Old French

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

Name:

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/old-french

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 temporal range?Approximately late 8th century to mid-14th century
2. What is the primary influence?Ancestor of Modern French; significant impact on the English language post-Norman Conquest
3. Where did Old French people live?Old French was spoken mainly in northern France, in places like the Kingdom of France, the duchies of Upper and Lower Lorraine, and even in parts of Belgium called Wallonia. The dialects were close enough that people could usually understand each other.
4. How did Old French change English?After the Norman Conquest in 1066, Norman French became the language of the rulers in England. It added about 10,000 new words to English and changed how people used grammar.

Dialect Continuum: A series of dialects spoken across a contiguous geographical area, with gradual variation.
Vulgar Latin: The spoken, non-literary form of Latin that evolved into the Romance languages.
Langues d'oïl: The collective term for the Romance dialects spoken in northern France, including Old French.