Geographic line (isogloss) between dialects in northern France
The Joret line (
French: ligne Joret;
Norman: lène Joret:Picard: line Joret) is an
isogloss that divides the
langues d'oïl. Dialects north and west of it preserve Latin /
k/ and /
ɡ/ before /
a/; dialects south and east of it
palatalize them. In
Old French the result of this palatalisation was /
t͡ʃ/ and /
d͡ʒ/ (for original /
k/ and /
ɡ/ respectively), which yield /
ʃ/ and /
ʒ/ in
Modern French. The line was first identified by
Charles Joret and published in 1883.
The area north and west of it is sometimes called the 'Normano-Picard domain' (
French: domaine normano-picard). Within it lie
Picard and the northern dialects of
Norman.
Norman Picard /
k/ ~ Southern Norman, French /
ʃ/, Walloon /
tʃ/ (
palatalization)
Latin cattu (cat) gave rise to /ka/cat north of the line and /ʃa/chat to the south.
Low Latin *captiare (to catch) gave rise to cachier / cacher (> English catch) north of the line and chasser (> English chase) to the south.
Low Latin *cantionem (song), Picard canchon West of the line, French chanson, Walloon tchinson South and East of the line. Similarly Latin cantare → canter vs. chanter, tchanter.
Frankish *pokka (bag) gave rise to /puk/pouque (> English dial. poke) north of the line and pouche (> English pouch) to the south. French poche (pocket), Norman pouquette (> English pocket).
Latin candela (candle) gave rise to candelle north of the line and chandelle to the south.
Celtic *carros > Latin carrus gave rise to car (> English car) north of the line and char (wain, carriage), chariot (> English chariot) to the south.
Celtic *kagio-, Gaulish caio- > Norman Picard kay, cay (> ME kay) > French quai (> English quay); Old French chay > French chai (wine cellar)
Norman Picard /
ɡ/ ~ Southern Norman, French /
ʒ/, Walloon /
dʒ/ (palatalization)
Latin gamba (leg) gave rise to /ɡãb/gambe north of the line and /ʒãb/jambe to the south, djambe to the East.
Frankish *gard- (yard) gave rise to gardin (> English garden) north of the line and jardin to the south.
Late Latin *galleto > Norman Picard gal(l)on (> English gallon) ; Old French jallon , French jalon (measure)
Second isogloss
Another effect of the palatalizations a bit further to the north but quite parallel was this:
Norman Picard /
ʃ/ (or /
tʃ/) ~ Southern Norman /
ts/ or /
s/, French /
s/.
Low Latin *captiare > Norman Picard cacher, cachi(er) (> English catch); Southern Norman, French chasser
Low Latin ceresiu(m) > Norman Picard cherise, chrise, chise (> English cherry); Southern Norman srise French cerise
Third isogloss
A third isogloss, marking a consonantal change unrelated to the others, more or less follows the Joret line throughout Normandy and continues through northeastern France. It includes all of Picardy,
Wallonia,
Champagne,
Lorraine and a part of
Burgundy.
Germanic /
w/ (sometimes Latin /
v/ was affected as well) was kept north of the line (written w or v), but became /
ɡ/ (written g or gu) south of the line.
Norman placenames derived from the Gallo-Romance word Campaniacum show initial C- in some cases (
Campigny, north) and initial Ch- in others (
Champigny-la-Futelaye, south).