Old Norman

Old Norman was one of many "langue d'oïl" dialects. It was spoken throughout the region of what is now called Normandy and spread into England, Southern Italy, Sicily, and the Levant. It is the ancestor of modern Norman, including the insular dialects (such as Jèrriais), as well as Anglo-Norman. Old Norman is often confused with Old French, which is sometimes used to describe all "langue d'oïl" dialects together.

Old Norman contained many Norse (and a few Celtic) loanwords unknown in Old French at that time.

Writings of the Jersey-born poet Wace are among the few records of Old Norman that remain.

Old Norman was the principal administrative language of the Principality of Antioch during Crusader rule in the Levant. [Madden, Thomas F., ed. "Crusades: The Illustrated History", page 67.]

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