Jersey Legal French

Jersey Legal French
Français de Jersey
Spoken in	Jersey
Native speakers	17,000  (date missing)
Language family	Indo-European Italic Romance Western Gallo-Iberian Gallo-Romance Gallo-Rhaetian Oïl French Jersey Legal French
Official status
Language codes
ISO 639-3	fre

This official stone which marks the inauguration of a municipal office in 1999 bears the names of the Connétable and the Procureurs du Bien Public of Saint Helier.

Îles de la Manche (Channel Islands) used in a Jersey passport

Jersey Legal French, also known as Jersey French, is the official dialect of French used administratively in Jersey. Since the anglicisation of the island, it survives as a written language for some laws, contracts, and other documents. Jersey's parliament, the States of Jersey, is part of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie. The English language has been allowed in parliamentary debates since February 2, 1900; the current use of French in the parliament is generally restricted to formalities (prayers, ceremonies, formulæ).

Jersey's two official languages are French and English.

Jersey Legal French is not to be confused with Jèrriais, a variety of the Norman language also called Jersey Norman-French, spoken in the island.

The French of Jersey differs little from that of France. It is characterised by several terms particular to Jersey administration and a few expressions imported from Norman.

List of distinguishing features

It is notable that the autochthonous appellation of the archipelago is îles de la Manche (Channel Islands) — îles anglo-normandes (Anglo-Norman Islands) is a somewhat recent invention in continental French.

Like in Swiss French and Belgian French, the numbers 70 and 90 are septante and nonante, respectively, not soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix (compare the use of nénante for 90 in Jèrriais).

The names of days and months are usually written in capital letters.

Messire is used for the title of knighthood (continental French uses sir, often lower case ) - for example, the former Bailiff of Jersey, Sir Philip Bailhache is correctly addressed in French as Messire Philip Bailhache.

Finance

Jersey Legal French	French	English
barguin	affaire	bargain
chelin	shilling	shilling
en désastre	en banqueroute	bankrupt
impôts	droits de régie	customs and excise duties
principal	contribuable du rât	principal (ratepayer of a certain value)
quartier	unité de valeur de propriété foncière	quarter (unit of ratable value)
rât paroissial	taxe foncière	parish rate
taxe sur le revenu	impôt sur le revenu	income tax
taxer le rât	voter la taxe foncière lors d'une Assemblée de paroisse	set the rate (by vote at a Parish Assembly)

Agriculture

Jersey Legal French	French	English
bannelais		road sweepings (used for fertiliser)
charrière		passage between rocks used for vraicing (collecting seaweed for fertiliser)
fossé	haie	hedge
hèche	barrière	gate
heurif	tôt	early (e.g. potatoes)
vraic	varech	seaweed (used for fertiliser)

Administration

Jersey Legal French	French	English
mandataire		voting representative of a ratepaying company
perquage	chemin de sanctuaire	(so-called) sanctuary path
Procureur du Bien Public		elected attorney (legal and financial representative) of a Parish
rapporteur	porte-parole	spokesperson (of committee)
Visite du branchage		inspection of roads
Visite Royale		inspection of a Parish by the Royal Court
vingtaine		administrative division of a Parish
Vingtenier		Honorary Police officer
voyeur	témoin assermenté	sworn witness
Centenier		senior Honorary Police officer
écrivain	notaire	solicitor
Connétable	maire	Constable (elected head of Parish)
Deputé-Bailli	bailli adjoint	Deputy Bailiff
Juré-Justicier	juge	(elected) judge
levée de corps	enquête judiciaire	inquest
lier à la paix	relâcher sous condition	bind over to keep the peace
loger au Greffe	déposer (un projet de loi)	lodge (table) a bill etc.

Real estate

Jersey Legal French	French	English
icelle borne	ladite borne	the said boundary stone
corps de bien fonds	parcelle de bien-fonds	Latin: corpus fundi
côtil		steeply sloping field or other land
côtière	côté d'un édifice où le mur n'est pas en pignon	external wall of building other than gable end
becquet de terre	champ de terre	parcel of land
borne	borne (établie)	(established) boundary stone
bail à fin d'héritage	vente (de propriété foncière)	sale
bail à termage	bail (de propriété foncière)	lease
issues		strip of land alongside road
lisière	bande de terrain	strip of land
pierre ou devise	borne (à établir)	boundary stone (newly established)
au pourportant	de la même étendue	co-extensive
relief		strip of land on other side of wall or hedge

Influence of Jersey Legal French on Jersey English

Jersey English has imported a number of Jersey Legal French titles and terminology. Many of these, in turn, derive from Jèrriais. The following are examples likely to be encountered in daily life and in news reports in Jersey: rapporteur, en défaut (in default, i.e. late for a meeting), en désastre, au greffe, greffier (clerk to Court or the States), bâtonnier (lawyer in charge of Bar, particularly for legal aid), mandataire, autorisé (returning officer at elections, or other functions), projet (parliamentary bill), vraic, côtil, temps passé (time past), vin d'honneur (municipal or official reception), Centenier, Vingtenier, Chef de Police (senior Centenier), Ministre Desservant, branchage (pronounced in English as the Jèrriais cognate even though spelt in the French manner - trimming hedges and verges on property border; also used jocularly for a haircut), Seigneur (feudal lord of the manor).

References

	French language and French-speaking world portal
	United Kingdom portal

• A Glossary for the Historian of Jersey, Chris Aubin, 2000, ISBN 9780953885800