121-888: Alderney Society Museum is the only museum in Alderney in the Channel Islands . Located in the Old School House on the High Street in central St Anne , the museum is run and funded by the Alderney Society as one of its many projects. The museum is made up of five gallery spaces: the Main Gallery, the Issue Room of 1946, The Natural History Room, The Maritime Gallery and the upstairs Temporary Exhibition Gallery. The museum exhibits fully trace
242-467: A Crusader castle with its squat round towers. Like many of the forts, it included such apparently anachronistic features as a drawbridge and machicolation , which were still common in military architecture of the period. In June 1940, almost the entire population of Alderney of 1,400 was evacuated to Britain. Most went on the official evacuation boats sent from mainland Britain. Some, however, decided to make their own way, mostly via Guernsey, but due to
363-883: A Chairman (the Judge of Alderney ) and at least three of the six Jurats . Appeals are made to the Royal Court of Guernsey , which also exercises some original jurisdiction in criminal matters in Alderney, and thence to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council . For a number of taxation purposes, Alderney is treated as if it were part of Guernsey . Income Tax is administered by the Guernsey Revenue Service but there are some differences between Alderney and Guernsey Income Tax, specifically in
484-744: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
605-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
726-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
847-606: A fort, built in the late 300s, at 49°43′09″N 2°10′36″W / 49.71917°N 2.17667°W / 49.71917; -2.17667 above the island's only natural harbour. The etymology of the island's name is obscure. It is known in Latin as Riduna but, as with the names of all the Channel Islands in the Roman period, there is a degree of confusion. Riduna may be the original name of Tatihou , while Alderney
968-463: A hereditary line of governors that lasted until 1825. Henry Le Mesurier prospered through privateering , and moved the harbour from Longis to Braye, building a jetty there in 1736. Warehouses and dwellings were built at Braye, and the export of cattle generated wealth for the economy. The Court House was built in 1770 and a school in 1790. A Methodist chapel was constructed in 1790, following John Wesley 's visit in 1787. An optical telegraph tower
1089-705: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
1210-401: A possible enemy, with whom we may at some period have to deal and who may possibly be able to extract some profit in the way of shelter and accommodation from the ruins." An influx of English and Irish labourers, plus the sizeable British garrison stationed in the island, led to rapid Anglicisation. The harbour was never completed – the remaining breakwater (designed by James Walker ) is one of
1331-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
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#17327650035421452-683: A result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including the United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ,
1573-633: A small handful of shops, is now almost entirely residential, forming a T-junction with Victoria Street at its highest point. The town area features an imposing church and an unevenly cobbled main street: Victoria Street ( Rue Grosnez , the English name being adopted on the visit of Queen Victoria in 1854). There is one school (providing both primary and secondary education), a post office, and hotels, as well as restaurants, banks and shops. Other settlements include Braye , Crabby, Longis , Mannez, La Banque, and Newtown. Alderney shares its prehistory with
1694-547: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
1815-457: A working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As
1936-610: Is 3 miles (5 km) long and 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (2.4 km) wide. The island's area is 3 square miles (8 km ), making it the third-largest island of the Channel Islands, and the second largest in the Bailiwick. It is around 10 miles (16 km) to the west of the Cap de la Hague on the Cotentin Peninsula , Normandy , in France, 20 miles (32 km) to the northeast of Guernsey and 60 miles (100 km) from
2057-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
2178-472: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
2299-489: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
2420-489: Is conjectured to be identified with Sarnia . Alderney / Aurigny is variously supposed to be a Germanic or Celtic name. It may be a corruption of Adreni or Alrene , which is probably derived from an Old Norse word meaning "island near the coast". Alternatively, it may derive from three Norse elements: alda (swelling wave, roller), renna (strong current, race) and öy or -ey (island). Alderney may be mentioned in Paul
2541-652: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
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#17327650035422662-563: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
2783-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
2904-469: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
3025-488: Is on the central plateau of the island at 296 feet (90 metres). Alderney and its surrounding islets support a rich flora and fauna. Trees are rather scarce, as many were cut down in the 17th century to fuel the lighthouses on Alderney and the Casquets . Those trees that remain include cabbage trees (due to the mild climate – often miscalled "palms" but of the asparagus family ), and there are some small woods dotted about
3146-828: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
3267-639: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
3388-561: Is temperate, moderated by the sea, and summers are usually warmer than elsewhere in the British Isles . Under the Köppen climate classification , Alderney has an oceanic climate , similar to a Warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb). Alderney has cool, wet winters and mild summers with moderate rainfall. February is the coldest month with an average high of 8 °C (47 °F), and a low of 4 °C (40 °F). July and August are
3509-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
3630-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
3751-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
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3872-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
3993-508: The Alderney . The pure breed became extinct in 1944, but hybrids remain elsewhere, though no longer on Alderney. In August 2005, the west coast of Alderney and associated islands, including Burhou and Ortac , were designated as Ramsar wetlands of international importance . The Alderney Wildlife Trust helps to manage the two nature reserves , at Longis and Vau du Saou. The island is surrounded by rocks, which have caused hundreds of wrecks. There are treacherous tidal streams on either side of
4114-700: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
4235-609: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
4356-517: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only a second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and
4477-533: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
4598-559: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
4719-877: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
4840-593: The Norman language called Auregnais , now extinct. It was primarily a spoken language, with only a few known poems and written works using it. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of
4961-626: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
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5082-631: The Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by
5203-775: The World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
5324-521: The liberation of Normandy in 1944. Intense negotiations resulted in some Red Cross humanitarian aid, but there was considerable hunger and privation during the five years of German occupation, particularly in the final months when the Germans themselves were close to starvation. The Germans surrendered Alderney on 16 May 1945, eight days after the Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of
5445-689: The provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco; the Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to
5566-470: The tourism and finance industries. E-commerce has become increasingly important, and the island hosts the domain name registry for both Bailiwicks and dozens of gambling website operators. Alderney has a full regulatory authority in operation. The States of Alderney (French: États d'Aurigny) is the legislature of the island; it sends two representatives to the States of Guernsey as well. The origin of
5687-427: The ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in
5808-506: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
5929-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
6050-412: The Alderney Breakwater group of documents. Holdings are as diverse as 1940 census papers, cinerary urns , dulcie cups, and curry powder bottles. There are also church and government documents, as well as land and cemetery registers. Materials that document Alderney customs, folk life, genealogy, geology, and the island's natural history are part of the holdings. One of the larger collections pertains to
6171-403: The Alderney Elizabethan Shipwreck, such as cannonballs, breastplate, helmet, and tobacco pipes, to the Guernsey Museums & Galleries in Saint Peter Port , Guernsey . The museum is housed in the Old School House, next to the old church of St. Anne which is not in use. It adjoins the oldest island cemetery where the old clock tower can be seen at the museum entrance. A plaque on the wall above
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#17327650035426292-436: The Bailiffs of Guernsey and Jersey , and continued until 1949. During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms , Alderney was held by a Parliamentary garrison under Nicholas Ling , Lieutenant-Governor. Ling built Government House (now the Island Hall). The de Carterets of Jersey acquired the governorship , later passing it to Sir Edmund Andros of Guernsey, from whom the Guernsey family of Le Mesurier inherited it, thus establishing
6413-483: The Bastard, Duke of Normandy (later William the Conqueror , King of the English) granted Alderney to the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel . In 1057, the bishop of Coutances took back control of the island. After 1204, when mainland Normandy was incorporated into the kingdom of France, Alderney remained loyal to the English monarch in his dignity of Duke of Normandy . Henry VIII of England undertook fortification works, but these ceased in 1554. Essex Castle perpetuates
6534-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
6655-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
6776-467: The Crown in 1825, and since then authority has been exercised by the States of Alderney , as amended by the constitutional settlement of 1948. The British Government decided to undertake massive fortifications in the 19th century and to create a strategic harbour to deter attacks from France. These fortifications were presciently described by William Ewart Gladstone as "a monument of human folly, useless to us ... but perhaps not absolutely useless to
6897-423: The Deacon 's Historia Langobardorum (I.6) as 'Evodia' in which he discussed a certain dangerous whirlpool. The name 'Evodia' may in turn originate from the seven 'Haemodae' of uncertain identification in Pliny the Elder 's Natural History (IV 16 (30) or Pomponius Mela 's Chronographia (III 6,54). Along with the other Channel Islands, Alderney was annexed by the Duchy of Normandy in 933. In 1042, William
7018-428: The Elizabethan Wreck, many artefacts from this important discovery are on display in Gallery 2. Alderney in the Bailiwick of Guernsey (red) Alderney ( / ˈ ɔː l d ər n i / AWL -dər-nee ; French : Aurigny [oʁiɲi] ; Auregnais : Aoeur'gny ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands . It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey , a British Crown dependency . It
7139-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
7260-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
7381-410: The Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as
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#17327650035427502-401: The Nazi camps on Alderney. The report highlighted the atrocious conditions faced by forced labourers, who endured starvation, dangerously long hours, hazardous construction tasks, frequent abuse, torture, inadequate housing, and, in some cases, execution. A series of tunnels also remain in place on Alderney, constructed by forced labour. These are in varying degrees of decay, being left open to
7623-464: The Norderney camp on Alderney, Adam Adler and Heinrich Evers, were prosecuted in France in 1949. Members of the Association des Anciens Déportés d'Aurigny considered the sentences overly lenient. A 1945 British military report, known as the Pantcheff Report, documented that eight French nationals had perished in the Alderney camps. In May 2024, an investigative commission led by Lord Pickles concluded that between 641 and 1,027 individuals likely died in
7744-402: The OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as a second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
7865-434: The States is unknown, but it has operated from the Middle Ages . The States of Alderney consists of the President , directly elected every four years, and ten States Members , half elected every two years for a four-year mandate. The whole island is a single constituency . William Tate was elected president in June 2019. While Alderney enjoys full autonomy in law (except in matters of foreign affairs and defence, like
7986-422: The United Kingdom Home Office setting up an enquiry that led to the "Government of Alderney Law 1948", which came into force on 1 January 1949. The law organised the construction and election of the States of Alderney and the justice system; and, for the first time in Alderney, the imposition of taxes. The legislature and judiciary were separated. The position of Judge, who had headed the island's government since
8107-428: The armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II in Europe , and seven days after the liberation of Guernsey and Jersey. 2,332 German prisoners of war were removed from Alderney on 20 May 1945, leaving 500 Germans to undertake clearing up operations under British military supervision. The people of Alderney could not start returning until December 1945 due to the huge cleanup operation needed simply to make
8228-425: The control of Hauptsturmführer Maximilian List . There are 397 graves in Alderney, which when added to the men who died in ships, takes the total to over 700 out of a total inmate population of 6,000 who died before the camps were closed and the remaining inmates transferred to France in 1944. On the return to their island, Alderney evacuees had little or no knowledge of the crimes committed on their island during
8349-404: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
8470-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
8591-489: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
8712-546: The entrance states in French that the public school was built and founded by Jean Le Mesurier , governor of the island in 1790. Outside the museum is an old yellow telephone box and post box. The museum is administered by the Alderney Society who established the museum in 1966 with the purpose of creating "an organisation dedicated to the historical, environmental and scientific promotion of the Island of Alderney". It
8833-516: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
8954-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
9075-588: The forts have been converted into apartments; two are now private homes; and one, Fort Clonque , at the end of a causeway that can be flooded at high tide, belongs to the Landmark Trust and can be rented for holidays. Scenes from the film Seagulls Over Sorrento were shot at Fort Clonque in 1953. Some of the forts are now in varying stages of dereliction, the most ruined being Les Hommeaux Florains, perched on outlying rocks, its access causeway and bridge having been swept away long ago. Houmet Herbé resembles
9196-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
9317-469: The history of the island from the Stone Age through to modern day. The museum acts as an object store, an island archive and a public access museum and the collection is therefore broad. Included in the museum collection are rare island maps, plans and charts, lists of British Regiments stationed in Alderney since 1732, old court records, the 1940 Census of Alderney, and many rare artefacts. Exhibitions in
9438-476: The history, archaeology and natural history of Alderney. The museum displays exhibit items of social history, military history, the evacuation of the island in 1940 and the subsequent occupation by German troops . Some of the most notable items include plans and drawings of the construction of the Alderney Breakwater , built between 1847 and 1864. The 1852 George S. Reynolds' lithograph is part of
9559-536: The impending occupation many found themselves unable to leave and were forced to stay on Guernsey for the duration of the war. Eighteen Alderney people elected not to leave with the general evacuation. However, boats from Guernsey came and collected some of them before the German Army arrived, on the basis that it was best for their personal safety. During the Second World War , the Channel Islands were
9680-482: The island safe for civilians. When the islanders returned home they were shocked to see the state of the island, with many houses completely derelict: the Germans had burned anything wooden, including front doors, for fuel. Archival and object evidence of the general evacuation in 1940 and the subsequent occupation of Alderney can be found in the Alderney Society Museum . Two former SS officials from
9801-488: The island's landmarks, and is longer than any breakwater in the UK. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited Alderney on 9 August 1854. The Albert Memorial and the renaming of Rue Grosnez to Victoria Street commemorate this visit. At the same time as the breakwater was being built in the 1850s, the island was fortified by a string of 13 forts, designed to protect the harbour of refuge. The accommodation quarters of several of
9922-671: The island). In return for providing the transferred services Guernsey levies various taxes and duties on Alderney. Immigration is the responsibility of the UK (UK law applies), with day-to-day operations carried out by the Guernsey Border Agency . In addition to the transferred services, both the UK and Guernsey may legislate on other matters with the consent of the States of Alderney. The Court of Alderney exercises unlimited original jurisdiction in civil matters and limited jurisdiction in criminal matters. The Court sits with
10043-449: The island. Puffins on Burhou and gannet on Les Étacs (popularly called Gannet Rock) just off Alderney are a favourite of many visitors to the island. About a quarter of Alderney hedgehogs are of the "white" or "blonde" variety, which does not carry fleas. These are not albinos, but descent of rarely met blonde European hedgehogs , with a blonde pair released on the island in the 1960s. The island had its own breed of cattle, called
10164-555: The island. Formally, they are known as Ridunians , from the Latin Riduna . The only parish of Alderney is the parish of St Anne, which covers the whole island. The main town, Saint Anne , historically known as La Ville ('The Town'), is often referred to as St Anne's by visitors and incomers, but rarely by locals (who, in normal conversation, still most frequently refer to the area centred on Victoria Street simply as Town ). The town's "High Street", which formerly had
10285-588: The island: the Swinge between Alderney and Burhou, just outside the harbour, and Le Raz between the island and the Normandy mainland. The Corbet Rock lies in the Swinge. The geology of Alderney is mostly granites from the Precambrian period. The language of the island is now English with a few minor variants, comprising a form of Channel Island English . For centuries the island had its own dialect of
10406-519: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
10527-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
10648-612: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
10769-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
10890-696: The main police station was used by the Nazis as a prison. The camps were built by the Nazi Organisation Todt (OT) to house the labour used to build fortifications including bunkers , gun emplacements, tunnels, air-raid shelters and other concrete and field fortifications. Lager Norderney, containing Russian and Polish POWs , and the Lager Sylt camp holding Jewish slave labourers , were transferred to SS administration in March 1943 under
11011-544: The matter of the cap on Income Tax (which is set lower in Alderney than in Guernsey). From 2016, Alderney took back control of Tax on Real Property (TRP). From 2021, Alderney is responsible for setting the rate and collecting the Taxation on Real Property (TRP), with Occupier's Rates (OR) now included within that bill. Alderney now also receives Motor Fuel Excise Duty and Document Duty on property conveyances. Its climate
11132-585: The museum are varied with recent temporary exhibition including Andy Goldsworthy 's Alderney Stones Project, the 1850 sketches of Sophia Guille and plans from the National Archives Kew of the Victorian fortifications in Alderney. The Alderney Society Museum also collaborates with other museums in loaning exhibits. One recent example included the June 2009 through December 2009 loan of pieces from
11253-736: The name of the Earl of Essex , who purchased the governorship of Alderney in 1591. Prior to the Earl's execution for treason in 1601, he leased the island to William Chamberlain, and Alderney remained in the hands of the Chamberlain family until 1643. From 1612, a Judge was appointed to assist the Governor's administration of Alderney, along with the Jurats . The function of the Judge was similar to that of
11374-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
11495-532: The new museum premises for the formal opening held in 1970. In 1993, the museum was officially fully registered with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and in 1999 the museum was a recipient of the Museums and Galleries' Gulbenkian Award for "most outstanding achievement" presented by Prince Charles . Today the museum has achieved full accreditation by the MLA. The museum has over 18,000 holdings related to
11616-426: The occupation, because by December 1945, the first date civilians could return home, all the slave labourers had been sent away and the majority of the German troops left behind were not senior staff. Evidence, however, was all over the island, with concrete fortifications and graveyards for the prisoners kept there during the occupation. The Royal Navy blockaded the islands from time to time, particularly following
11737-629: The only part of the British Isles that was occupied by Germany , although other parts of the Empire were occupied by the Axis powers . The Germans arrived to a nearly deserted island, and began to follow their orders to fortify Alderney as part of Hitler's Atlantic Wall . In January 1942, they built four camps in Alderney: two work camps, Lager Helgoland and Lager Borkum , and two concentration camps, Lager Sylt and Lager Norderney . The jail behind
11858-607: The other Channel Islands and the Isle of Man), under the provisions of a formal agreement (known as "the 1948 Agreement") entered into between the Governments of Alderney and of Guernsey, certain matters have been delegated to Guernsey. These are known as 'the transferred services'. Transferred services include policing, customs and excise, airport operations, health, education, social services, childcare and adoption. (The States of Alderney retains policy control of aviation to and from
11979-823: The other islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey ; it became an island in the Neolithic period as the waters of the English Channel rose. Formerly rich in dolmens , like the other Channel Islands, Alderney with its heritage of megaliths has suffered through the large-scale military constructions of the 19th century and also by the Germans during the World War II occupation, who left the remains at Les Pourciaux unrecognisable as dolmens. A cist survives near Fort Tourgis , and Longis Common has remains of an Iron Age site. There are traces of Roman occupation including
12100-534: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
12221-471: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
12342-503: The public and the elements. For two years after the end of the war, Alderney was operated as a communal farm. Craftsmen were paid by their employers, while others were paid by the local government out of the profit from the sales of farm produce. Remaining profits were put aside to repay the British Government for repairing and rebuilding the island. The local people resented being unable to control their own land; this led to
12463-465: The resignation of the last Governor in 1825, was abolished, and the Jurats were removed from their legislative function. Because of the island's small population, it was believed that the island could not be self-sufficient in running the airport and the harbour , or providing services that would match those of the UK. Taxes were therefore collected into the general Bailiwick of Guernsey revenue funds at
12584-471: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
12705-505: The same rate as in Guernsey, and administered by the States of Guernsey . Guernsey became responsible for providing many government functions and services. The 20th century saw much change in Alderney, from the building of the airport in the late 1930s to the death of the last speakers of the island's Auregnais language, a dialect of the Norman language . The economy has gone from depending largely on agriculture to earning money from
12826-449: The south coast of Great Britain. It is the closest of the Channel Islands both to France and to the United Kingdom. It is separated from the Cap de la Hague by the dangerous Alderney Race ( French : Raz Blanchard ). As of March 2021, the island had a population of 2,141; natives are traditionally nicknamed vaques after the cows , or else lapins after the many rabbits seen in
12947-414: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
13068-679: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
13189-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
13310-485: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
13431-459: The warmest months, with an average high of 19 °C (66 °F), and a low of 13 to 14 °C (around 56 °F). October is the wettest month with 107.2 mm (4.22 in) of rain, and April is the driest month with 42.4 mm (1.67 in). Snow is very rare. Average annual sunshine hours are around 1780. Alderney is similar to the other Channel Islands in having sheer cliffs broken by stretches of sandy beach and dunes. The highest point
13552-536: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
13673-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
13794-503: The world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share the official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in
13915-512: Was constructed above La Foulère in 1811, enabling signals to be relayed visually to Le Mât in Sark and on to Guernsey – early warning of attack during the Napoleonic Wars was of strategic importance. With the end of those wars privateering was ended and smuggling suppressed, leading to economic difficulties. The last of the hereditary Governors, John Le Mesurier , resigned his patent to
14036-819: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
14157-460: Was first opened in the basement of the Island Hall, however this location proved unsuitable for the type and quantity of objects and papers donated to the museum, the States of Alderney offered the use of the old St. Anne's Public School building for what is termed as a " peppercorn rent ", since there was dearth of funds to meet expenses for running a museum. Volunteers pitched in to refurbish
14278-400: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
14399-652: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
14520-542: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
14641-570: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
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