( ; also known as the Jersey language, Jersey French and Jersey Norman French in English) is a Romance language and the traditional language of the Jersey people. It is a form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, an island in the Channel Islands archipelago off the coast of France. Its closest relatives are the other Norman languages, such as , spoken in neighbouring Guernsey, and the other .
Use of has been in decline over the past century, as English has increasingly become the language of education, commerce and administration on Jersey. There are very few people who speak Jèrriais as a mother tongue and, owing to the age of the remaining speakers, their numbers decrease annually. Efforts are being made to keep the language alive.
The language of Sark, Sercquiais, is a descendant of the Jèrriais brought by the Jersey colonists who settled Sark in the 16th century, with mutual intelligibility with the Norman language of mainland Normandy.
Jèrriais is often called "Jersey French" or "Jersey Norman French" in English (though this may give the impression that the language is a dialect of French) and or in French. Jèrriais is distinct from the Jersey Legal French used for legal contracts, laws and official documents by the government and administration of Jersey. For this reason, some prefer using the term "Jersey Norman" to avoid ambiguity and to dissociate the language from standard French.
History
Although few now speak Jèrriais as a first language, until the 19th century it was used as the everyday language for the majority of the population of Jersey; even as late as the beginning of the Second World War, up to half the population could still communicate in the language. Despite this, awareness of the decline of language use became apparent in the 19th century in scholarly circles. Among foreign linguists, Louis Lucien Bonaparte visited Jersey and interested himself in the language and its literature. Victor Hugo, during his exile in Jersey, took an interest in the language and numbered some Jèrriais writers among his circle of acquaintances and supporters.
Sir Robert Pipon Marett's prestige and influence helped to reinforce the movement toward standardisation of the writing system based on French orthography, a trend which was also helped by the Norman literary revival beginning in the neighbouring Cotentin Peninsula of mainland Normandy, where writers inspired by the example of the Norman writers of Jersey and Guernsey, also began to produce literary works. However, differing (if mutually comprehensible) writing systems have been adopted in Jersey, Guernsey, and mainland Normandy. It is sometimes asked whether Jèrriais should move to a writing system based on French orthography; however, this would have implications for the continuity of the literary tradition over two centuries or more, though some features of the language's writing system, such as the digraph "th" for the typical dental fricative of Jèrriais, have evidently been borrowed from English orthography.
As English became dominant in Jersey in the 20th century, efforts were made to preserve the Jèrriais language. The Jersey Eisteddfod has included a Jèrriais section since 1912. Associations were founded; was founded in 1951, while is a trust set up in accordance with the will of Arthur E. Balleine (1864–1943), who bequeathed funds for the promotion of the language. launched a quarterly magazine in 1952, which has been published since (with the occasional hiatus, and latterly under the editorship of ); a standard grammar (by Paul Birt) appeared in 1985; cassettes, booklets and other materials have also been produced.
George d'la Forge's maintenance of the language in the North American diaspora is not as surprising as it might seem, as considerable numbers of Jersey people had been involved in the economic development and exploitation of the New World (see New Jersey). Much of the concentration focused on the cod fisheries of the Gaspé peninsula in Quebec, Canada, which were controlled into the early 20th century by Jersey-based companies or companies of Jersey origin employing Jersey labour. The common language of business was Jèrriais, and it is reported that there were still some Jèrriais-speakers in Gaspé villages in the 1960s. The Gaspesian expression (to go and work outside the region) comes from the Jèrriais word "run" applied to a fishing station.
The use of Jèrriais is also noted during the German occupation of the Channel Islands during the Second World War; the local population used it among themselves as a language which neither the occupying Germans, nor their French interpreters, could understand. However, the social and economic upheaval of the war meant that use of English increased dramatically after the Liberation.
It is considered that the last monolingual adult speakers probably died in the 1950s, although monolingual children were being received into schools in St. Ouen as late as the late 1970s.
Famous Jèrriais speakers include Lillie Langtry and Sir John Everett Millais, the Pre-Raphaelite painter, who are reported to have spoken to each other in the language when he was painting her portrait.
Dictionaries
The history of Jèrriais dictionaries goes back to 19th century manuscript glossaries of Philippe Langlois, A. A. Le Gros, and Thomas Gaudin. These were later revised and expanded into the published in 1924 by . The 1960 Glossary of Jersey French (Nichol Spence) recorded Jèrriais in a phonetic script. The 1924 inspired the research by Frank Le Maistre that culminated in the published in 1966 to mark the 900th anniversary of the Norman Conquest of England. The first practical English–Jèrriais dictionary was the English-Jersey Language Vocabulary (Albert Carré in collaboration with Frank Le Maistre and Philip de Veulle, 1972) which was itself based on the . A children's picture dictionary, , was published by in 2000. In 2005, a Jèrriais–English dictionary, was published by , in collaboration with . A revised, modernised and expanded English–Jèrriais dictionary, , was published in 2008 by .Dictionnaithe Angliais-Jèrriais, Jersey 2008,
Status
The latest figures come from the Jersey Annual Social Survey issued on 5 December 2012. The survey of 4200 households took place in June 2012 and resulted in 2400 returns. It showed that 18% of the population could speak some Jèrriais words and phrases, with more than 7% of those over 65 being fluent or able to speak a significant amount of Jèrriais. Two-thirds of adults said that they could not understand spoken Jèrriais, but more than a quarter were able to understand some, and 5% could usually or fully understand someone speaking Jèrriais. 4% of people said that they could write some Jèrriais, although under 1% could write fluently. Just under a third (32%) said that they could understand something written in Jèrriais.
These figures update those of the census of 2001, which showed that approximately 3% of the island's population spoke Jèrriais in their personal interactions, although research suggests that up to 15% of the population have some understanding of the language. The latest census figures also showed an increase in declarations of children speaking the language: the first such increase recorded in census figures (although this may be due to greater consciousness among parents rather than to language use), doubtless encouraged by the introduction of a Jèrriais teaching programme into Jersey schools.
The parish with the highest proportion of Jèrriais speakers (8%) is Saint Ouen, and the parish with the lowest proportion (2.1%) is Saint Helier, although that is the largest parish and has the highest number of Jèrriais speakers. The number of census respondents who stated that they "usually" spoke Jèrriais was 113; 2,761 respondents stated that they "sometimes" spoke it. A survey carried out among a sample of Jèrriais speakers in 1996 found that 18% spoke the language more often than English, 66% spoke it as often as English, and 16% spoke it less often than English.Jèrriais: Jersey's Native Tongue, Jones 2003
The States of Jersey fund the teaching programme in schools and provide some support in terms of signage, such as welcome signs at harbours and the airport. Ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is under discussion. In September 2005, the States approved the development of a cultural strategy, one of whose strategic objectives was as follows:
Jersey almost lost its language in the 20th century. By 2001 there were less than 3,000 speakers of Jèrriais. In the 21st century strenuous efforts are being made to re-establish it. , funded by the States, is leading a programme in schools teaching Jèrriais. promotes the language generally. Language brings distinctiveness, a sense of localness and a whole new set of skills all of which are important qualities in attracting the creative economy. It is fundamental to the Island's identity. This objective is to work with these organisations to help in the revival and status of the language.
In September 2009, a partnership agreement was signed by the Minister for Education, Sport and Culture and the President of to formalise the role of in protecting and promoting Jèrriais and to develop a language plan to help make the language more prominent on a daily basis; there is newspaper and radio output in the language, and as part of the language's promotion, from 2010, Jersey banknotes carry the value of the note written out in Jèrriais. Jèrriais is currently classified as "threatened" by the Endangered Languages Project.
Jèrriais is recognised as a regional language by the British and Irish governments within the framework of the British–Irish Council. On 13 February 2019, the States of Jersey adopted Jèrriais as an official language, and the language is set to be used on signage and official letter headings.
Phonology +Jèrriais ConsonantsLabialDental/AlveolarPost-alveolarPalatalVelar/glottalplainsibilantNasalPlosive/affricateFricativeRhoticApproximant may also be heard as an approximant sound .
The phonological influence of Norse is debated, although the aspirated "h" may be due to Norse influence. +Jèrriais Oral Vowels FrontBackClose Close-mid Open-mid Open +Nasal VowelsFrontBackClose-mid Open-mid Open
Palatalisation The palatalisation of Latin and before that occurred in the development of French did not occur in northern dialects of Norman, including Jèrriais:
JèrriaisEnglishFrench to buy cat cow warm garden leg
However, the palatalisation of before front vowels produced different results in the Norman dialect that developed into Jèrriais than in French. (Many developments are similar to those in Italian, cf. "hundred" and "face".)
JèrriaisEnglishFrench basinfacefashionhundred
At a later date surviving and underwent a secondary process of palatalisation:
JèrriaisEnglishFrench to mockpacketguide
This palatalisation continues to operate (except in initial position) as can be seen by recent borrowings from English:
Jèrriais English to busk to cook to plug bragger
Dental fricative A feature of Jèrriais that is immediately noticeable and distinguishes it from neighbouring languages is the voiced dental fricative , written th, that typically occurs in intervocalic position: Jèrriais French English barrel to measure (payment office) payment pillow
Or in final position: Jèrriais French English mother (bray) to cry
The fricative devoices to assimilate with a neighbouring unvoiced consonant in words such as (packing) or (disgusting).
The fricative developed from + front vowel, but evidently after the 16th century as this feature is unknown in the language of Sark (colonised by Jersey families). Although the voiced dental fricative is standard in the literary language, it is not found in the eastern dialects.