Dgèrnésiais
Guernésiais
Indo-European (Romance > Oïl > Norman)
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
31 core words in Guernésiais
Water
ieau
/jo/
Fire
fû
/fy/
Sun
solé
/sɔˈle/
Moon
leune
/løːn/
Star
êtaile
/etɛl/
Mother
mère
/mɛːr/
Father
pére
/peːr/
I
jé
/ʒe/
You
tu
/ty/
Name
nom
/nɔ̃/
Eye
yeu
/jø/
Hand
main
/mɛ̃/
Heart
tcheur
/tʃœr/
Love
amour
/aˈmuːr/
Tree
bouais
/bwɛ/
House
maison
/mɛˈzɔ̃/
Dog
tchian
/tʃjɑ̃/
Cat
cat
/kat/
Eat
mangier
/mɑ̃ˈʒje/
Drink
baire
/bɛːr/
One
yun
/jœ̃/
Two
deux
/dø/
Hello
bouônjour
/bwɔ̃ˈʒuːr/
Thank you
mercie bian
/mɛrˈsi bjɑ̃/
Good
boan
/bwɑ̃/
Cuckoo
coucou
/kuˈku/
Sources
- De Garis, Marie (1967) Dictiounnaire Angllais-Guernesiais. Phillimore, Chichester.
- Tomlinson, Harry (1981) Le Guernesiais — Étude grammaticale et lexicale du parler normand de l'île de Guernesey. PhD thesis, University of Edinburgh.
- Sallabank, Julia (2013) Attitudes to Endangered Languages: Identities and Policies. Cambridge University Press [Guernsey case study].
- Glottolog: Guernsey French
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Romance > Oïl > Norman) languages
| Meaning | Guernésiais | Jèrriais | Norman | Classical French (17c., Bel Usage) | Picard | French (Ivorian) | French (Senegalese) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ieau /jo/ | ieau /jo/ | ieau /jo/ | eau /o/ | iau /jo/ | eau /o/ | eau /o/ |
| Fire | fû /fy/ | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ | fu /fy/ | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ |
| Sun | solé /sɔˈle/ | solé /sɔˈle/ | solé /sɔle/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | solèl /sɔlɛl/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ |
| Moon | leune /løːn/ | leune /løːn/ | leune /løn/ | lune /lyn/ | lune /lyn/ | lune /lyn/ | lune /lyn/ |
| Star | êtaile /etɛl/ | êtaile /etɛl/ | êtaile /etɛl/ | étoile /etwɛl/ | étole /etɔl/ | étoile /etwal/ | étoile /etwal/ |
| Mother | mère /mɛːr/ | mère /mɛːr/ | mère /mɛːʁ/ | mère /mɛːr/ | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛʁ/ |
| Father | pére /peːr/ | péthe /peːð/ | père /pɛːʁ/ | père /pɛːr/ | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛʁ/ |
| I | jé /ʒe/ | jé /ʒe/ | jé /ʒe/ | je /ʒə/ | ej /əʒ/ | je /ʒe/ | je /ʒə/ |
| You | tu /ty/ | tu /ty/ | tu /ty/ | tu /ty/ | te /tə/ | tu /ty/ | tu /ty/ |
| Name | nom /nɔ̃/ | nom /nɔ̃/ | nom /nɔ̃/ | nom /nɔ̃/ | nom /nɔ̃/ | nom /nɔ̃/ | nom /nɔ̃/ |
| Eye | yeu /jø/ | yi /ji/ | yi /ji/ | œil /œːj/ | oeul /œl/ | œil /œj/ | œil /œj/ |
| Hand | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ |
| Heart | tcheur /tʃœr/ | tchoeu /tʃœ/ | tcheu /tʃø/ | cœur /kœːr/ | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœʁ/ |
| Love | amour /aˈmuːr/ | amour /aˈmuːr/ | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amur/ | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amuʁ/ |
| Tree | bouais /bwɛ/ | bouais /bwɛ/ | arbre /aʁbʁ/ | arbre /aːrbr/ | abre /abʁ/ | arbre /aʁbʁ/ | arbre /aʁbʁ/ |
| House | maison /mɛˈzɔ̃/ | maîson /mɛˈzɔ̃/ | maîson /mɛːzɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | mason /masɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ |
| Dog | tchian /tʃjɑ̃/ | tchian /tʃjɑ̃/ | tchian /tʃɑ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | kien /kjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ |
| Cat | cat /kat/ | cat /kat/ | cat /ka/ | chat /ʃaː/ | cat /ka/ | chat /ʃa/ | chat /ʃa/ |
| Eat | mangier /mɑ̃ˈʒje/ | mangi /mɑ̃ˈʒi/ | mangi /mɑ̃ʒi/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | minger /mɛ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ |
| Drink | baire /bɛːr/ | baithe /baɪð/ | baithe /baɪð/ | boire /bweːr/ | boère /bwɛʁ/ | boire /bwaʁ/ | boire /bwaʁ/ |
| One | yun /jœ̃/ | ieune /jøːn/ | ieune /jøn/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ |
| Two | deux /dø/ | deux /dø/ | deux /dø/ | deux /dø/ | deus /dø/ | deux /dø/ | deux /dø/ |
| Hello | bouônjour /bwɔ̃ˈʒuːr/ | bouônjour /bwɔ̃ˈʒuːr/ | bouônjour /bwɔ̃ʒuʁ/ | Dieu vous garde /djø vu ɡard/ | bojour /bɔʒuʁ/ | bonjour /bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ | bonjour /bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ |
| Thank you | mercie bian /mɛrˈsi bjɑ̃/ | mèrcie /mɛrˈsi/ | mèsi /mɛsi/ | grâces /ɡraːs/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ |
| Good | boan /bwɑ̃/ | bouôn /bwɔ̃/ | boun /bun/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ |
| Cuckoo | coucou /kuˈku/ | coucou /kuˈku/ | coucou /kuˈku/ | coucou /kuˈku/ | cocou /kuˈku/ | coucou /kuku/ | coucou /kuku/ |
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