Dgèrnésiais

Guernésiais

Indo-European (Romance > Oïl > Norman)

FamilyIndo-European (Romance > Oïl > Norman) Speakers~200 (critically endangered) ScriptLatin CountriesUnited Kingdom (Bailiwick of Guernsey, Channel Islands) Official inYes (Guernsey: recognized as a regional language; protected under European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages framework) ISO 639-3nrf Glottocodeguer1238

Guernésiais (Dgèrnésiais), the Norman speech of the Channel Island of Guernsey, is the sister language of Jèrriais and the most divergent surviving Norman variety. It shares Norman conservatism (retention of /k/ before /a/: cat "cat") but is famous for its dramatic palatalization of /g/ to /dʒ/ word-initially even where Jèrriais keeps the velar — hence its own name Dgèrnésiais (vs. Jèrriais Guernésiais), and dgéthe "war" vs. French guerre. With perhaps only 200 fluent speakers remaining, almost all elderly, it is the most critically endangered Norman variety; the post-WWII evacuation of Guernsey children to mainland Britain (1940–45) is widely seen as the proximate cause of its rapid collapse.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Guernésiais

Water

ieau

/jo/

Fire

/fy/

Sun

solé

/sɔˈle/

Moon

leune

/løːn/

Mother

mère

/mɛːr/

Father

paire

/pɛːr/

Eat

mangier

/mɑ̃ˈʒje/

Drink

baire

/bɛːr/

Love

amour

/aˈmuːr/

Heart

tcheur

/tʃœr/

Tree

bouais

/bwɛ/

House

maison

/mɛˈzɔ̃/

Dog

tchian

/tʃjɑ̃/

Cat

cat

/kat/

Hand

main

/mɛ̃/

Eye

yeu

/jø/

Hello

bouônjour

/bwɔ̃ˈʒuːr/

Thank you

mercie bian

/mɛrˈsi bjɑ̃/

One

yun

/jœ̃/

Good

boan

/bwɑ̃/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Indo-European (Romance > Oïl > Norman) languages

Meaning GuernésiaisJèrriaisNormanPicardClassical French (17c., Bel Usage)French (Québec)French
Water ieau /jo/ ieau /jo/ ieau /jo/ iau /jo/ eau /o/ eau /o/ eau /o/
Fire /fy/ feu /fø/ feu /fø/ fu /fy/ feu /fø/ feu /fø/ feu /fø/
Sun solé /sɔˈle/ solé /sɔˈle/ solé /sɔle/ solèl /sɔlɛl/ soleil /sɔlɛj/ soleil /sɔlɛj/ soleil /sɔlɛj/
Moon leune /løːn/ leune /løːn/ leune /løn/ lune /lyn/ lune /lyn/ lune /lʏn/ lune /lyn/
Mother mère /mɛːr/ mère /mɛːr/ mère /mɛːʁ/ mère /mɛʁ/ mère /mɛːr/ mère /mɛːʁ/ mère /mɛʁ/
Father paire /pɛːr/ péthe /peːð/ péthe /peːʁ/ père /pɛʁ/ père /pɛːr/ père /pɛːʁ/ père /pɛʁ/
Eat mangier /mɑ̃ˈʒje/ mangi /mɑ̃ˈʒi/ mangi /mɑ̃ʒi/ minger /mɛ̃ʒe/ manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ manger /mɑ̃ʒe/
Drink baire /bɛːr/ baithe /baɪð/ baithe /baɪð/ boère /bwɛʁ/ boire /bweːr/ boire /bwɑːʁ/ boire /bwaʁ/
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