Carmen: 40 words to know before you read it
The 40 words Prosper Mérimée uses again and again in Carmen that are outside the 4,000 most common in English. Learn them first and the opening chapters read much more easily. Each comes with its pronunciation and a sentence from the book.
gipsy75× in the book
You must see I’m a gipsy!
cigar/sɪˈɡɑɹ/14× in the book
At the same time I pulled out my cigar-case.
blunderbuss13× in the book
In the other he held a brass blunderbuss.
mantilla/mænˈtɪɫə/11× in the book
When she drew near me, the woman let the mantilla which had covered her head drop on her shoulders, and “by the dim light falling from the stars” I perceived her to be young …
recognise/ˈɹɛkəɡˌnaɪz/9× in the book
I sat upright, and then I thought I recognised Antonio.
bull/ˈbʊɫ/9× in the book
“While I was hiding at Granada there were bull-fights there, to which Carmen went.
brigand8× in the book
I had no doubt at all I was in the company of a smuggler, and possibly of a brigand.
morrow/ˈmɑɹoʊ/8× in the book
So he’s to be garrotted the day after to-morrow, without fail.* So you see one theft more or less won’t affect his position.
dialect/ˈdaɪəˌɫɛkt/8× in the book
In every Romany dialect a number of Greek words appear.
smuggler/ˈsməɡəɫɝ/8× in the book
The masons were working at it in the daytime, and at night a sentinel was posted on it, to prevent smugglers from getting in.
comrade/ˈkɑmˌɹæd/8× in the book
Like him, perchance, my comrade was musing over the home he had forfeited, the exile he had earned, by some misdeed.
inquire/ˌɪnˈkwaɪɹ/8× in the book
So I bestowed a friendly nod on the man with the blunderbuss, and inquired, with a smile, whether I had disturbed his nap.
fancy/ˈfænsi/8× in the book
In the stable, I fancy.
devil/ˈdɛvəɫ/8× in the book
To-day I’ll go and eat ices with a servant of the devil.
gitana/dʒiˈtænə/7× in the book
I then had time to take a leisurely view of my gitana, while several worthy individuals, who were eating their ices, stared open-mouthed at beholding me in such gay company.
till/ˈtɪɫ/7× in the book
His complexion, which may once have been fine, had been tanned by the sun till it was darker than his hair.
coin/ˈkɔɪn/7× in the book
Then she bade me cross my left hand with a silver coin, and the magic ceremonies duly began.
traveller/ˈtɹævəɫɝ/6× in the book
It was impossible to imagine any more delightful halting place for a traveller.
castanets6× in the book
“The whole party was assembled in the patio, and in spite of the crowd I could see nearly everything that went on through the lattice.* I could hear the castanets and the tambourine, the laughter and applause.
delightful/dɪˈɫaɪtfəɫ/6× in the book
He did not know the name of the delightful valley in which we were sitting, he could not tell me the names of any of the neighbouring villages …
cloak/ˈkɫoʊk/6× in the book
Meanwhile I had stretched myself out on the mule rugs, having carefully wrapped myself up in my own cloak, so as to avoid touching them.
sergeant/ˈsɑɹdʒənt/6× in the book
The old woman, when she was questioned by the sergeant, admitted that she knew Navarro …
acquaintance/əˈkweɪntəns/6× in the book
I had yet another motive for prosecuting her acquaintance.
frighten/ˈfɹaɪtən/6× in the book
… because I told them that not all their Seville jacques,** and all their knives, would frighten an honest lad from our country, with his blue cap and his maquila!
seller/ˈsɛɫɝ/6× in the book
I have been insulted here, because I don’t belong to this land of rogues and sellers of rotten oranges; and those hussies are all banded together against me …
depart/dɪˈpɑɹt/6× in the book
That instant he turned his back on me and departed at a great pace.
spite/ˈspaɪt/6× in the book
I was hoping the stranger might gradually fall into a confidential mood, and in spite of my guide’s winks, I turned the conversation to the subject of highwaymen.
fool/ˈfuɫ/6× in the book
How can you be such a fool as that?
whence/ˈhwɛns/5× in the book
… and I noticed that he did not pronounce the letter s* in the Andalusian fashion, whence I concluded he was a traveller, like myself …
quay/ˈkeɪ/5× in the book
At Cordova a great many idlers collect, toward sunset, in the quay that runs along the right bank of the Guadalquivir.
acacia/əˈkeɪʃə/5× in the book
She had thrown her mantilla back, to show her shoulders, and a great bunch of acacia that was thrust into her chemise.
piastre5× in the book
Then the Englishman stood up, gave me a piastre, and offered his arm to Carmen, as if she couldn’t have walked alone.
lighted/ˈɫaɪtəd/5× in the book
… most heartily, my eye lighted, at some distance from the path I was following …
astonished/əˈstɑnɪʃt/5× in the book
Her face astonished you, at first sight, but nobody could forget it.
robber/ˈɹɑbɝ/5× in the book
But I had heard so much about robbers, that, never seeing any, I had ceased to believe in their existence.
mistress/ˈmɪstɹəs/5× in the book
“I had often heard talk of certain smugglers who travelled about Andalusia, each riding a good horse, with his mistress behind him and his blunderbuss in his fist.
temper/ˈtɛmpɝ/5× in the book
What he said I could not catch, but the tone of his voice revealed the fact that he was in a very evil temper.
fond/ˈfɑnd/5× in the book
“Do me the kindness to sing me something,” I said to him, “I’m passionately fond of your national music.”
scarf/ˈskɑɹf/5× in the book
“Do you happen to have a handkerchief, a scarf, or a mantilla, that he gave you?”
lieutenant/ɫuˈtɛnənt/5× in the book
… followed by a young man, a lieutenant in our regiment.
Pronunciation: ipa-dict (MIT), from Wiktionary.
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