Norn
Sign in to saveextinct Germanic language spoken in the Northern Isles of Scotland
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Norn was a Germanic language that people spoke in the Northern Isles of Scotland until it died out centuries ago. It matters to linguists and historians because studying it helps us understand how languages change and how different cultures influenced each other in medieval northern Europe.
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Article
Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken in the Northern Isles (Orkney and Shetland) off the north coast of mainland Scotland and in Caithness in the far north of the Scottish mainland. After Orkney and Shetland were pledged to Scotland by Norway in 1468–69, it was gradually replaced by Scots. Norn is thought to have become extinct around 1850, after the death of Walter Sutherland, the language's last known speaker, though there are claims the language persisted as late as 1932.
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CaithnessExtinct Germanic languagesExtinct languages of EuropeExtinct languages of ScotlandHistory of OrkneyHistory of ShetlandLanguage articles with Linglist codeLanguage articles with Linguasphere codeLanguage articles with unreferenced extinction dateLanguages extinct in the 1850sLanguages of ScotlandMedieval languages