Placenames in Normandy have a variety of origins. Some belong to the common heritage of the Langue d'oïl extension zone in northern France and Belgium; this is called "Pre-Normanic". Others contain Old Norse and Old English male names and toponymic appellatives. These intermingle with Romance male names and place-name elements to create a very specific superstratum, typical of Normandy within the extension zone of the Langue d'oïl. These are sometimes called "Normanic".[1]

Normandy's main towns and cities. Four have Normanic names: Dieppe, Cherbourg, Honfleur and Barfleur. Harfleur, which was an important port before le Havre's foundation, can be added.

Pre-Normanic placenames

There are still a significant number of Celtic (Gaulish) names, as there are throughout France and western Europe. These names, partly mixed with Latin elements, follow the Late Latin phonetic changes that led to Langue d'oïl.

Traditional large cities

Almost all the main cities kept a Romanized Celtic name, that produced the modern toponym.

BC era

AD era

In the following examples, a Gaulish toponym was replaced by the name of the local tribe, according to a process well known in the later Roman Empire:

There were exceptions to this practice, such as:

Some of these would disappear later, replaced by Normanic names; thus Coriovallum became Cherbourg and Caracotinum became Harfleur. Such changes indicate that the older inhabitants who used the earlier name were displaced by newcomers, either leaving completely or becoming a small minority.

Some cities' Pre-Normanic names are not known, such as Honfleur or Dieppe.

Common northern French toponymic types

The most common suffix in northern France is -acum (written -acum, -acus or -aco in early Medieval Latin documents, pronounced in Vulgar Latin as -acu), that means "place of" or "property". Its origin is the Celtic -āko(n). Originally, it was used to as the location of either a god or a people. Examples include Anualonacu, meaning "sanctuary of Anualō [a god]" and nautae Parisiaci, meaning "sailors of the Parisii [tribe]".[7]

In northern France and southern Belgium, –(i)acum became -ay, -ai, -ey, -é or -y. All of these variations are found in Normandy. Places with this suffix include Gournay, Bernay, Cernay, and Andilly.

Another, generally later, variation is composed of masculine names that can be either Gaulish or Latin, for example: Massy from Gaulish Mascius; Marcilly from Roman Marcellus; Fleury from Roman Florius; and Montigny from Roman Montanius.

However, the latest -acum formations are combined with a Christian or a Germanic masculine name, such as Repentigny, from the Christian name Repentin(i)us or with a Romance placename element. The most common -acum place-name in Normandy is Glatigny, of which more than 40 exist.

Romance place-name elements

These come from the Vulgar Latin, but began only about 100 years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, in the 6th century AD, but we don't own any document mentioning such place-names before the 8th century with Bourville (Bodardi villa in 715).[8] In this province, it is sometimes difficult to know if these formations (-ville, -val, -mont, -mesnil, etc.) are Pre-Normanic or Normanic, due to similarities between the two.

The main romance appellatives are the following:

General description

In Northern France, including Normandy, the extension of -court, -ville, and -mesnil (including its variant spellings -maisnil and -ménil) corresponds generally to Frankish and other Germanic settlements. This is the most likely reason why the common word order is also from the Germanic: determinative (adjective, appellative or owner's name) plus determined (romance element). Examples include: Neuville, meaning "new village"; Bourville (Bodardi villa, 8th century) meaning "Bodard's farm"; Harcourt (Herolcurt, 11th century) meaning "Herulf's farm"; and Attemesnil (Ademesnil, 13th century) meaning "Adda's property".[9] Less than one-third of France, the north, makes use of the Germanic ordering.

In Vulgar Latin, as in Celtic, the opposite word order prevailed: determined (Romance appellative) plus determinative (adjective). This order dominates in Occitan toponymy, as well as in western France.[10] Instead of Neuville, in the south we find Villeneuve, derived either from Occitan, Vielanova, or from a more modern name.

Similarly, northern Neuchâtel, Neufchâtel,[11] or Neufchâteau, meaning "new castle", corresponding to southern Châteauneuf or Châtelneuf, a translation of Castelnau in Occitan.[12]

Local specificity

In the Norman toponymy, the most widespread appellative is -ville or Ville-, with an estimated 20% of the French communes of Normandy containing this appellative. The oldest recorded instance is Bourville, as Bodardi villa in 715.[13] This is in contrast to the much less frequently used -court, which was not used anymore in the Viking Age.

The most widely used -ville toponyms are combined with either an Old Scandinavian or Anglo-Scandinavian male name or a Romance adjective: Amfreville (Ásfríðr′s farm), Auzouville (Osulf / Osolf′s farm), Beuzeville (Bosi′s farm), Colleville (Kolli′s farm), Épreville (*Sproti′s farm, cf. Faroese Sproti), Sotteville (Sóti′s farm), Tocqueville (Tóki′s farm), Touffreville (Þórfríðr′s farm), Tourville (Þórr's farm), Trouville (Thorold's farm), Grainville (Grímr / GrímR's farm), Bretteville (Briton's farm) and Englesqueville or Anglesqueville (English farm).[14] These toponyms do not exist in France outside of Normandy, because their first element is an Old Scandinavian or an Old Anglo-Scandinavian personal name and sometimes a romance adjective marking they came from Great-Britain, but were mainly Anglo-Scandinavian farmers. In addition some typical Gaelic male′s names can be found in Doncanville (Donnchadh> Duncan′s farm), Quinéville or Quenneville (Cináed > Kenneth′s farm), Néville (Niall > Njáll′s farm).

The -court appellative is usually combined with either a Germanic masculine name, as in Hébécourt, from Herbert > Norman-French Hebert (today the surname Hébert), as in Sébécourt, from Sigebert > Sebert (today the surname Sébert).[15] It almost never appears as a suffix in the western part of Normandy, but as a prefix (Cour-, Gour-, Col-, Coul-): Gourfaleur from falor, the name of a people; Coulvain, meaning "Laipwin's court"; and Coulimer, meaning "Lietmar's court".[16] François de Beaurepaire observed that -court and Cour- were never used with an Anglo-Scandinavian male's name or element.[17]

Another common appellative is -mesnil or Mesnil- (written as ménil in the Orne département). They are mainly combined with masculine anthroponyms as in Aubermesnil or Avremesnil, much like the -ville place-names, and were later built according to the Romance order, for example Mesnil-Hermant and Mesnil-Esnard.[18]

The appellative -bosc or Bosc- (pronounced [bo:] or [bɔk]), meaning "wood", corresponds to the French word bois, and is specific to this Province. In Normandy, it is usually combined with a masculine name: Auberbosc and Colbosc, when following the Germanic order; while the later Romance order gives numerous examples, such as Bosc-Roger, Bosc-Renoult, and Bosc-Robert.[19]

-vast is the only one that never appears as *Vast-, but autonomous as le Vast. The first element must be a personal name, like Gallo-Romance Martin in Martinvast, Old Norse Sóti in Sottevast (Sotewast, 12th century), and Old Norse Tóli in Tollevast (Toberwast and Tolewast, 12th century).[20] Véraval, now often misspelled as Ver-à-Val, became a -val ("valley") place-name by popular etymology. First recorded as Warelwast in 1024 (see William de Warelwast), utilizing the former appellative, -wast (meaning "bad land", or "unfertile or uncultivated land"),[21] which is now spelled -vast in the north and ga(s)t(te) in the south.[22] Its etymology is ultimately Latin vastus "bad land" mixed up with Old Low Franconian *wost "desert" (Old High German wuosti, Old English wēste).

Normanic place names

Normandy in 10th – 11th century, map based on the Normannic toponymy (in blue). Normandy is the only region in France with Scandinavian place-names

Description

Old Norse place names were given during the Norse settlement at the end of the ninth century, expanding in the tenth century with the creation of the Duchy of Normandy by Rollo in 911. Since the speakers of Old Norse were linguistically assimilated into the Old French dialect society within a few generations, these settlement names were given most likely date prior to the 11th century. Most of these settlers were coming from areas that are today most likely Danish and/or Norwegian. These languages were quite similar to each other, making it difficult to distinguish the origin of the appellatives and accompanying adjective or male name.[23]

Old Norse and Old English appellatives

Examples
Normandy Great Britain
Elbeuf (*Wellabóð) Welby
Criquebeuf (*Kirkjubóð) Kirkby
Daubeuf (*Dalbóð) Dalby
Ribeuf (*Hrisbóð) Risby

A similar use can be found in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany : Haddeby (Hadæboth 1285).[32]

Old English appellatives

Old English appellatives:[83][84][85]

Old Norse masculine names

Old Norse -i names

The names in parentheses are the earlier forms of the place-names, with the century in which they appeared.

Old Norse simple and combined names

Old Norse simple and combined names:[122][123][124]

Anglo-Saxon -a names

Anglo-Saxon -a names:[127]

Anglo-Saxon simple and combined names

See also

Notes

  1. ^ French normanique cf. RENAUD Jean, La toponymie normanique: Reflet d'une colonisation in FLAMBARD HÉRICHER Anne-Marie, La progression des Vikings, des raids à la colonisation, Publications de l'Université de Rouen, 2003.
  2. ^ Toponymic type that exists everywhere in France, for example Ruan (Rothomago 1233 / Rotomagus 5th century), Rom.
  3. ^ Xavier Delamarre, Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise, éditions errance 2003, p. 261 – 262.
  4. ^ Idem Charenton, etc.
  5. ^ There are other Vernon in France, but they come from Vernō 'place of the alder-trees'.
  6. ^ See Noviomagus and Lexovii.
  7. ^ Pierre-Yves Lambert, La Langue gauloise, édition errance 1994, p.39.
  8. ^ François de Beaurepaire, Les Noms des communes et anciennes paroisses de la Seine-Maritime, éditions Picard, Paris, 1979, p. 8-9 (Introduction)
  9. ^ François de Beaurepaire, Les noms des communes et anciennes paroisses de l'Eure, éditions Picard 1981.
  10. ^ François de Beaurepaire, op. mentioned.
  11. ^ Neufchâtel-en-Bray is a former Neufcastel 13th century → 15th century, with the Old Norman spelling of the word "castle": castel, that gave birth to the Mod. Norman câtel (sometimes written catel). For instance: Old Norman Castel, Guernsey, known in Modern Norman as Sainte-Marie-du-Câtel (Guernsey), le Câtel (Jersey), Manoir du Catel (Pays de Caux), Radicatel (Pays de Caux), etc. corresponding to French château. There are many derived words such as Le Catelier, etc.
  12. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  13. ^ De Beaurepaire
  14. ^ De Beaurepaire
  15. ^ De Beaurepaire
  16. ^ De Beaurepaire
  17. ^ De Beaurepaire
  18. ^ De Beaurepaire
  19. ^ De Beaurepaire
  20. ^ De Beaurepaire
  21. ^ De Beaurepaire
  22. ^ De Beaurepaire
  23. ^ De Beaurepaire
  24. ^ De Beaurepaire
  25. ^ Renaud
  26. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  27. ^ De Beaurepaire
  28. ^ Renaud
  29. ^ Fournier
  30. ^ Renaud
  31. ^ De Beaurepaire
  32. ^ LAUR (Wolfgang), Historisches Ortsnamenlexicon von Schelswig-Holstein, K. Wachtholtz Verlag, Neuműnster, 1992, p. 298.
  33. ^ De Beaurepaire
  34. ^ Renaud
  35. ^ De Beaurepaire
  36. ^ Renaud
  37. ^ De Beaurepaire
  38. ^ Renaud
  39. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  40. ^ Jean Adigard des Gautries & Fernand Lechanteur, « Les noms de communes de Normandie », in Annales de Normandie XIX (juin 1969), § 715.
  41. ^ De Beaurepaire
  42. ^ De Beaurepaire
  43. ^ Renaud
  44. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  45. ^ De Beaurepaire
  46. ^ De Beaurepaire
  47. ^ Renaud
  48. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  49. ^ De Beaurepaire
  50. ^ Ridel
  51. ^ De Beaurepaire
  52. ^ Renaud
  53. ^ De Beaurepaire
  54. ^ Renaud
  55. ^ De Beaurepaire
  56. ^ Renaud
  57. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  58. ^ De Beaurepaire
  59. ^ Renaud
  60. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  61. ^ De Beaurepaire
  62. ^ Renaud
  63. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  64. ^ De Beaurepaire
  65. ^ Renaud
  66. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  67. ^ De Beaurepaire
  68. ^ Renaud
  69. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  70. ^ Laur
  71. ^ De Beaurepaire
  72. ^ Renaud
  73. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  74. ^ De Beaurepaire
  75. ^ Renaud
  76. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  77. ^ De Beaurepaire
  78. ^ Renaud
  79. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  80. ^ De Beaurepaire
  81. ^ Renaud
  82. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  83. ^ De Beaurepaire
  84. ^ Renaud
  85. ^ Guinet
  86. ^ De Beaurepaire
  87. ^ Renaud
  88. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  89. ^ De Beaurepaire
  90. ^ Renaud
  91. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  92. ^ De Beaurepaire
  93. ^ Renaud
  94. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  95. ^ De Beaurepaire
  96. ^ Renaud
  97. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  98. ^ Nordic Names: Amundi
  99. ^ De Beaurepaire
  100. ^ Renaud
  101. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  102. ^ Nordic Names: Aghi
  103. ^ De Beaurepaire
  104. ^ Renaud
  105. ^ Nordic Names: Aki
  106. ^ De Beaurepaire
  107. ^ Renaud
  108. ^ Nordic Names: Api
  109. ^ De Beaurepaire
  110. ^ Renaud
  111. ^ Renaud
  112. ^ De Beaurepaire
  113. ^ Renaud
  114. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  115. ^ De Beaurepaire
  116. ^ Renaud
  117. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  118. ^ Fournier
  119. ^ De Beaurepaire
  120. ^ Renaud
  121. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  122. ^ De Beaurepaire
  123. ^ Renaud
  124. ^ Dauzat et Rostaing
  125. ^ Renaud
  126. ^ Renaud
  127. ^ De Beaurepaire
  128. ^ De Beaurepaire
  129. ^ Renaud

References

External links

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