xiv Language. BELGIUM.

The WALLOON language, which resembles a very corrupt dialect
of French, or rouchi francais as it is termed by the French, is
an early French (Romanic) patois, with Celtic and Teutonic ele-
ments, occurring occasionally in ancient documents and poem
and not entirely without its literature, but almost as i
tellicible to a Frenchman as to an Englishman or a
ardini describes it as ‘sermo commumniter Gallicus ;
quia Galliam inter atque Germaniam positi, corruptus valde et
perabsurdus’. The linguist who desires to form some acqua rintance
with the Walloon language is referred to two excellent works
published at Ligge in 1845: ‘Poésies en patois de Litge, g
@une dissertation grammaticale sur ce patois, et suivies Cun glossaire
par Simonon’, and the ‘Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue
Wallonne par Ch. Grandgagnage’, the latter unfortunately uncom-
pleted. Liege also possesses an excellent Société de Littérature
Wallonne, the object of which is to disseminate useful literature.
The following popular rhymes from the ‘Almanach par maitre
Matthieu Laensbergh’ will serve as a specimen of the language:

  

     

erman.

sed

 

       

   

 

 

 

JANUARY

Il gna pu Wbrotli ki @poussir. Ty a plus de brouillard que de pous-
siére.

FEBR UaRy ¥
Li ch6@ sop’ so on vi stoumak, | La chaude soupe sur un vieil estomac,
So wfreut pat, on bon spet cazak, Dans un pays froid une bonne épaisse

| casaque,

Ni ferit nin pu @bin ki Vsolo, | 4 Ne ferait pas plus de bien que le soleil,
St voléf” lair on po sor no. | Sil voulait luire un peu sur nous.

APRIL:

 

C@est Vustge dist-on @ sattrapé | Crest usage, dit-on, de s’attraper
Lonk et Vaut, li prumi @avri: Lun et Vautre le premier d’avril:
Si cnesteu ko qupo sdiverti, Si ce n’était que pour se divertir,
Quon koirah’ in’ got & sdupé! Qu’on cherchat un peu a se duper!

Mais Crest pu po rir’ qgwon Ssurprin, | Mais ce nest plus pour rire qu’on se
surprend,
De mon si on ce reie, ci nest kK de gros | Du moins si l’on enrit ce n’est que du

 

 

des din. gros des dents.
On siromp’, ons dispote al tournaie: On se trompe, on se dépouille tour
a tour:
Cest Vprumt @avri tov Vannaie! | C’estle prem. d’avril toute Pannée.

The Fnemisx language differs but slightly from the Dutch, both
being branches of the same family of Germanic languages. In the
middle ages they formed but one tongue, and even at the present
day the Flemish spoken language differs no more from the Dutch
than some German dialects do from each other, while the written
languages are almost identical, especially since about 1864, when
the Flemish writers ceased to use certain unimportant orthogra-
phical peculiarities that had previously distinguished the languages
Flemish, although a rich and expressive language, cannot be called
a highly-cultivated tongue, being spoken by the uneducated classes
only, and possessing but little original literature. Centuries of