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Anglo-Norman |
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Anglo-Norman, also known as Anglo-Norman French, is the name traditionally given to the dialect of the langue d'oïl, that
was used in England and, to a lesser extent elsewhere in the British Isles, during the Anglo-Norman period. When William the
Conqueror led the Norman invasion of England in 1066, he, his nobles, and many of his followers from Normandy, but also those
from northern and western France, spoke a range of Oïl dialects (Northern French dialects). One of these was Norman. Other
followers spoke varieties of the Picard language or western French. This amalgam developed into the unique insular dialect
now known as Anglo-Norman French, which was commonly used for literary and eventually administrative purposes from the 12th
until the 15th century. It is difficult to know much about what was actually spoken, and certainty about the dialect is restricted
to what was written. But it is clear that Anglo-Norman was to a large extent the spoken language of the higher social strata
in medieval England. It was spoken in the law courts, schools, and universities, and in due course amongst at least some sections
of the gentry and the growing bourgeoisie. Private and commercial correspondence was carried out in Anglo-Norman or Anglo-French
from the 13th to the 15th century, though its spelling forms were often displaced by continental spellings. Social classes
other than the nobility became keen to learn French: manuscripts containing materials for instructing non-native speakers
still exist, dating mostly from the late 14th century onwards. Although Anglo-Norman and Anglo-French were eventually eclipsed
by modern English, they had been used widely enough to influence English vocabulary permanently. Thus many original Germanic
words, cognates of which can still be found in German and Dutch, have either been lost or, more often, exist alongside synonyms
of Anglo-Norman French origin. Grammatically, Anglo-Norman had little lasting impact on English, although it is still evident
in official and legal terms where the noun and adjective are reversed, for example attorney general, which in New High German
is Generalbundesanwalt, literally meaning general attorney: the spelling is English but the word order (noun then adjective)
is French. Other such examples are heir apparent, court martial, and body politic. Nowadays, the Royal coat of arms still
features in French both the motto of British Monarchs and the motto of the Order of the Garter : Dieu et mon droit (French
for God and my right), Honi soit qui mal y pense (French for Reviled be whoever thinks ill). Dieu et mon droit was first used
by King Richard I in 1198 and adopted as the royal motto of England in the time of Henry VI. The motto appears below the shield
of the Royal Coat of Arms. |
Names (more)[af] Anglo-Normandies[ca] Anglonormand [de] Anglonormannische Sprache [en] Anglo-Norman language [eo] Anglo-normanda lingvo [fr] Anglo-normand [hr] Anglonormanski jezik [it] Lingua anglo-normanna [ja] アングロ=ノルマン語 [la] Lingua Anglonormannica [no] Anglo-normannisk [pt] Língua anglo-normanda [ru] Англо-нормандский язык [es] Anglo-normando [sv] Anglo-normandiska [uk] Англо-нормандська мова [zh] 盎格鲁-诺曼语 |
Language type : Ancient
Technical notes
This page is providing structured data for the language Anglo-Norman. |
ISO 639 CodesISO 639-3 : xnoLinked Data URIshttp://lexvo.org/id/iso639-3/xnohttp://dbpedia.org/resource/ISO_639:xno More URIs at sameas.org SourcesAuthority documentation for ISO 639 identifier: xnoFreebase ISO 639-3 : xno GeoNames.org Country Information Publications Office of the European Union Metadata Registry : Countries and Languages |