Jèrriais

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to investigate a case of transfer within the context of language death. By examining data from Jersey Norman French (known to its speakers as Jerriais) it illustrates the difficulty in determining linguistic norms for this relatively undocumented variety and suggests possible strategies to overcome this problem. The study compares systematically the occurrence of overt and covert transfer in the speech of a sample of fifty native speakers of Jerriais via the analysis of a number of linguistic variables. The extent to which transfer-induced changes are themselves becoming established as norms within this speech community will also be considered.

Abstract: The Channel Islands form a small archipelago lying at the entrance to the gulf of St Malo, some 80 miles off the southern coast of England. The eight islands, in descending order of size, are Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Lihou and Brecqhou (see Figure 21.1). A variety of Romance has been spoken on the islands for over two thousand years and, despite the fact that the archipelago has been united politically with Great Britain since 1204, until relatively recently the majority of the inhabitants were francophone. Although the dialect of Alderney became extinct in the 1950s, before any systematic analysis could be undertaken, the surviving dialects of the Channel Islands all contain what Joret (1883) considered to be the defining features of Norman (see also Lepelley 1999) and, according to Fleury (1886:4), they show greatest linguistic affinity with the varieties of mainland Norman spoken in and around La Hague. Despite the large number of features that they undoubtedly share, it would, however, be mistaken to consider the varieties spoken in the Norman zone – or even on the Channel Islands – as homogeneous. Even though Sark Norman French (Sercquiais) developed from a western form of Jersey Norman French (Jerriais) after the island was colonised from Jersey in 1565 (Spence 1993:53), there is no longer any striking resemblance between these two varieties (Brasseur 1978b:302) and, although it is claimed that the inhabitants of Sark understand the variety spoken in the west of Jersey, speakers of Jerriais do not understand Sercquiais very well (Brasseur 1977:100).

Abstract: A variety of Romance has been spoken on Jersey for some two thousand years. However Jerriais, the Norman dialect spoken on the Island today, is now obsolescent. Its decline in fortune has recently prompted a number of corpus and status planning initiatives which, largely devoid of State support, lie in the hands of a small, non-linguistically trained, group of enthusiasts. This paper examines the different agencies of language planning on Jersey and the progress they have made hitherto, comparing the corpus and status planning undertaken in this context with that which occurs in countries where more support is forthcoming from the State, and situating the position of Jerriais within the contemporary language planning literature. It also suggests some possible avenues for the future and discusses the factors which are likely to determine the success or otherwise of the outcome. The paper highlights the fact that, by themselves, high-prestige domains such as the school do not necessarily hold the key to successful language maintenance.

Abstract: This article examines some of the corpus and status planning initiatives prompted by the revitalization of obsolescent Jersey Norman French (Jerriais) on the Channel Island of Jersey. These have yielded a somewhat paradoxical situation whereby the dialect is currently being fostered as a quintessential part of island identity, despite the fact that, at present, it is spoken only by some 3 percent of the population. The success of the revitalization movement is discussed—including issues such as the need to "sell" the linguistic component of Jersey identity to Xmen via Yish-as is the changing nature of Jerriais linguistic identity.