Languages of The United Kingdom - Languages of The Channel Islands and Isle of Man

Languages of The Channel Islands and Isle of Man

The Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the UK, but are closely associated with it.

For the insular forms of English, see Manx English (Anglo-Manx), Guernsey English and Jersey English. Forms of French are, or have been, used as an official language in the Channel Islands, e.g. Jersey Legal French.

The indigenous languages of the Crown dependencies are recognised as regional languages by the British and Irish governments within the framework of the British-Irish Council.

  • Guernésiais (Guernsey - Norman, Oïl)
  • Jèrriais (Jersey - Norman, Oïl)
  • Manx (Isle of Man - Goidelic, Celtic)
The UK government has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages on behalf of the Manx government.

The Sercquiais (Sark) dialect is descended from Jèrriais, but is not recognised under this framework. Auregnais, the Norman dialect of Alderney, is now extinct.

Read more about this topic:  Languages Of The United Kingdom

Famous quotes containing the words languages, channel, islands, isle and/or man:

    The very natural tendency to use terms derived from traditional grammar like verb, noun, adjective, passive voice, in describing languages outside of Indo-European is fraught with grave possibilities of misunderstanding.
    Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1934)

    This is what the Church is said to want, not party men, but sensible, temperate, sober, well-judging persons, to guide it through the channel of no-meaning, between the Scylla and Charybdis of Aye and No.
    Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801–1890)

    Consider the islands bearing the names of all the saints, bristling with forts like chestnut-burs, or Echinidæ, yet the police will not let a couple of Irishmen have a private sparring- match on one of them, as it is a government monopoly; all the great seaports are in a boxing attitude, and you must sail prudently between two tiers of stony knuckles before you come to feel the warmth of their breasts.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    She carries in the dishes,
    And lays them in a row.
    To an isle in the water
    With her would I go.
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

    A pretty air in an opera is prettier there than it could be anywhere else, I suppose, just as an honest man in politics shines more than he would elsewhere.
    Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)