Anglo-Norman dictionary :: Comer tus palabras (Anglo-Norman) (2023)

• Ladies and gentlemen, visa welcome!
• Why an Anglo-Norman dictionary?
• Creation of the Anglo-Norman dictionary
• Vulgar descendants: Anglo-Norman in dialect and slang
• A look at the Magna Carta
• Eat your words (Anglo-Norman)
• Anglo-Norman in Chaucer's Middle English
• A touch of multilingualism in medieval England

Anglo-Norman was used not only in public spheres such as government, law, administration, and commerce, but also in the domestic and social spheres, becoming a language of literature and (later) of education. The teaching of Anglo-Norman was important not only for the French-speaking nobility, but also for the emerging bourgeoisie in the cities. A number of manuals were compiled to help English speakers learn French: the first textbooks for what would today be called 'French as a Foreign Language'. School books and textbooks attempted to enable the socially ambitious to function in Anglo-Norman in both the private and public spheres of England and France. Their goal was to teach people French vocabulary, develop the communication skills needed during a trip abroad on the mainland or on the island, and manage their daily tasks when furnishing a house, shopping at a market, or ordering a meal at a B&B. . These manuals propose to teach French,expertise, and good manners at the same time.

Starting in the 14th century, the balance of language use changed. English, always the most widely spoken language of the population, began to appear in written records (a development that had already taken place before the conquest, but was postponed). But what happened in this process was not the replacement of one language (Middle English) by another (Anglo-Norman): the resulting English contained essential elements of what was once French. One of the reasons we need the Anglo-Norman Dictionary is that existing academic dictionaries, particularly the OED and the Middle English Dictionary, have often been superseded by new scholarship and, as a result, tend to exaggerate the scope of the mainland loans. . In fact, many words previously thought to come from Continental French can now be considered to come from Anglo-Norman, in some cases attested in England long before their earliest use in Continental French sources.

We can see what this means in practice if we look at a specific area that we call (albeit thanks to a much more recent vocabulary) "kitchen". Anglo-Norman words related to food and cooking were used at all levels of society, from production to consumption, in the centuries after the Conquest. Farmers, hunters (not to mention poachers), fishermen, gardeners, shopkeepers and carnival vendors, butlers, butlers, cooks, footmen and washermen, all kinds of social groups must have shared a common vocabulary with the people they served. food was intended.

Below is a menu recreated from culinary vocabulary interspersed with quotes from the Anglo-Norman dictionary and from actual surviving menus from medieval festivals or ceremonies. This is followed by a linguistic commentary on each of the terms in question. The dishes mentioned here were intended for the stomachs of the rich, but all who allowed themselves to sit at the table, even if they did not eat them, would have named them by the same terms. Although English ultimately triumphed over French, French food terminology survived in England and was around for many centuries before the culinary prestige of modern France brought the strange phenomenon of the "French restaurant" across the English Channel. Thanks to the absorption of Anglo-Norman vocabulary, some of the words used to name dishes served on medieval tables can still be found on English menus today.

broth and soup

SoapmiSoapthey are almost synonymous today: the latter means a liquid food prepared by boiling small pieces of meat or vegetables; The first refers to a thick stew typically made with vegetables, legumes, meat, etc. Either way, modern English and modern French have the same meanings. However, during the Middle Ages, in both insular and continental French, the meaning of the word wasSoap, sometimes extended to denote a type of legume (legumes), and sometimes restricted to a specific type of soup containing legumes. A similar expansion of meaning occurred withSuper, which originally meant the same thing ascompensation(plate with pieces of bread). These meanings passed directly from Anglo-Norman to Middle English, giving us the modern senses ofSoapmiSoap.

Salad with Olive Oil Vinegar Dressing

According to the OED entry forlettuce, the word comes from continental French. This is unlikely.lettuce, the origin of the English word, is found in Anglo-Norman in the early 12th century, long before the date (14th century) of the first English attestation in the OED. Modern English does not call salad dressing "sauce," although we can find it on supermarket shelves labeled "vinaigrette dressing." But back to the wordsalsawhen we get to the next course. As for the ingredients, the OED acknowledges the Anglo-Norman origin of the wordoilin Anglo-NormanSHEEP, if not that of the equally Anglo-NormansVinegarfor which, despite the early presence of , there is only one Old French derivationVinegarand Insettexts.

Pheasant with grape and ginger sauce

the modern wordGraveis an Anglo-Norman loan wordGrave, attested since the 12th century; Adopted into Middle English in the late 13th century, it has become a naturalized English term for the bird, both wing and plate. A sweet sauce goes well with game, so we serve a grape-based one. Again, both the OED and MED give derivations for the word to mean 'vine berry, collective or singular', which must now be modified in light of the Anglo-Norman evidence. Numerous early examples from Anglo-Norman sourcesuvaindicate that it came to England from Insular French, where the same word can mean a "single grape" or a "cluster (of grapes)". The word developed differently on both sides of the English Channel. In France it simply meant a "cluster", not necessarily grapes, while the fruit of the vine became knownit passes, a term that in English only applies to raisins. We can spice up our sauce by adding ginger, one of the many exotic spices imported from the Orient and duly registered in the Anglo-Norman customs records kept at English ports of entry. DEO (Rothaarig, NO. and a.) and MED (gingival) explain the modern English form as a resumption of Old French from France, but Anglo-NormanRothaarigit was known and used long before, as was another word that came to Middle English from the local, not continental, variant of French, as the word actually is.salsadespite the origins given in the OED (salsa, n.) and MI (salsa).

Empanadas stuffed with beef, lamb, chestnuts and mustard

While it is unclear how the actual spelling of 'pastry' arose, there is no doubt that the word is based on Anglo-Norman.insert, which in medieval Britain meant either "the mixture of water and flour into a dough" or the dish made from such a mixture, a "pie" or pastry filled with beef and mutton, for example (as here). The generic name of the meat itself is a continuation of the Anglo-Norman terminology, while the names of the animals are of Germanic origin. However, Walter Scott's distinction inivanhoe, and often repeated as a truism, does not hold up to historical scrutiny: the claim is that Anglo citizens who tended tosheepmicowsprovided the names of the animals, while the Norman nobles who consumed the final products gave the French-derived namesRAMmibeef. The problem is that during and after the Middle AgesbeefmiRAMwere used as designations for the animals in question and for their meat. The clear distinction between the terms animal and carnal arose much later than Scott supposes, and therefore does not reflect medieval social or linguistic divisions. The DEO (beef, n.) e or WHAT (Before) provide a mainland French etymology, ignoring insular influence: there is a direct lineage of Anglo-Norman transmissioncheatingmidie personto modern englishbeefmiRAM.

The meat may be accompanied by chestnuts and mustard, and the names of both ingredients are translated into English via Anglo-Norman. modern englishmorenacomes fromcomplicatedwhich is attested in the Anglo-Norman language of the 13th century. On the surface, it is highly unlikely that English speakers would take this name directly from mainland French as MED (Mama) and AGE (morena) Conditions. It is much more likely that workers handling (or going to collect) chestnuts in markets or kitchens used the Anglo-Norman name they were familiar with before it switched to Middle English in the 14th century. . (By the way, although it only superficially resembles chestnuts,Rosskastanienthey are also possibly Anglo-Norman in origin of their name, either in the form ofconquistador, or related to itcucumbers, perhaps an elaboration of the same word giving modern Frenchwith what, 'a bowl'.) Mustard seeds were also widely used in cooking in England in early medieval times: here the new (third edition) OED (Mustard, NO. and a.) provides a suitable Anglo-Norman derivationMustard.

Roast game and mushrooms

Hunting is the oldest form of meat production, being deer meat, which includes roe deer, wild boar or other game, one of the most common dishes. The oldest AND-provided recognition for the wordboat tripsIt dates from 1139 and shows that the terminology associated with hunting and cooking spread across the country shortly after the arrival of the Normans. The same applies to our supplement. The wordMushroom, despite its English-looking spelling and sound, is of French origin and there is documentary evidence that it entered English via Insular French.A prisoner, no later than the XIII century.

pork sausages and lentils

Pork sausages were also found in medieval dishes. The Anglo-Norman testimonies of the Wordcalled, recorded in the 13th century, clearly show that the so-called things did not wait until the 15th century to make their way from mainland France to the English tables (as the OED and MED suggest), but were there two centuries earlier in the menu in England. Of course, the name "pork" in modern English is directly derived from the Anglo-Norman wordPork Meat, which the French conquerors also brought with them.

The Anglo-Norman influence on the English vocabulary of plants is further demonstrated by the wordSpring. Attestations from Anglo-Norman texts of the formPrimavera, evidence its use in England since the end of the 12th century.

Salmon with fried onion

When English speakers caught salmon in the country's rivers, they called their catch by the Anglo-Norman name. The wordSalmon, which William the Conqueror and his followers brought with them when they landed in Sussex, spread up every river in the country, and was eventually incorporated into modern English. Of course, onions grew well on English soil, but their name was Anglo-Norman, the earliest evidence for the word.Onionarriving at Insular French some time before anyone else on the Continent.

Breaded turbot with rice, almonds and cumin

Fish and chips is considered a typically English dish, pasta is a must for fish. The so-called mixture of flour and egg was already used in the kitchen and its recipe was expressly mentioned in culinary texts from the 14th century. This is a striking example of Insular French developing its own distinct meanings. Continental French had the verbto defeat, coup, is the nounEuropean('Beat') derived from it. But it was in England that the latter word was used for the result of mixing ingredients in cooking, leading to the Anglo-Norman style.Europeanan additional sense (No.5 in the AND entry) is not found on the mainland. All kinds of fish can be breaded, but turbot, prized for its tender meat, is especially suitable. How many fish names in English (Milwell,Annoyetc.),Steinbuttderives from an Anglo-Norman formprobably. Potatoes, and consequently French fries, were unknown in medieval Europe, but rice could have been served, possibly mixed with almonds and cumin. Once again, the OED and MED present them as derived from Continental French, despite the presence of Anglo-Norman.climb,GermanmiComeAll of these goods, while being produced abroad, were imported into England, sold, cooked, and served by people who shared a common language, Anglo-Norman.

Crepes

Although the food served in crêperies in English cities today is a recent importation of modern French culinary practice, particularly from Brittany, pancakes themselves and their French name go back a long way, being made in kitchens medieval. Though like an OEDTapiocashows that modern usage of the word did not find its way into English until the 19th century from France—essentially the same word, spelledCrepe, is produced in Great Britain from the thirteenth century. The Anglo-Norman form then passed into Middle English with a different spelling and a change in meaning (MEDcrunchy) before its much more recent reappearance.

candied pears

It was not uncommon for a medieval meal to end with a sweet dish, such as fruit in pastries. modern englishperacomes from the botanical and agricultural terminology introduced with the conquest, derived from the Anglo-Norman wordpadre. The candied process (Anglo-NormanreviewSense #3) was both a preservation technique and a way to make a dessert. It is well attested in Anglo-Norman recipes, showing that it was used in food (or medicinal) preparations and therefore did not need to be borrowed from mainland France.

rhubarb pie

Rhubarb is prized for its laxative properties and was certainly used in Anglo-Norman medicine and possibly cooking as well, although there is currently no clear evidence that it occurs in any surviving diet; but it was definitely among the items sold on greengrocer's stalls in medieval England, so it seems quite sensible to end our meal with it. The first testimony of the word.RhabarberDate 1212 in Anglo-Norman. As for the cake in which we bake our rhubarb, it represents another last word whose origin is Anglo-Norman (Pastel), rather than Continental Old French.