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Jèrriais is the form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, one of the Channel Islands off the coast of France. It has been in decline over the past century as English has increasingly become the language of education, commerce and administration. There are very few people who speak Jèrriais as a mother tongue and, owing to the age of the remaining speakers, their numbers decrease annually. Despite this, efforts are being made to keep the language alive. A similar language, Guernésiais, is spoken in neighbouring Guernsey; the language of Sark, Sercquiais, is a descendant of the Jèrriais brought by the Jersey colonists who settled Sark in the 16th century; and there is mutual intelligibility with the Norman language of mainland Normandy. Jèrriais is often called "Jersey French" or "Jersey Norman French" in English (though this may give the impression that the language is a dialect of French) and "jersiais" or "normand de Jersey" in French. Jèrriais is distinct from the Jersey Legal French used for legal contracts, laws and official documents by the government and administration of Jersey. For this reason, some prefer using the term "Jersey Norman" to avoid ambiguity and to disassociate the language from standard French. ==Status== The latest figures come from the Jersey Annual Social Survey issued on 5 December 2012.〔http://www.gov.je/SiteCollectionDocuments/Government%20and%20administration/R%20JASS2012%2020121204%20SU.pdf〕 The survey of 4200 households took place in June 2012 and resulted in 2400 returns. It showed that 18% of the population could speak some Jèrriais words and phrases with more than 7% of those over 65 being fluent or able to speak a lot of Jèrriais. Two-thirds of adults said that they could not understand spoken Jèrriais, but more than a quarter are able to understand some, and 5% more can usually or fully understand someone speaking Jèrriais. 4% of people said that they could write some Jèrriais, although under 1% could write fluently. Just under a third (32%) said that they could understand something written in Jèrriais. These figures update those of the census (2001) which showed that approximately 3% of the island's population speak Jèrriais in their personal interactions, although research suggests that up to 15% of the population have some understanding of the language. The latest census figures also showed an increase in declarations of children speaking the language: the first such increase recorded in census figures (although this may be due to greater consciousness among parents than to language use), doubtless encouraged by the introduction of a Jèrriais teaching programme into Jersey schools. The parish with the highest proportion (8%) of Jèrriais speakers is Saint Ouen, and that with the lowest proportion (2.1%) is Saint Helier, although Saint Helier as the largest parish has the highest number of Jèrriais speakers. The number of census respondents who stated that they "usually" spoke Jèrriais was 113; 2,761 respondents stated that they "sometimes" spoke Jèrriais. A survey〔''Jèrriais: Jersey's Native Tongue'', Jones 2003〕 carried out among a sample of Jèrriais speakers in 1996 found that 18% spoke Jèrriais more often than English, 66% spoke Jèrriais as often as English, and 16% spoke Jèrriais less often than English. The States of Jersey fund the teaching programme in schools and provide some support in terms of signage, e.g. welcome signs at harbours and airport. Ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages is under discussion. In September 2005, the States approved the development of a cultural strategy, one of whose strategic objectives was as follows: Jersey almost lost its language in the 20th century. By 2001 there were less than 3,000 speakers of Jèrriais. In the 21st century strenuous efforts are being made to re-establish it. Le Don Balleine, funded by the States, is leading a programme in schools teaching Jèrriais. L'Assembliée d'Jèrriais promotes the language generally. Language brings distinctiveness, a sense of localness and a whole new set of skills all of which are important qualities in attracting the creative economy. It is fundamental to the Island's identity. This objective is to work with these organisations to help in the revival and status of the language.〔()〕 In September 2009 a partnership agreement was signed by the Minister for Education, Sport and Culture and the President of Le Don Balleine to formalise the rôle of L'Office du Jèrriais in protecting and promoting Jèrriais and to develop a language plan to help make the language more prominent on a daily basis.〔http://www.jersey.com/english/aboutjersey/news/pages/default.aspx?itemid=a57de5e1-636e-48bf-bdd1-a727f1c09097&start=51 Jèrriais Partnership Agreement〕 There is newspaper and radio output in the language. From 2010, Jersey banknotes carry the value of the note written out in Jèrriais.〔http://www.gov.je/TaxesMoney/JerseyCurrency/Pages/JerseyCurrencyNew.aspx〕 Jèrriais is recognised as a regional language by the British and Irish governments within the framework of the British-Irish Council. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jèrriais」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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