TWO BOOKS TO ENJOY

Roger Jones a bliodgi:

The author deals not only with all the familiar languages of Europe, but also to the plethora of minority tongues, including many which have been pushed to the edge of extinction, even including what he calls ‘Channel Island Norman’, which includes Jerriais, Guernesiaise and Serquiaise. Sixty brief and pithy chapters cover as many languages; at the end of each he offers a word which English has borrowed from that particular language and a word in that language referring to something for which there is no word in English, but might usefully be. For example, üssel’lie, which means the continual opening and closing of doors – lovely! English, of course, derives many words from Norman French. Vraic, the word commonly used in the CIs for seaweed, has surely entered English usage but spelt as wrack, though one dictionary I Googled attributes vraic to Aurignais, a variety of Channel Island Norman not mention by Dorren.