Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?
Fliaghey
Va fliaghey ayn bunnys feie’n laa jea, myr shen cha jagh mee magh. Ayns ynnyd jeh ren mee beggan da obbyr, chloie mee ymmodee greieyn-kiaull as lhaih mee lioar – laa sampleyragh v’ayn.
It rained most of yesterday, so I didn’t go out. Instead I did a bit of work, played various musical instruments and read a book – a typical day.
La gueule enfarinée
I discovered an interesting French expression yesterday while ferreting around in the dictionary – la gueule enfarinée, which literally means ‘the floured mouth’, but actually refers to someone who is ‘wet behind the ears’, i.e. new, untrained, inexperienced, immature, innocent, callow or naive (synonyms from The Chambers Thesaurus).
The word gueule usually refers to the mouth of an animal, and is also a slang word for the human mouth, which is normally bouche. Equivalent words in English include gob, mug, snout, cakehole, kisser, trap, etc – do you have any others? It comes from the Old French gole, from the Latin gula (gullet, throat, gluttony, palate), which is also the root of the English word gullet.
Why having a floury mouth is a sign of being inexperienced is a mystery to me. Does anyone know the origins of this expression?
Les mots de la semaine
| français | English | Cymraeg | Brezhoneg |
|---|---|---|---|
| le campus; le cité universitaire | campus | campws | kampus |
| les vents | wind (flatulence) | gwynt | avel |
| le casse-croûte | snack | byrbryd; tamaid | torr-naon; adlein |
| casser la croûte / la graine | to have a bite/something to eat | cael tamaid | debriñ ur begad |
| grignoter | to snack | cael tamaid; cael pryd ysgafn | krignat |
| l’amuse-gueule (m) | appetizer; nibble | mymryn; briwsionyn | lipaj |
| le moucheron | midge | gwybedyn mân | c’hwibu |
| gardien(ne); concierge | caretaker | gofalwr | gourner; porzhier |
| la dialyse | dialysis | dialysis | dializ |
| la gravité; le pesanteur | gravity | disgyrchiant | graviter |
| en propriété libre | freehold | rhydd-ddaliadol; rhyddfreiniol | |
| loué/donné à bail | leasehold | prydles | |
| la douve | moat | ffos | douvez; tuv |
| le cambriolage | burglary | lladrad | laerezh en tiez |
| pratique | handy (object) | hwylus; hylaw | boazmant; pleustr |
Seshoon kiaullee
Dobbree mee er m’ynnyd-eggey moghrey jea, as va sheshoon kiaullee mie ayns my hie fastyr jea. Chloie shin mastey cliaghtagh jeh carryn voish Nalbin, Nerin, yn Roosh as America.
I wokred on my website yesterday morning, there was a good music session in my place yesterday afternoon. We played the usual mixture of tunes from Scotland, Ireland, Russian and America
Docent
I came across an unfamiliar word today in a book I’m reading – docent. From the context I guessed it referred to someone who leads guided tours, but according to my English dictionary it means ‘(in the U.S.) a lecturer in some colleges and universities’, and it comes from the German word Dozent (associate professor, tutor, academic, lecturer), from the Latin docēns, from docēre (to teach).
According to Wikipedia, ‘Docent is a title at some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks below professor (i.e. professor ordinarius). Docent is also used at some universities generically for a person who has the right to teach.’ It is used as an academic title in universities in a number of European countries.
There are also museum docents, who guide and educate visitors to museums and other institutions, usually voluntarily.
Have you come across the word docent before? What are such people called, if they exist, in your country?
In the UK they are known as guides.
Ooylyn as smeir
Tra va mee ersooyl yn çhiaghtyn shoh chaie huitt cooid vooar ooylyn neose voish y billey ooyl ayns my gharrey. Jea Ren mee cooidjaghey ny troaryn lhieggit shoh fy yerrey, as ren mee cooidhaghey smeir chammah, as ren mee broit ad ry-cheilley lesh beggan dy vill. Ta mee gee y mestey-vestey ard-vlastal shoh ry dagh lhonghey. S’mie lhiam dy feer yn imbagh shoh jeh’n vlein er yn oyr dy vel ram mess seyr ry-gheddyn.
While I was away quite a few apples from the apple tree in my garden fell down. Yesterday I finally gathered up these windfalls, and also picked some blackberries, and I stewed them together with a little honey. I’m eating this delicious concoction with every meal. I really like this time of year because there is so much free fruit about.
Er ash ayns Bangor
Haink mee er ash dys Bangor er y traen jea. Jimmee yn trean ayns Warrington voym er yn oyr dy daink y trean voish Lancaster dy anmagh, myr va mee ayns Bangor oor dy anmagh. Dy fortanagh va bee as red ri lhaih aym. Cha daink peiagh erbee agh mysh dys y possan coloayrtys yl-çhengagh riyr, agh ren mee beggan lheiltyssyn er y chooid sloo goll dys y thie oast Greagagh.
I came back to Bangor on the train today. I missed my connection in Warrington becuase the train from Lancaster was delayed, so I was in Bangor an hour late. Fortunately I had food and something to read. Nobody else turned up to the polyglot conversation group last night, but at least I got some exercise going to the Greek taverna.
Back in Bangor
I’m now back in Bangor after a very enjoyable and interesting week at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. We learnt 15 songs during the week, so the course wasn’t as intensive as the one I did last year when we learnt twice as many songs, and we learnt about the background of the songs, and even saw some of the places about which they were written, or which are mentioned in them.
There wasn’t much Gaelic spoken in the class, which was mainly in English, but I spoke Gaelic with various other people and feel more confident about speaking it now. As well as Gaelic, I also got to speak some Japanese, French, German, Irish and Manx, which was fun. When I’m speaking Scottish Gaelic and I can’t think of words I often use Irish ones, which are usually very similar as the two languages are very close. I even had one conversation in a mixture of Irish and Scottish Gaelic with an Irish man who speaks both, which was a little confusing.
Silverdale
Cheau mee jea ayns thie my voir karraghey reddyn as jannoo beggan obbyr er m’ynnyd-eggey. Cha dod mee buinn y faaie er yn oyr nagh dod mee doostey y buinneyder faaie, dy meeaighar. ‘Syn ‘astyr ren shin jeeghyn y çhellveeish.
I spent yesterday at my mum’s fixing a few things and doing a bit of work on my website. I couldn’t mow the lawn because I couldn’t get the mower to start, unfortunately. In the evening we watched telly.