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