Guernsey States backs funding for Guernesiais

The States has backed plans to invest £300,000 to help preserve Guernsey's native language.Education Committee President Deputy Matt Fallaize said that while Guernesiais has been a unique feature of the island’s identity for centuries, the language faces possible extinction 'in the next few years.'

To help reverse its decline, an £100,000 a year grant will be given over the next three years (2021-23) to fund a reformed Guernsey Language Commission to help teach, research and archive Guernesiais. 

Guernesiais was a common tongue among islanders from the Norman conquest through to the 1800s. The language is completely unique to the island. Politicians also supported proposals to have both Guernesiais and French recognised internationally as official languages of Guernsey alongside English.