Jersey Norman French

This book is the first to present a comprehensive linguistic study of

Jersey Norman French. Drawing on a corpus of original data, it offers

historical and dialectological sketches, an assessment of language

planning on Jersey, and an account of language change in progress. It

also establishes the relevance of Jersey Norman French to the field of

language obsolescence.

Acknowledgements.

List of Figures.

List of Maps.

List of Tables.

1. Introduction 1

2. The Sociohistorical Setting 7

3. The Jerriais Dialect 18

4. A Sociolinguistic Profile of the Jerriais Speech Community 45

5. Language Planning on Jersey 70

6. Linguistic Developments in Modern Jerriais 97

7. Lexical Erosion in Modern Jerriais 140

8. Cross-linguistic Influence on Jersey 156

9. Conclusion 181

Appendix 1. List of Informants According to Parish of Origin 191

Appendix 2. Figures Illustrating Results Discussed in Chapter 7 192

Notes 212

References 222

General Index 231

Index of Authors 235

Index of Languages and Dialects 238

Dr Mari Catrin Jones is lecturer in French Linguistics at the University of Cambridge and Fellow in Modern and Medieval Languages. Books published by Dr. Jones include Language Obsolescence and Revitalization: Linguistic Change in Two Sociolinguistically Contrasting Welsh Communities (1998) Drawing on an extensive corpus of original data, this comprehensive linguistic study of Jersey Norman French offers historical and dialectological sketches, an assessment of language planning on Jersey, and an account of language change in progress. Mari Catrin Jones evaluates four different types of linguistic influence found on contemporary Jersey, including the substrate influence of Jersey Norman French on Jersey English. Jones further establishes the relevance of Jersey Norman French to the field of language obsolescence.

This book will be of interest to postgraduates and researchers studying varieties of French, and language obsolescence and change.