauchie)<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary.'' "Causeway"</ref> || = chaussée
|-
| cherry (ies) || < cherise (chrise, chise) || = cerise
|-
| fashion || < faichon || = façon
|-
| mug || < mogue/moque<ref>The ''Oxford English Dictionary.'' entry on "Mug¹" states that the origin of this word is uncertain—it may have been a borrowing from Norman, or it may have come from another source, and been reinforced through Norman.</ref> || = 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 borrowings, such as ''canvas'', ''captain'', ''cattle'' and ''kennel'', exemplify how Norman retained Latin /k/ that was not retained in French.

In the United Kingdom, Acts of Parliament are confirmed with the words "[[Le Roy le veult]]" ("The King wishes it") and other Norman phrases are used on formal occasions as legislation progresses.

===Norman immigration in Canada===

Norman immigrants to [[North America]] also introduced some "Normanisms" to [[Quebec French]] and the [[French language in Canada]] generally. [[Joual]], a working class [[sociolect]] of [[Quebec]], in particular exhibits a Norman influence. For example the word "placoter" can mean both to splash around or to chatter comes from the Normand French word "clapoter" which means the same thing.<ref>{{Cite book |last=GEOFFRION |first=LOUIS-PHILIPPE |url=https://docplayer.fr/82722794-Secretaire-de-la-societe-du-parler-francais-au-canada-gzags-autour-dk-os-parlers-a-quebec-chez-l-auteur-125-rue-de-la-claire-fontaine-125-mcmxxvh.html |title=ZIGZAGS AUTOUR DE NOS PARLERS |year=1927 |location=Quebec |pages=60 |language=French}}</ref>

==See also==
{{interwiki|code=nrm}}
*[[Norman toponymy]]
*[[Joret line]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite book|last=Moisy|first=Henri|year=1875|title=Noms de famille normands, étudiés dans leurs rapports avec la vieille langue et spécialement avec le dialecte normand|url=https://archive.org/details/nomsdefamillenor00mois|publisher=F. Vieweg}}
*{{cite book|last=Wolff|first=Philippe|editor-last=d'Arxius|editor-first=Servei|title=Catalunya i França Meridional|year=1991|chapter=Quelles langues parlait-on dans le royaume de France vers l'an Mil?|publisher=Generalitat de Catalunya}}

==Sources==
*Essai de grammaire de la langue normande, UPN, 1995. {{ISBN|2-9509074-0-7}}.
*V'n-ous d'aveu mei? UPN, 1984.
*La Normandie dialectale, 1999, {{ISBN|2-84133-076-1}}
*Alain Marie, ''Les auteurs patoisants du Calvados'', 2005. {{ISBN|2-84706-178-9}}.
*Roger Jean Lebarbenchon, ''Les Falaises de la Hague'', 1991. {{ISBN|2-9505884-0-9}}.
*Jean-Louis Vaneille, ''Les patoisants bas-normands'', n.d., Saint-Lô.
*André Dupont, ''Dictionnaire des patoisants du Cotentin'', Société d'archéologie de la Manche, Saint-Lô, 1992.
* [[Geraint Jennings]] and Yan Marquis, "The Toad and the Donkey: an anthology of Norman literature from the Channel Islands", 2011, {{ISBN|978-1-903427-61-3}}

==External links==
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Norman French|year=1905 |short=x}}

{{Norman language|state=expanded}}
{{Gallo-Romance languages and dialects}}
{{Romance languages}}
{{Languages_of_Sicily|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Norman language| ]]
[[Category:Languages of France]]
[[Category:Endangered Romance languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Sicily]]
[[Category:Channel Islands]]
[[Category:Languages of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Oïl languages]]