The Story of the Word Noel (A Christmas Etymology)
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Transcript of The Story of the Word Noel (A Christmas Etymology)
’ i iL’HistoireL Histoireddede
N ël« Noël » Noël
The Story of Noël,The Story of Noël, the French wordthe French word for “Christmas”for Christmas
O iOnce upon a time, this is how you
said “Christmas” in Late Latin:
Diēs Nātālis ChristīDiēs Nātālis Christī
It means “NatalIt means Natal Day (Birthday)Day (Birthday)
of Christ”of Christ .
Diēs Nātālis ChristīDiēs Nātālis Christī
Eventually Nātālis cameEventually Nātālis came to be used by itself for y
“birthday, feast day, day of commemoration
( f i t/h l(of a saint/holyperson)”person) .
Diēs Nātālis ChristīDiēs Nātālis Christī
As Latin changed over the centuries,
things began to happen to the word.
NātālisNātālis
Single consonantsSingle consonants between two vowelsbetween two vowels
began to soften:began to soften:
NādālisNādālis
S i hSometimes, when two adjacent syllables hadadjacent syllables had the same vowel one ofthe same vowel, one of them would change tothem would change to
another vowel:
NodālisNodālis
In Classical Latin vowel lengthIn Classical Latin, vowel length was very important, and
accented syllables were pitched higher It must have soundedhigher. It must have sounded
very sing-songy! In Late Latin, this system was replaced by a
strong stress accent:strong stress accent:
NodálisNodális
Any syllable withoutAny syllable without the stress accent wasthe stress accent was liable to be reducedliable to be reduced, such as by losing asuch as by losing a
final consonant:final consonant:NodáliNodáli
Unaccented vowelsUnaccented vowels started to bestarted to be
pronounced lesspronounced less distinctly especiallydistinctly, especially at the end of a word:at the end of a word:
NodáleNodále
Eventually, word-final vowels
were nothing but an “uh” sound:
NodáləNodálə
Until theyUntil they disappeareddisappeared completely:completely:
NodálNodál
In France consonantsIn France, consonants between two vowels bet ee t o vo e s
continued to be pronounced softer and
ft (ð i lik th isofter (ð is like th in these):these):
NoðálNoðál
Things could happenThings could happen to accented syllablesto accented syllables,
too In France alltoo. In France, all accented A’s turnedaccented A s turned
into E’s:into E s:NoðelNoðel
Fi llFinally, consonants between two vowelsbetween two vowels were pronounced sowere pronounced so
softly that theysoftly that they completely disappeared:p y pp
NoðelNoðel
In Old French NoelIn Old French, Noel could meancould mean
“birthday feast daybirthday, feast day, saint’s day” just likesaint s day , just like
in Late Latinin Late Latin.NoelNoel
The most importantThe most important birthday commemoration b t day co e o at o
in the church year was that of Christ himself, so Noel
tcame to mean “Christmas”Christmas .
NoelNoel
Th d dThe word entered English by the late 14thEnglish by the late 14th
century as Nowel orcentury as Nowel or Nowell, meaningNowell, meaning
“Christmas”.
NoelNoel
In French it also came toIn French it also came to mean “Christmas carol”. ea C st as ca o .
English probably re-borrowed the word with th t i tithat meaning sometime before the 19th centurybefore the 19th century.
NoelNoel
“Christmas carol” is itsChristmas carol is its sense in the popular song: se se t e popu a so g:“The first Noel the angels did say / Was to certain
h h d i fi ldpoor shepherds in fields where they lay ”where they lay.
NoelNoel
Th N lThe proper names Noel and Noelle wereand Noelle were
probably first given toprobably first given to children who were bornchildren who were born
on Christmas Day.y
NoelNoel
Old French was written without accent marks of any
ki d L N lkind. Later on, Noel came to be written with a dieresisto be written with a dieresis (two dots) to show that the ( )
two vowels belong to diff ll bldifferent syllables.
NoëlNoël
And thatAnd that, boys and girls is theboys and girls, is the heartwarming storyheartwarming story
of “Christmas”of Christmas in French!in French!NoëlNoël
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
Nā āliNātālisNātālis
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
NādāliNādālisNādālis
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
N dāliNodālisNodālis
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
N dáliNodálisNodális
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
N dáliNodáliNodáli
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
N dálNodáleNodále
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
N dálNodálNodál
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
N dálNodálNodál
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
N ðálNoðálNoðál
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
N ð lNoðelNoðel
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
N ð lNoðelNoðel
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
N lNoelNoel
Here’s a recap of 1000 pyears of sound change:
N ëlNoëlNoël
FINFIN.FIN. Merry Christmas y
& Joyeux Noëlyfrom Josh Tyrafrom Josh Tyra