Norn language

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/norn-language

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the language family?North Germanic language
2. What is the primary geographic location?Orkney and Shetland Islands, Scotland
3. What was the Norn language and where was it spoken?Norn was a North Germanic language that lived in Scotland's Northern Isles, especially Orkney and Shetland, brought by Viking settlers in the 9th century.
4. How did Norn become extinct?After Orkney and Shetland joined Scotland in 1468-69, Scots became the language of government and trade, and by around 1850 the last native Norn speaker died.

North Germanic: A branch of the Indo-European language family encompassing Scandinavian languages and their historical descendants.
Vernacular Language: The native language or dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a formal or literary language.
Linguistic Assimilation: The process by which a minority language group adopts the language of the dominant group.
Toponymy: The study of place names, their origins, meanings, and uses.