Home Linguistics & Semiotics Anglo-Norman: Language contact and obsolescence
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Anglo-Norman: Language contact and obsolescence

  • Brigitte Weber
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Explore this Subject How to publish with us
The Linguistic Heritage of Colonial Practice
This chapter is in the book The Linguistic Heritage of Colonial Practice

Abstract

Anglo-Norman, listed as ‘French of the Channel Islands’ in the Ethnologue appears to be threatened. The UNESCO Atlas of the world’s languages in danger categorizes its dialectal names Jerriais and Dgernesiais as “severely endangered”. Due to contact with the more dominant language English, seen as the route to economic advantage, the continuing existence of Anglo-Norman seems to be under pressure. During the Middle Ages, from the 11th to the 14th centuries, however, it was the language of the elite in England and was still used for legal purposes until the 16th century. This paper offers a diachronic approach to language development and contact from Roman Britain and Gaul to this day. Changing attitudes towards different language situations are considered. It is the aim of this paper to identify a possible revitalization of Anglo- Norman on the Channel Island

Abstract

Anglo-Norman, listed as ‘French of the Channel Islands’ in the Ethnologue appears to be threatened. The UNESCO Atlas of the world’s languages in danger categorizes its dialectal names Jerriais and Dgernesiais as “severely endangered”. Due to contact with the more dominant language English, seen as the route to economic advantage, the continuing existence of Anglo-Norman seems to be under pressure. During the Middle Ages, from the 11th to the 14th centuries, however, it was the language of the elite in England and was still used for legal purposes until the 16th century. This paper offers a diachronic approach to language development and contact from Roman Britain and Gaul to this day. Changing attitudes towards different language situations are considered. It is the aim of this paper to identify a possible revitalization of Anglo- Norman on the Channel Island

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Foreword V
  3. Acknowledgments VII
  4. Contents IX
  5. Introduction 1
  6. Saints, nobility, and other heroes. Colonial place-naming as part of the European linguistic heritage 13
  7. “The making of Greenland” – Early European place names in Kalaallit Nunaat 43
  8. Colonial place-names in Italian East Africa (AOI) (with additional data from Tripoli). The linguistic heritage of colonial practice 75
  9. Linguistic missionary heritage. Capuchin missionary Father Laurentius and his unpublished German-Chuukese dictionary 93
  10. Positioning by naming: Constructing group affiliation in a colonial setting 115
  11. Third-hand colonial linguistics: Adolphe Dietrich’s comparative study of Indian Ocean Creoles 139
  12. Spanish-Guarani diglossia in colonial Paraguay: A language undertaking 153
  13. Construction of (transcontinental) railways as a means of colonization. A corpus-based analysis on the German colonial discourse in postcolonial perspective 169
  14. The Raj English in historical lexicography 191
  15. Anglo-Norman: Language contact and obsolescence 219
  16. Index of Authors 245
  17. Index of Languages 249
  18. Index of Subjects 251
  19. Index of Toponyms 253
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110623710-011

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Foreword V
  3. Acknowledgments VII
  4. Contents IX
  5. Introduction 1
  6. Saints, nobility, and other heroes. Colonial place-naming as part of the European linguistic heritage 13
  7. “The making of Greenland” – Early European place names in Kalaallit Nunaat 43
  8. Colonial place-names in Italian East Africa (AOI) (with additional data from Tripoli). The linguistic heritage of colonial practice 75
  9. Linguistic missionary heritage. Capuchin missionary Father Laurentius and his unpublished German-Chuukese dictionary 93
  10. Positioning by naming: Constructing group affiliation in a colonial setting 115
  11. Third-hand colonial linguistics: Adolphe Dietrich’s comparative study of Indian Ocean Creoles 139
  12. Spanish-Guarani diglossia in colonial Paraguay: A language undertaking 153
  13. Construction of (transcontinental) railways as a means of colonization. A corpus-based analysis on the German colonial discourse in postcolonial perspective 169
  14. The Raj English in historical lexicography 191
  15. Anglo-Norman: Language contact and obsolescence 219
  16. Index of Authors 245
  17. Index of Languages 249
  18. Index of Subjects 251
  19. Index of Toponyms 253
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 23.12.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110623710-011/html
Scroll to top button