Auregnais facts for kids

Auregnais (French pronunciation: [ɔʁɲɛ]), also called Aoeur'gnaeux or Aurignais, was a special way of speaking Norman. It was used on the small Channel Island of Alderney. People in Alderney called their island aoeur'gny or auregny.

Auregnais was like a cousin to other Norman dialects spoken on nearby islands. These included Guernésiais from Guernsey, Jèrriais from Jersey, and Sercquiais from Sark. It was also related to the Norman language spoken on the European mainland. Sadly, this unique dialect disappeared in the 20th century. Today, we only have a few examples of Auregnais left. Most of these are in place names around Alderney. There is also one known audio recording of the language.

Why Auregnais Disappeared

Last Speakers and Recordings

The last person who spoke Auregnais as their first language passed away around 1960. A language expert named Frank Le Maistre made the only known audio recordings of Auregnais. He published these recordings in 1982. It is thought that the very last people who could remember hearing or speaking Auregnais might have died in the early 2020s.

Changes in Population

One big reason Auregnais died out was because people moved around a lot. During the time of Queen Victoria, many workers came from the United Kingdom to Alderney. They helped build a large harbor and other forts. A lot of British soldiers were also stationed on the island. This made Auregnais less important for daily communication.

Another major event was World War II. Almost all the people who originally lived in Alderney had to leave. They were evacuated to mainland Britain. The island was then taken over by the Wehrmacht (German army). This evacuation is believed to be a huge reason why the spoken language was finally lost.

Lack of Support for the Language

The government also didn't do much to help the language. Auregnais was not taught in schools at all. This meant that children stopped speaking it among themselves. A newspaper from Guernsey, Le Bailliage, noted this in 1880. Teachers even discouraged children from using Auregnais. They preferred that students speak standard French instead.

Over time, the use of French also declined on the island. French stopped being an official language in Alderney in 1966. The official French used in the Channel Islands was a bit different from the French spoken in France. It was very different from the local Norman dialects like Auregnais.

Where Auregnais Still Exists

Local Names and Words

Even though Auregnais is no longer spoken, you can still find parts of it. Many local placenames on Alderney have traces of the language. Some of these names have been changed to sound more French. But important examples include Ortac (which was originally Or'tac) and Burhou. The word -hou in Burhou is a Norman ending. The first part of "Braye Harbour" also comes from Auregnais.

A few Auregnais words are still used in the local English spoken on Alderney. For example, the word vraic means seaweed fertiliser. This word is common across all the Channel Islands. Also, some local surnames are pronounced differently because of the old language. For instance, Dupont and Simon are said as [dipõ] and [symõ] instead of the usual French way.

Auregnais Speakers on Les Casquets

An Unusual Community

It's quite unusual for such a small dialect, but Auregnais once had a group of speakers living far away. This "colony" was on Les Casquets, a group of small rocky islands. The famous poet Algernon Charles Swinburne wrote a poem called "Les Casquets." It was based on the Houguez family, who actually lived on these islands for 18 years.

The Houguez family came from Alderney. It seems very likely that they spoke Auregnais. In fact, the daughter married a man from Alderney. While living on Les Casquets, they were very isolated. They would have had few visitors. This means they probably spoke Auregnais most of the time.

See also

In Spanish: Auregnais para niños