La Section de la langue Jèrriaise

Dé iun à dgix - From one to ten



There are lots of expressions using numbers in Jèrriais. Let's count up to ten, looking at some of these colourful terms.

If tout est neunmétho iun (all is number one) then everything is OK, but ch'est tout iun (it's all one) means it's all the same.

Deux (two) and trais (three) run together as deux'trais - sounding as though you're saying “dust-tray” in English - to mean some or a few. This is very common expression.

Iun d'ches quat' matîns (one of these four mornings) means one fine day.

Let's hope that iun d'ches quat' matîns nobody aims un mouoché à chîn cârres (a five-cornered handkerchief) at you, as this expression corresponds to the English phrase “a bunch of fives”!

If you're au six, quat' et deux (at six, four and two) that means you're all over the place, and if something has les sept goûts (the seven tastes) it tastes something horrible! On the subject of horrible things, I wonder if anyone would claim that Cyril Le Marquand House is one of les sept mèrvelles du monde? (the seven wonders of the world)

D'aniet en huit (from today in eight) means a week from today, just as Sanm'di en huit means a week on Saturday.

Moving up to nine, we learn that quand nou-s-a l'hitchet faut faithe neuf d'gouts (when one has hiccups one must take nine sips) and then we pass on to dgix (ten) where i' n'fait pon dgiex fais trop caud (it isn't ten times too warm) - in other words, it's pretty cold.

And that's our “top dgix” (top ten) number phrases for today!

 

 

Viyiz étout:

 

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