Sercquiais

Sercquiais
Sarkese, Sark-French
sercquiais, lé sèrtchais
Native toSark
Native speakers
3 (2022)[1]
Early forms
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone
IETFnrf-CQ[4]
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Sercquiais (French pronunciation: [sɛʁkjɛ]), also known as lé Sèrtchais, Sarkese or Sark-French, is the Norman dialect of the Channel Island of Sark (Bailiwick of Guernsey).

Sercquiais is a descendant of the 16th century Jèrriais used by the original colonists;[5] 40 families mostly from Saint Ouen, Jersey[1] who settled the then uninhabited island, although influenced in the interim by Guernésiais (the dialect of Guernsey). It is also closely related to the now-extinct Auregnais (Alderney) dialect, as well as to Continental Norman. It is still spoken by older inhabitants of the island and most of the local placenames are in Sercquiais.

In former times, there may have been two subdialects of Sercquiais, but today the dialect is relatively homogeneous.[5] The phonology of the language retains features lost in Jèrriais since the 16th century.

  1. ^ Jèrriais at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (24 May 2022). "Glottolog 4.8 - Oil". Glottolog. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Archived from the original on 11 November 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  3. ^ Manuel pratique de philologie romane, Pierre Bec, 1970–1971
  4. ^ "Language Subtag Registry". IETF. Retrieved 28 August 2023. Type: language Subtag: nrf Description: Jèrriais Description: Guernésiais Description: Sercquiais Added: 2015-02-12 / Type: region Subtag: CQ Description: Sark Added: 2023-02-07
  5. ^ a b "Voices – Multilingual Nation". BBC. 30 September 2005. Retrieved 24 July 2013.