Law French

Law French () is an archaic language originally based on Anglo-Norman, but increasingly influenced by Parisian French and, later, English. It was used in the law courts of England from the 13th century. Its use continued for several centuries in the courts of England and Wales and Ireland. Although Law French as a narrative legal language is obsolete, many individual Law French terms continue to be used by lawyers and judges in common law jurisdictions.

History

The earliest known documents in which 'French', i.e. Anglo-Norman, is used for discourse on English law date from the third quarter of the thirteenth century, and include two particular documents. The first is the 1258 '' Provisions of Oxford'', consisting of the terms of oaths sworn by the 24 magnates appointed to rectify abuses in the rule of King Henry III, together with summaries of their rulings. The second is the ''Casus Placitorum'' (), a collection of legal maxims, rules and brief narratives of cases.

In these works the language is already sophisticated and technical, well equipped with its own legal terminology. This includes many words which are of Latin origin, but whose forms have been shortened or distorted in a way which suggests a long history of French usage. Some examples include '' advowson'' from the Latin , meaning the legal right to nominate a parish priest; ''neif ', from the Latin , meaning a female serf, and ''essoyne'' or ''essone'' from the Latin , meaning a circumstance that exempts one from a royal summons. Later ' replaced in Latin, thus replacing the Latin from with the French one.

Until the early fourteenth century, Law French largely coincided with the French used as an everyday language by the upper classes. As such, it reflected some of the changes that northern dialects of mainland French had undergone. Hence, in the documents mentioned above, 'of the king' is rendered as ''del rey'', or ''del roy'', whereas by about 1330 it had become , as in modern French, or ''du roy''.

During the 14th century, vernacular French suffered a rapid decline. The use of Law French was criticized by those who argued that lawyers sought to restrict entry into the legal profession. The Pleading in English Act 1362 ("Statute of Pleading") acknowledged this change by ordaining that thenceforward all court pleading must be in English, so "every Man ... may the better govern himself without offending of the Law". From that time, Law French lost much of its status as a spoken language.

Law French remained in use for the 'readings' (lectures) and 'moots' (academic debates), held in the Inns of Court as part of the education of young lawyers, but it rapidly became only a written language. It ceased to acquire new words and its grammar broke down. By about 1500, gender was often neglected, giving rise to ''une home'' ('a (feminine) man') or ''un feme'' ('a (masculine) woman'). More and more of its vocabulary became English, as it was only used by English, Welsh and Irish lawyers and judges who often spoke no real French.

In the seventeenth century, the moots and readings fell into neglect, and the rule of Oliver Cromwell, with its emphasis on removing the relics of archaic ritual from legal and governmental processes, struck a further blow to the language. Even before then, in 1628, Sir Edward Coke acknowledged in his preface to the ''First Part of the Institutes of the Law of England'', that Law French had almost ceased to be a spoken tongue. It was still used for case reports and legal textbooks until almost the end of 1600s, but only in an anglicized form. A frequently quoted example of this change comes from one of Chief Justice Sir George Treby's marginal notes in an annotated edition of '' Dyer's Reports'', published 1688:

The Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act 1730 made English, instead of Law French and Latin, the obligatory language for use in the courts of England and in the court of exchequer in Scotland. It was later extended to Wales, and seven years later a similar act was passed in Ireland, the Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737.

Survivals in modern legal terminology

The postpositive adjectives in many legal noun phrases in English—''attorney general, fee simple''—are a heritage from Law French. Native speakers of French may not understand certain Law French terms not used in modern French or replaced by other terms. For example, the current French word for "mortgage" is . Many of the terms of Law French were converted into modern English in the 20th century to make the law more understandable in common-law jurisdictions. Some key Law French terms remain, including the following:

See also

* French language
* Norman language
* French phrases used by English speakers
* English words of French origin
* Influence of French on English
* Jersey Legal French
* Franglais
* List of legal Latin terms
* Legal English

Notes

References

Literature

* ''Manual of Law French'' by J. H. Baker, 1979.
* ''The Mastery of the French Language in England'' by B. Clover, 1888.
* "The salient features of the language of the earlier year books" in ''Year Books 10 Edward II'', pp. xxx–xlii. M. D. Legge, 1934.
* "Of the Anglo-French Language in the Early Year Books" in ''Year Books 1 & 2 Edward II'', pp. xxxiii–lxxxi. F. W. Maitland, 1903.
* ''The Anglo-Norman Dialect'' by L. E. Menger, 1904.
* ''From Latin to Modern French, with especial Consideration of Anglo-Norman'' by M. K. Pope, 1956.
* ''L'Evolution du Verbe en Anglo-Français, XIIe-XIVe Siècles'' by F. J. Tanquerey, 1915.

External links

The Law-French Dictionary Alphabetically Digested. 1718.

{{Gallo-Romance languages and dialects

Languages attested from the 13th century
English law

Law of Ireland
Legal history of England
Norman language
Legal communication