Alderney English is the variety of English spoken by some residents of Alderney. It is questionable whether this is a separate dialect: due to Alderney's small size and high rate of immigration and emigration, particularly to/from nearby Guernsey and the UK, a high proportion of the population speaks the English of their place of origin, while many people who have been educated in Guernsey in their youth have acquired a way of speaking that is close to Guernsey English. Thus Alderney English currently corresponds quite closely to standard English, with a tendency towards mild archaism due to the population demographic in which the over-50s are the largest group. Its distinguishing feature is a small but significant number of loan words from Guernésiais, Legal French and a very much smaller number of words that have come down from Auregnais. An examples of a word used in Alderney that appears neither in standard English nor in Guernsey English is "impôt". In addition there is an idiosyncratic pronunciation of certain local surnames, "Dupont" as and "Simon" as, rather than the standard Parisian pronunciation. Any remainder of the historic influence of Auregnais on Alderney English is very hard to discern, since Guernésiais and Auregnais differed only slightly.
Guernsey English
Guernsey English is the dialect of English spoken in Guernsey, distinguished by having considerable influence from Guernésiais, the variety of Norman indigenous to Guernsey. The dialect contains terms such as buncho for the English "somersault"; "it picks" instead of "it stings", from the Guernsey equivalent of the French "il pique"; "chirry" for "goodbye"; and "Budlo Night" instead of Bonfire Night on 5 November. Often Guernsey people will add the word "Eh" to the end of a sentence, inferring a general agreement that something is held to be true or correct. It can also be used in the context of asking a question or seeking reassurance that what was said is correct if it is believed to be a contentious issue.
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, en désastre, au greffe, greffier, bâtonnier, mandataire, autorisé, projet, vraic, côtil, temps passé, vin d'honneur, centenier, vingtenier, chef de police, branchage, seigneur.
Pronunciation
Vowels
Consonants
H-drops and intrusive H leading to sentences like: “My mother was very hill and I was the heldest, and I stayed to 'elp my mother.”
