Guernsey French



Guernsey French or "Guernésiais" is the traditional patois of Guernsey. It shares many common features with French, as well as the related patois of the other Channel Islands: Sèrtchais and so on.

It is now regarded as a dead language. The first section invites you to experience the language as it was lived - as a spoken language. It contains phrases to learn and exercises to practice, and will enable the reader to participate in conversations with Guernsey French revival groups.

The second section also enables the reader to learn the language, but from a linguistic approach.

Although the language was not originally written down, there is a lively wealth of poetry and prose written in the language both past and present. A selection are presented in the third section, along with linguistic notes for the learner, historical context and comments on style.

Its chief interest now is to many as a dead language. The final section explores the history.

The "dictionaries" are being compiled as an online resource. As well as a master dictionary both into and out of Guernsey French, there are smaller dictionaries listing words by theme.

There is an appendix of resources both on and offline.

Contents

 * /Introduction to Guernsey French/

Conversational Guernsey French

 * Getting to Know You

Linguistic Approach

 * Pronouns
 * verbs

Literature

 * Poetry


 * Prose


 * Neo-Guernsey French

History

 * /Origins/
 * /The Death of Guernsey French/
 * /Revival/
 * /Notable Figures/

Dictionaries

 * Dictionaries index

Resources and Further Reading

 * /Online Resources/
 * /Offline Resources/