Anglo-Norman (; ), also known as Anglo-Norman French, was a
dialect
A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...
of
Old Norman that was used in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and, to a lesser extent, other places in Great Britain and Ireland during the
Anglo-Norman period.
Origin
The term "Anglo-Norman" harks back to the time when the language was regarded as being primarily the regional dialect of the Norman settlers. Today the generic term "Anglo-French" is used instead to reflect not only the broader origin of the settlers who came with
William the Conqueror
William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...
, but also the continued influence of
Parisian French from the
Plantagenet period onwards.
According to some linguists, the name Insular French might be more suitable, because "Anglo-Norman" is constantly associated with the notion of a
mixed language
A mixed language, also referred to as a hybrid language or fusion language, is a type of contact language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. ...
based on English and Norman. According to some, such a mixed language never existed. Other sources, however, indicate that such a language did exist, and that it was the language descended from the
Norman French
Norman or Norman French (, , Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a '' langue d'oïl'' spoken in the historical and cultural region of Normandy.
The name "Norman French" is sometimes also used to describe the administrative languages of '' Angl ...
originally established in England after the Conquest.
Although Anglo-Norman and Anglo-French were eventually eclipsed by modern
English, they had been used widely enough to influence English vocabulary permanently. This means that many original
Germanic words, cognates of which can still be found in
Nordic,
German, and
Dutch, have been lost or, as is more often the case, exist alongside synonyms of Anglo-Norman French origin.
Anglo-Norman had little lasting influence on English grammar, as opposed to vocabulary, although it is still evident in official and legal terms where the ordinary sequence of noun and adjective
is reversed, as seen in phrases such as ''Blood Royal, attorney general, heir apparent, court martial, envoy extraordinary'' and ''body politic.''
The
royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, also referred to as the royal arms, are the arms of dominion of the British monarch, currently Charles III. They are used by the Government of the United Kingdom and by other The Crown, Crown instit ...
still features in French the mottos of both the
British Monarch
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British con ...
, ("God and my right"), and the
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...
, ''
Honi soit qui mal y pense
(, ; ) is a maxim (philosophy), maxim in the Anglo-Norman language, a dialect of Old Norman French spoken by the medieval ruling class in England, meaning "shamed be whoever thinks ill of it", usually translated as "shame on anyone who think ...
'' ("Shamed be he who thinks evil of it").
''Dieu et mon droit'' was first used by
Richard I
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...
(who spoke Anglo-Norman, but cannot be proved to have been able to speak English) 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.
Use and development
Though in regular use at the royal court, Anglo-French was not the main administrative language of England: Latin was the major language of record in legal and other official documents for most of the medieval period. However, from the mid-13th century to the early 15th century, Anglo-French was much used in law reports, charters, ordinances, official correspondence, and trade at all levels; it was the language of the King, his court and the upper class. There is evidence, too, that foreign words (
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
,
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
,
Italian,
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
Spanish) often entered English via Anglo-Norman.
The language of later documents adopted some of the changes ongoing in continental French and lost many of its original dialectal characteristics, so ''Anglo-French'' remained (in at least some respects and at least at some social levels) part of the dialect continuum of modern French, often with distinctive spellings. Over time, the use of Anglo-French expanded into the fields of law, administration, commerce, and science, in all of which a rich documentary legacy survives, indicative of the vitality and importance of the language.
By the late 15th century, however, what remained of insular French had become heavily anglicised: see
Law French
Law French () is an archaic language originally based on Anglo-Norman, but increasingly influenced by Parisian French and, later, English. It was used in the law courts of England from the 13th century. Its use continued for several centur ...
. It continued to be known as "Norman French" until the end of the 19th century even though, philologically, there was nothing Norman about it.
Among important writers of the Anglo-Norman cultural commonwealth is
Marie de France.
The languages and literature of the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...
are sometimes referred to as Anglo-Norman, but that usage is derived from the French name for the islands: ''les îles anglo-normandes''. The variety of French spoken in the islands is related to the modern
Norman language
Norman or Norman French (, , Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a ''Langues d'oïl, langue d'oïl'' spoken in the historical region, historical and Cultural area, cultural region of Normandy.
The name "Norman French" is sometimes also used to des ...
, and distinct from the Anglo-Norman of medieval England.
Trilingualism in medieval and modern England
General history in medieval England
Many of the earliest documents in
Old French
Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th are found in England. In medieval France">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...
are found in England. In medieval France, it was not usual to write in the vernacular: Because Medieval Latin, Latin was the language of the Roman Catholic Church#Medieval and Renaissance periods, Church, Medieval university, education, and historiography, it was also used for records. In medieval England, Latin also remained in use by the Church, the royal government, and much local administration in parallel with
, as it had been before 1066. The early adoption of Anglo-Norman as a written and literary language probably owes something to this history of
in writing.
In the first centuries after the Norman Conquest of England, the French-speaking elite primarily relied on Latin for record-keeping rather than their own language, while English continued to have a written tradition and was used in religious services until 1154, when the Angevins came into power. Englishmen seeking words associated with government, culture, or entertainment would likely use French terms in their English speech to operate in upper-middle-class social settings would not only learn some French but also imitate the Frenchified English of bilingual speakers.
Nevertheless, educated Englishmen in the 12th and 13th centuries could read and speak French to some extent. This explains why the first French loanwords entering English were introduced through written texts and passive knowledge of the language rather than active use. However, as French began to be used for record-keeping in England due to its growing prestige during the mid-13th century, approximately 90% of the total 10,000 French loanwords in English began to be documented in the language.
Around the same time, as a shift took place in France towards using French as a language of record in the mid-13th century, Anglo-Norman also became a language of record in England, although Latin retained its pre-eminence for matters of permanent record (as in written
s). From around this point onwards, considerable variation begins to be apparent in Anglo-Norman, which ranges from the very local (and most
d) to a level of language which approximates to and is sometimes indistinguishable from varieties of continental French. Typically, therefore, local records are rather different from continental French, with diplomatic and international trade documents closest to the emerging continental norm. English remained the vernacular of the common people throughout this period. The resulting virtual
in spoken and written language was one of medieval Latin, Anglo-Norman and Middle English.
(1066) until the end of the 14th century, French was the language of the king and his court. During this period, marriages with French princesses reinforced the royal family's ties to French culture. Nevertheless, during the 13th century, intermarriages with
became more frequent. French became progressively a second language among the upper classes. Moreover, with the
and the growing spirit of English and French nationalism, the status of French diminished.
French (specifically