CAMẎRE / camomile

“camẏre“, s.f., pronounced [kɑ̃mɪ:ə̯r] 🔊, is the Sarkese generic name for “camomile”, both for “Roman camomile” or “English camomile” (Chamaemelum nobile) and the true camomile, known as “German camomile” or “wild camomile (Matricaria chamomilla), and their many subspecies that grow in Sark – if a plant does not have the typical camomile smell, it is included among “ménleu“, daisy-like weed, in Sarkese.

origin: Gallo-Romance / first recorded for Sarkese: 1930s? (JPC) / current status in the 21st century: preserved, in use

“camẏre” is a feminine uncountable invariable noun (a she-word that does not change and cannot be counted). When speaking of camomile in Sarkese we therefore prefer to use the so-called partitive, so “d’la camẏre”, not “une camẏre” or “dê camẏre”. The word has a regular pronunciation.

The Sarkese “camẏre” is directly related to the Jersey Norman “canmiéthe” and the Guernsey Norman “camière”, which all conserve the original Norman name for camomile, now generally lost in Mainland Norman to the French “camomille”.

(MN)

Citation: NEUDÖRFL, Martin. camẏre/camomile. In: Sark Norman Dictionary Online [on-line]. https://www.bonjhur.net/sndo-vocab-flora-camyre

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