For once, a post about Jersey French (i.e. Jersey Legal French, Jersey’s official dialect of French, rather than Jèrriais, the Jersey language which is related to French).

Google has just opened up a public interface to its historic corpus tool: Ngram Viewer

It provides a rough answer to a question for which there has not up till now been a satisfactory response. The Channel Islands are les Îles de la Manche in French in the Channel Islands, but modern usage in France calls them les îles Anglo-Normandes in French (it’s slightly more complicated than that, as “Channel Islands” and “Îles de la Manche” can be taken to include Chausey, which is under French sovereignty, whereas “îles Anglo-Normandes” explicitly excludes Chausey). The historic and current French form has been borrowed into Jèrriais as Îles d’la Manche, even though the word for the Channel is Ch’na rather than Manche.

It’s been quite clear that Îles de la Manche predominates in 19th century French language texts both in insular and continental sources, but the question has been: when did the modern “îles Anglo-Normandes” become the dominant form in metropolitan French? A quick comparison in the French corpus via Ngram Viewer indicates that it starts to overtake the alternatives (both Îles de la Manche and the more literary Archipel Normand) in the early 1920s and predominates from the 1960s onwards.

Ngram Viewer produces some attractive graphs of comparisons. We post one here, showing the changes in comparative usage over time (the spike in usage of Îles de la Manche around 1883 reflects written accounts of diplomatic activity over French claims to the Écréhous).

Google a lanchi un ôti tchi compathe l’usage dé mots et d’phrâses avaû l’s années dans des livres scannés. Et achteu j’pouvons rêpondre à eune tchestchion entouor l’s Îles d’la Manche. Ch’est en tchi nou n’dit pon l’s Îles du Ch’na, mais l’nom d’l’archipel a ‘té emprunté du Français. Et en Français d’Jèrri nou fait acouo sèrvi l’s Îles de la Manche, mais en Français d’France nou dit îles Anglo-Normandes (bein seu, nou peut ardgui tch’est qu’i’ sont l’s Îles d’la Manche et si Chaûsé en est ieune – ou trais chents souaixante-chînq – ou pon).

Au dgiêx-neuvième siècl’ye nou-s’êcrivait pus à co Îles de la Manche dans l’s Îles et en France, mais dans tchique bordée les Français c’menchaient à faithe sèrvi l’expression îles Anglo-Normandes et chenna d’pis eune pause. Mais à tchi date qu’chutte expression d’vînt la donminnante en France? Auve un mio d’googliéthie, achteu j’pouvons dêmuchi du têmouongnage.