Say cheese: Language and legacy on the Channel Islands

The Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy, France, have a unique and varied history. Residents of the archipelago — whether they’re from the Isle of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, or Sark — work to keep their legacies alive via their cultural traditions, their food, and in some cases, even their language. Guernesiais — or Guernsey French — is technically a patois (linguist lingo for a regional dialect) with some estimations of less than 100 fluent speakers, putting it in critically endangered territory. The island of Jersey has Jèrriais (Jersey Norman French), which was officially recognized as a language in 2019. But even though this island stretches less than 11 miles across, its Jèrriais-speaking inhabitants don’t all sound the same, not do they use the same vocabulary. The smaller-still island of Sark, which is just two square miles, also had two distinct variations of Sercquiais, its own dialect.

The BBC offers lessons in Guernsey French, with simple phrases and words available to listen to and practice pronouncing — and with the Channel Island’s rich culinary legacy, you can bet many of these elementary lessons focus on food. The Guernesiais word for cheese appears identical to the modern French term, fromage, but is pronounced slightly differently by the inhabitants of this island who are still fluent in the patois of their ancestors. If you want to give Guernesiais a whirl, the phonetic guide to the following sentence is in parentheses: I'm' faut du fromage. (Eem fow du fromarj.)

The translation? I need cheese. And that’s a sentiment we can get behind, in any language.