Losing touch with the common tongues – the story of law French

Abstract

Abstract This paper addresses the question of how, historically, the language of the English common law has become separated from the understanding by the ordinary man and woman. The use of an archaic language – law French – for over half a millennium has meant that legal matters had to be left in the hands of a small specifically trained elite. Law French is a language, originally based on Old Norman, Old French and Anglo-Norman. Its evolution is a complex one: its roots in Latin, it was in constant contact with the various dialects of both continental and insular French as well as the upcoming Middle English, all of which had a major impact on the medieval linguistic and cultural landscape of England. The present paper tells the story of that language, which although long gone, is still present in today’s common law English. Now, as then, it contributes little to enhancing the understanding by the ordinary man and woman.

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