Calls for Jèrriais on Jersey street signs

There are calls to put Jèrriais on Jersey street signs to familiarise people with the native language and foster a sense of island pride.

Carl Parslow, partner at Parslow's law firm, said he wanted politicians to adopt the Welsh model where public signage must be in both English and Welsh, and place Jèrriais alongside English.

In 2019, the States Assembly agreed that Jèrriais should be incorporated into official States signs. However, the language is absent on the new government building.

A government spokesperson said a new Jèrriais strategy was being developed and signage at the Union Street building would be updated.

While Jèrriais was the mother-tongue for most people born in Jersey as late as the 1930s, its decline was dramatically accelerated by the German Occupation during World War Two and now its estimated that about 200 people speak it.

Parslow said the aim of his idea was not to make everyone speak it again, but to get more people familiar with words from the island's historic language.

"Languages survive through visibility. Most people in Wales are not fluent Welsh speakers, but they encounter the language every day," he said.

"Seeing it regularly gives it relevance and helps ensure its survival."

Prof Martin Shipman, associate editor for Welsh news service Nation.Cymru, said it had been a success.

"It familiarises and normalises the language so people accept it. Surveys have shown that most people appreciate hearing Welsh even if they don't understand it," he said.

Shipman said it had also had a cultural impact and "helped people regain and sense of their own identity".

Tama Coxshall, a 19-year-old Jèrriais content creator, sad he thought displaying the language would develop the island's national pride.

He said: "Jersey people will so frequently relate to the UK and have that as our cultural reference when Jersey is just as important.

"Having billingual signs and Jèrriais in products in shops... gives people licence to feel they can be proud of being from Jersey."

The influencer said he would also like to see the government place the language on States signs, as was agreed in 2019, with the "government committing to the policy and the promises it's made to the Jersey people, which is all of us".

A government spokesperson said: "Signage at the government building on Union Street is currently being updated as part of wider improvements reflecting our commitment to promoting Jèrriais as an important part of Jersey's cultural identity.

"A new Jèrriais strategy is being developed to improve its visibility in areas such as signage, and a Jerriais Advisory Group is being re-established later this year."

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