Anglo-Norman language
- noun
- Specialized
:
lengua anglonormanda
- Documents from the 12th century were often written in Anglo-Norman language rather than English.
Examples
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Many legal terms in English come from the Anglo-Norman language used by medieval lawyers.
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The Anglo-Norman language influenced English vocabulary, especially in law and government.
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The Anglo-Norman language influenced the development of English.
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Many legal terms in English derive from the Anglo-Norman language.
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Documents from the 12th century were often written in Anglo-Norman language rather than English.
-
Many legal terms in English come from the Anglo-Norman language used by medieval lawyers.
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The Anglo-Norman language influenced English vocabulary, especially in law and government.
Synonyms
A form of Norman French used in England from the 11th to the 15th centuries
A form of French used for law and government in England in the Middle Ages
The French spoken in England in the Middle Ages by rulers and lawyers
Surface Forms
Morphology
Anglo-Norman + language
The noun 'language' makes the construction transparently refer to a language associated with 'Anglo-Norman', so a learner who recognises the parts can infer it denotes the language of the Anglo-Normans. However, 'Anglo-Norman' is a historical proper-name/compound whose precise referent (a variety of Norman French used in medieval England) requires cultural-historical knowledge beyond simple lexical composition, so the full meaning is not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure. Therefore the expression is partly but not wholly transparent.
Etymology
Anglo-Norman language comes from after 1066 when people from Normandy, the Norman side, spoke French in England, the Anglo side. Because kings, courts and writers used that French, it left many law and government words in English today, so the name refers to that 'mixed' language.
