Romano Lavo-Lil: Word Book of the Romany; or, English Gypsy Language

Borrow, George, 1803-1881Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.0

Word count: 274K words
Chapters: 28

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Romano Lavo-Lil: Word Book of the Romany; Or, English Gypsy Language by BorrowAuthor: Borrow, George, 1803-1881,Language: English, Class: DX: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: History of Romanies, Release Date: Jul 1, 2001

Editor's review

This book is George Borrow's compilation of words and expressions of the English Gypsy language (Romany), valuable both as linguistic material and as folk observation. Borrow had long contact with English Gypsy communities; the entries, example sentences and notes he collected let language researchers examine the local form of Romany in Britain, and let general readers glimpse the everyday speech and life of nineteenth-century Gypsies. As a Project Gutenberg public-domain ebook, it is easy to search and excerpt, making it suitable as introductory material for Romany studies or as corroborating evidence for the history of English vocabulary and folklore. Readers should note that it was compiled long ago: its spelling and transcription conventions bear the marks of their era, and some explanations reflect the perspective of observers of the time; it is best used alongside later scholarship. It is not a systematic textbook but rather a wordbook to dip into, suited to consultation on specific questions or as auxiliary reading for background on Gypsy culture.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Language enthusiasts interested in Romany and Gypsy culture
Scholars and students of the history of English vocabulary and minority languages
Readers collecting nineteenth-century British folklore and field records
Researchers needing public-domain English corpus material for textual analysis

Not a good fit for

Beginners hoping to systematically learn Romany grammar and speech
General readers expecting a complete ethnography or historical narrative
Readers who dislike reference-style wordbooks and prefer continuous stories

Reading tips

Read the preface and notes on conventions first to understand the entry arrangement and transcription rules before consulting.
Read entries by theme, such as kinship terms, occupations and everyday expressions.
Compare against authoritative Romany dictionaries or modern scholarship as you read, noting differences.
Excerpt example sentences onto cards as material for research on English dialect and folklore.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for learning Romany from scratch?

Not really. It is essentially a wordbook and record, not a step-by-step textbook, and lacks systematic grammar explanation and exercises. Absolute beginners can use it as supplementary material for getting a sense of the vocabulary, but for an introduction they should choose a modern textbook with a course structure and then return to this book to compare historical usage.

Is the language material in the book still accurate today?

Treat it with caution. The book dates from the nineteenth century, and its spelling, transcription and some definitions carry the limitations of their era and of the observers' perspective. It can reflect how English Gypsy speech was used at the time, but should not be taken directly as contemporary standard. Compare it with later scholarly dictionaries and research, and distinguish historical records from current usage.

Any practical tips for reading the electronic edition?

Public-domain ebooks are easy to search in full text; use keywords to locate entries and make bookmarks and excerpts. Since it is an original English-language work, use dictionary software for unfamiliar words. For research, record page or paragraph locations for citation, and preserve original spellings rather than normalizing them yourself.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Borrow, George, 1803-1881 Author

George Borrow (1803–1881) was an English writer known for his essays and autobiographical works about travel, language, and marginalized people. The collection holds 44 of his works, including the two-volume The Bible in Spain and Lavengro: The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest, as well as Wild Wales: The People, Language, & Scenery and a Spanish translation, La Biblia en España, Tomo I. His writing draws heavily on his own journeys and blends reportage with a legendary, vivid tone, often focusing on Gypsies, wanderers, and local languages and customs, with a lively and highly personal narrative style. Public information is limited, so biographical details such as his exact dates and nationality are not elaborated here.