Jersey Accent Information
Channel Island English refers to Guernsey English, Jersey English and similar dialects of English found in the other Channel Islands.
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Guernsey English
Guernsey English is the dialect of English spoken by natives of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, distinguished by the fact that it has considerable influence from Guernésiais, the variety of Norman indigenous to Guernsey. The dialect contains terms such as "buncho" (from Dgèrnésiais: bond d'tchu) for the English "somersault"; "it picks" instead of "it stings", from the Guernsey equivalent of the French "il pique"; "chirry" for "goodbye"; and "Budlo Night" instead of "Bonfire Night" on November 5th. Guernsey people will also say "Is it?" in answer to almost any statement, just as the French say "n'est-ce pas?", but also use it as a stand alone phrase. For example: "She was out until midnight last night!" "Is it?"
Jersey English
Jersey English is a dialect of English spoken in Jersey, Channel Islands. The accent is similar sounding to Dutch or South African accents. It is influenced by the use of Jèrriais and Jersey Legal French.
Influence of Jersey Legal French on Jersey English
Jersey English has imported a number of Jersey Legal French titles and terminology. Many of these, in turn, derive from Jèrriais. The following are examples likely to be encountered in daily life and in news reports in Jersey: rapporteur, en défaut (in default, i.e. late for a meeting), en désastre, au greffe, greffier (clerk-of-Court or the States), bâtonnier (lawyer in charge of Bar, particularly for legal aid), mandataire, autorisé (returning officer at elections, or other functions), projet (parliamentary bill), vraic, côtil, temps passé (time past), vin d'honneur (municipal or official reception), Centenier, Vingtenier, Chef de Police (senior Centenier), branchage (pronounced in English as the Jèrriais cognate even though spelt in the French manner - trimming hedges and verges on property border; also used jocularly for a haircut), Seigneur (feudal lord of the manor).
Pronunciation
Vowels
- Kit: /ɪ/
- Dress: /ɛ/
- Trap: /æ/
- Lot: /ɒ/
- Strut: /ʌ/ or /ɔ/
- Foot: /ʊ/
- Fleece: /ɪi/ or /iː/
- Face: /eɪ/
- Palm: /ɑː/
- Thought: /oː/ or /ɔː/
- Goat: /əʊ/
- Near: /iə/ or /ɪə/
- Square: /ɛə/
- Start: /ɑː/
- North: /ɑː/ or /əː/
- Force: /oː/ or /əː/
- Cure: /juə/
- Bath: /ɑː/
- Cloth: /ɒː/
- Nurse: /əː/
- Goose: /uː/ or /ʉ/
- Price/Prize: /aɪ/, /ɑɪ/, or /ɒɪ/
- Choice: /ɔɪ/ or /oɪ/
- Mouth: /aʊ/
- happY: /iː/ or /i/
- lettEr: /œ/ or /ə/
- horsEs: /ɪ/
- commA: /ə/
Consonants
- H-drops and intrusive H leading to sentences like: My mother was very hill and I was the heldest, and I stayed to 'elp my mother.
- Ing as /ɪn/ or /ɪŋ/
- R tends to be uvular in the island of Sark, and trilled throughout the archipelago.
- Medial yod often appears after an initial voiced consonant such as /ˈɡjɑːdn/
- /t/ and /d/ are dental and unaspirated.
- Interference from the Norman Languages caused their intonation and word stress to be different sometimes, like edu'cated, Liver'pool, rail'way and eles.
Morphosyntax
- The Norman Influence is more clearly demonstrable in Channel Island English morphosyntax than in its phonology.
Examples of structures used by people in the Channel Islands are:
- “There's ten years I am a farmer” for “I've been a farmer for ten years.”
- “Me, I don't want to go” or “I don't want to go, me.”
- “That's the one, eh?” Eh for “isn't it?”, “aren't they?”, “don't you think?”, or else.
- “There's two castles there” for “There are two castles there.”
- “... and the teacher, she was angry, eh.” (use of emphatic personal pronoun.)
See also
References
Categories: English dialects | Guernsey culture | Jersey culture | Channel Islands
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