Revision of the Anglo-Norman Dictionary (N-Q)

The Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND) is the only dictionary which attempts to give a comprehensive account of the French language as it was used in the British Isles after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Initially published in book form from 1977 to 1992, a thoroughgoing revision has been under way since c. 1990 ; it has currently reached M. The new edition, at first printed (MHRA, 2005) for A-E, is now an exclusively online dictionary (www.anglo-norman.net), freely available with no restrictions of access. It is widely respected as the authority on Anglo-Norman vocabulary and in 2011 was awarded the prestigious "Prix Honoré Chavée" by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in Paris.

The present proposal is for a continuation of this revision for the letters N to Q. In addition, we propose several substantive additions and innovations: i) a complete overhaul and expansion of the "usage labels" (which indicate domains in which particular words are used: e.g. botanical, legal, or commercial), with the added ability to search by these labels and pull out (for example) all terms pertaining to architecture; ii) the introduction of systematic cross-references to the immediately related dictionaries of French, Latin, and English; iii) the addition of short narrative accounts after entries to explain editorial decisions and to provide extra linguistic, social, or historical information.

This last element reinforces the extent to which the AND, like any serious dictionary, also documents and charts the reality of (in this case, medieval) society. Anglo-Norman was the language of the Conqueror and his followers but it rapidly became the language of a flourishing imaginative literature, and the vehicle for administration, the law, and commerce both within the British Isles, and internationally. It was a variety of medieval French, the most important language after Latin in the Middle Ages, used throughout the whole of Western Europe in diplomacy, trade, science, and literature.

The British Isles were of course multilingual throughout the Middle Ages. Inevitably, Anglo-Norman is thus important not only for the history of French (for which it supplies many of the oldest surviving literary texts) and the history of British and Irish society, but also as a main language of record alongside medieval Latin and perhaps most significantly, Middle English. The Anglo-Norman element in medieval and indeed modern English is massively important and the progress of the AND is at last making possible a proper understanding of it (and of its relationship to the other languages of the British Isles). It is striking, for example, how much Anglo-Norman there is -- and increasingly -- in the Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, and in the dictionaries of English (Middle English Dictionary, OED); and the AND editors take particular pride in the extent to which the new OED etymologies make extensive use of the AND.

In addition to the main purpose of the present project, which is the revision and improvement of the AND, it is also, and increasingly, the case that the AND (like the language it records) cannot and would not wish to operate in isolation. For several decades, the project has been closely linked to major, high-calibre dictionary enterprises not only in the UK (DMLBS and now OED), but also abroad: the Etymological Dictionary of Old French (DEAF) in Germany, and in France, the Dictionary of Middle French for the period 1330-1500, the French Etymological Dictionary (FEW), and the recently-launched pan-European Romance Etymological Dictionary, based in Nancy (France) and Saarbrücken (Germany). As all of these dictionaries are increasingly electronic, the very real prospect of interlinking them, and working in closer collaboration on our common objectives, is now on the horizon, and the AND, as the major British Romance element in the group, fully intends to be part of the European future in this regard.

The AND has always been very conscious that it has a varied readership ranging from world experts in medieval French to interested members of the public in the UK and abroad. This was one reason for developing an online Dictionary - and for not charging for, or otherwise restricting, access. The position we have adopted has always been that the taxpayer has funded the entirety of our work and should therefore be allowed and indeed encouraged to use it (see http://www.anglo-norman.net/dissem/data/intro.htm). In 2006 the project was allocated £10,500 of extra "pilot dissemination study" funding by AHRC and produced both the section of the website "for non-specialist visitors" to which this link refers, and a CD-ROM of materials, which was sent to around a thousand schools and colleges.

The AND has already had a major impact on lexicography, both in the UK and abroad, within academic but also commercial publishing (e.g., OED). The freely-available online AND (www.anglo-norman.net) has attracted considerable attention from the educated lay public, and from individuals with interests in language history, genealogy, family names, aspects of language use in Britain in the Middle Ages, and social history generally.

The PI has for several years given an annual seminar for archive diploma students in a deliberate attempt to influence future generations of archivists; information regarding the AND was distributed to an archivists' mailing-list in March 2010. He has, in addition, been involved in various media activities: he was interviewed in May 2006 by Radio 4's Making History, by BBC Wales in June 2004 and again in February 2008, and by the Today programme, following the announcement of the opening to the public of the AND site. Related activities have included: making an audio recording of an excerpt from the Chanson de Roland for an audiovisual display at Battle Abbey Museum; supplying a translation and reading of an Anglo-Norman document describing the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 for the National Museum of Wales's 'Voices from Medieval Wales'. In November 2010, the Vice-Chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral wrote with an enquiry about a word in a 1319 Lincoln will. In April 2011, the Curator of European Arms and Armour at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery asked about the etymology of jazerant (a form of padded tunic-cum-armour) and it is likely that a joint article will eventually emerge. The AND also receives a steady trickle of enquiries from members of the public, in particular interested in their family names where these appear to be of Anglo-Norman origin. Within the commercial dictionary world, finally, the PI acts as a consultant to the OED etymologists and the OED clearly uses the AND. We are thus making a direct and measurable impact on the presentation of etymologies in the world's leading dictionary of English, itself the authoritative guide to one of the UK's major exports, the English language.

The "Pathways to Impact" attachment outlines how and for whom we propose to continue to ensure that the AND, and Anglo-Norman, continue to be successfully communicated to a broader public. In summary: we propose i) to devise resources on the impact of Anglo-Norman on English, for English Language A-Level students; ii) to offer to visit schools to talk about this; iii) to write a popularizing book on the subject; iv) to write articles for journals aimed at English teachers, e.g. English Today or emagazine. Experience suggests that these activities (if done properly) can in turn lead to wider media attention.

Finally, the statistics of web use of our existing "non-specialist" pages show that (for the period November 2010-October 2011) this part of the site attracted on average 300 visits per month, with over 200 pages being viewed per week by users from 22 countries.