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Norman or Norman French (Normaund, , Guernésiais: Normand, Jèrriais: Nouormand) is a langue d'oïl spoken in the historical and Cultural area of Normandy.Base de Français Médiéval, "Liste des textes de la Base de Français Médiéval" , 2012, École normale supérieure de Lyon
The name "Norman French" is sometimes also used to describe the administrative languages of 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 and Bourguignon.
Today, although it does not enjoy any official status outside of Jersey, some reports of the French Ministry of Culture have recognized it as one of the regional languages of France.Bernard Cerquiglini, The Languages of France, Report to the Minister of National Education, Research and Technology, and the Minister of Culture and Communication, April 1999
In Normandy, the Norman language inherited only some 150 words from Old Norse. The influence on phonology is disputed, although it is argued that the retention of aspirated and in Norman is due to Norse influence.Elisabeth Ridel (2010). Les Vikings et les mots. Editions Errance.
In the Channel Islands, the Norman language has developed separately, but not in isolation, to form:
The British and Irish governments recognize Jèrriais and Guernésiais as regional languages 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 of Auregnais, the dialect of Norman spoken on Alderney, died during the 20th century, although some 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 of the Norman language (the line runs from Granville, Manche to the French-speaking Belgium border in the province of Hainaut and Thiérache). Dialectal differences also distinguish western and eastern dialects.
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 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). 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 (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: 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).
, 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.
| 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 (became challenge in English) | négocier, débattre | to negotiate, to argue |
| d'ot | od, ot | avec | with |
| de l'hierre (f.) de l'hierru (m.) | de l'iere | du lierre | from the ivy / some 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 enjoy |
| marcaundier | marcandier | rôdeur, vagabond | prowler, stalker |
| 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 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 away |
| trétous | trestuz | tous, absolument tous | all of / each and every |
Examples of Norman French words with -ei instead of -oi in Standard French words
| 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
| 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 |
| 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.), holme (Norw., Swed.) | îlot, rocher en mer |
| mound (cf. Bowl barrow, 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 into French; more recently, some of the English words used in French can be traced back to Norman origins.
| = chou (cf. caboche) | ||
| = château-fort, castelet | ||
| = chasser | ||
| = acheter | ||
| cattle | < *cate(-l) | = cheptel (Old French chetel) |
| = chaudron | ||
| = chaussée | ||
| = cerise | ||
| = façon | ||
| fork | < fouorque | = fourche |
| garden | < gardin | = jardin |
| kennel | < kenil | = chenil (Vulgar Latin *canile) |
| = mug, boc | ||
| < pouquette | = poche | |
| = pauvre | ||
| = gaitier (mod. guetter) | ||
| = guerre | ||
| = guerrier | ||
| = 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.
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