In the century before the Norman Conquest of England, Normandy gradually emerged as a powerful player in the politics of northern Europe. Meanwhile, the language of the Normans underwent a major transition. The original Scandinavian language of the Normans gave way to a unique French dialect. In this episode, we explore the rise of Normandy and examine the changing language of the Normans. We also examine the legacy of the Norman vocabulary on Modern English.
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Another case of the word for hook is the musical note a crotchet (usually called a quarter note in America). This could be due to the way it’s written, perhaps.
The word crotchet in England is as you say theAmerican quarter note, but it has no hook! The eighth note, quaver in England, has the hook and is known as a croche in French, which is more logical (the quarter note inFrench is un noir, simply a black note)
Pedant’s note (no pun intended!): a quarter note in French is une noire. The names of the notes are all feminine words, as is “note”.
Thanks
The word race is of course also used for the fast-running water around a water mill – the mill race – which is nearer the nautical association you mention
“…and we’ll finally get to the big event…” Really? You’ve toyed with us for so long… 😄