GLS C/1/1 - Letters from Bernard Gilliat Smith. - Dec 1907-Aug 1930
Letters in Romany and English. Includes notes on many aspects of Eastern European Romany vocabulary/etymology. Gilliat-Smith discusses the lifestyle and language of the various Gypsy groups he has come across in Bulgaria and the Balkans e.g. the Drindari.
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| Physical Description: | 66 items; 98 pieces |
| Summary: | Letters in Romany and English. Includes notes on many aspects of Eastern European Romany vocabulary/etymology. Gilliat-Smith discusses the lifestyle and language of the various Gypsy groups he has come across in Bulgaria and the Balkans e.g. the Drindari. |
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| Date: | Dec 1907-Aug 1930 |
| Reference Number: | GLS C/1/1 |
| Biographical/Administrative Information: | Bernard Joseph Leo Gilliat Smith (1883-1973) was born in Sevenoaks but moved, with his family, to Bruges at the age of six. He was educated at Cambridge University where he was an advanced student of Gonville and Caius. In 1909 he joined the Levant Consular Service and spent time in various Eastern European and Middle Eastern countries. He had a mastery of languages and was a keen etymologist and philologist. In 1931 he became a member of the advisory Editiorial Board of the JGLS to which he contributed many items between 1902 and 1967. No dialect was too abstruse for him, and his philological notes and reviews and editing of tales kept the Journal on the high linguistic plane which was one of its main strengths. |