Law French

E55713

Law French is a specialized dialect of Anglo-Norman historically used in English legal proceedings, court records, and legal terminology.

Aliases (2)

Statements (51)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Anglo-Norman dialect
dialect
historical language
legal language
declineBegan 14th century
15th century
developedFrom Anglo-Norman
Old French
Old Norman
field historical linguistics
law
legal history
hasAlternativeName Law French
surface form: "French of the law"

Law French
surface form: "Legal French"
hasCharacteristic conservative retention of archaic forms
highly specialized legal vocabulary
limited non-legal vocabulary
mixture of French and Latin elements
influenced English legal terminology
modern English law vocabulary
names of English courts
names of legal writs
technical legal phrases in English
influencedBy Latin
Middle English
Norman language
surface form: "Norman French"
largelyReplacedBy English in legal proceedings
legalStatusChangedBy Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act 1730
originatedAfter Norman Conquest of England
primaryFunction language of legal proceedings
language of legal terminology
language of record in common law courts
remainsInUseAs etymological basis of many English legal maxims
source of traditional legal terms
subclassOf Anglo-Norman
surface form: "Anglo-Norman language"

Old French
timePeriod Middle Ages
early modern period
late medieval period
usedBy English lawyers
clerks of court
judges in England
students of the Inns of Court
usedIn England
English courts
English legal system
Wales
court records
legal education in medieval England
legal treatises
pleadings

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Law French hasAlternativeName Law French
this entity surface form: "Legal French"
Law French hasAlternativeName Law French
this entity surface form: "French of the law"
Anglo-Norman hasDialect Law French

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