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Old North French

Old North French

9.9
A form of French spoken in northern France in the Middle Ages
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : francés antiguo del norte
  • Documents written in Old North French reveal much about medieval society in northern France.

Examples

  • Scholars study Old North French to better understand medieval literature from Normandy.

  • The influence of Old North French can still be found in some English words today.

  • The term Old North French refers to a dialect used in medieval times.

  • Many scholars study Old North French to understand its influence.

  • Documents written in Old North French reveal much about medieval society in northern France.

  • Scholars study Old North French to better understand medieval literature from Normandy.

  • Many scholars study Old North French to understand its influence.

Synonyms

Norman-French
vsOld North French
  • Archaic
9.9

A form of Old French spoken in Normandy in the Middle Ages that influenced English law and words

is the medieval northern dialect focused on regional origin not its influence on English

Surface Forms

Old North French singular

Morphology

old + north + French

The phrase 'Old North French' is compositionally built from 'old' (historical), 'north' (northern region) and 'French' (the language), so its meaning — a historical northern variety/dialect of French — is directly inferable from the constituents. This locative + language naming pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard composition, so a B1 learner who knows the words would readily understand it.

Etymology

Old North French is a name made from three parts: Old (a long time ago), North (the northern area), and French (the language). So Old North French means 'the old French spoken in the north of France' and refers to the form of French used there in the Middle Ages.