CHAPTER ISPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION

§ 1. On the Pronunciation in general.

In simple Cornish words of more than one syllable the stress accent is generally, though not universally, on the last but one. {54} The vowel of this syllable has usually its plain, clear _long_ or _short_ sound. The vowels of the unaccented syllables are usually _obscure_ in the case of two of the broad vowels (_a_, _o_), and _short_ in the case of the thin vowels (_e_, _i_, _y_) and of _u_, unless they are combinations of two vowels, in which case they are always long; but _e_ in a final unaccented syllable is also generally _obscure_. The _obscure_ vowel is the sound of _u_ in the English word _until_, or _o_ in _London_, and there is very little, if any, difference in sound between the obscure _a_, _e_, _o_, and _u_. When this sound occurs, as it occasionally does, on an accented syllable, or anywhere where it might be mistaken for a plain sound, it is written, according to the spelling of this book, _, _, or _.

In words of one syllable ending in a consonant the vowel is generally to be taken as _short_, unless it is marked long (_â_, _ê_, _î_, _ô_, _û_, _), or is a combination of two vowels. In monosyllables ending in a vowel, that vowel usually has its _long_ sound, but as Cornish is largely accented in ordinary conversation by _sentences_ (as is the case in Gaelic, and to a considerable extent in English), many monosyllables are slurred over with no accent (as _enclitics_ or _proclitics_, according to whether they follow or precede the word on which they depend), and with more or less of the _obscure_ vowel. The modern Cornish intonation of English is probably a very fair guide to the intonation of Cornish. {55}

The consonants, especially f, v, dh, th, are rather more lightly sounded than in English. Any peculiarities of sound will be given under each consonant.

During the period in which the existing remains of Cornish literature were written, that is, between the twelfth and the middle of the eighteenth century, the spelling was very unsettled. There were at least six different systems, if no more.

1. That of the Cotton Vocabulary.

2. That of the Ordinalia, with a sub-variety in that of the Poem of the Passion.

3. That of the St. Meriasek.

4. That of Jordans Creation.

5. That of Boson, Keigwin, and other seventeenth and eighteenth century writers.

6. That of Lhuyd.

Not only did different writers differ from one another, but various ways of representing the same sound were used by the same writer. The earlier spelling shows a certain amount of Welsh, old English, and old French affinities; the latest is evidently modelled on modern English, which does not suit it very well, and the transition from one to the other is not very abrupt. It is the object of the present book to represent the probable pronunciation of Modern Cornish by a system fairly consistent in itself, but not too startlingly divergent from those adopted by previous writers (or from that of Breton, where coincidence occurs), and not too much encumbered with diacritical signs. It is to some extent a following of Dr. Edward Lhuyd, whose system, though rather clumsy and unnecessarily puzzling in places, was on the whole very good and of great value.

§ 2. The Vowels.

Simple: _a_, _â_, _e_, _ê_, _i_, _î_, _o_, _ô_, _, _u_, _û_, _, _y_, _.

Compound: aw, ei, ey, ew, oi, oy, ou, ow.

a. Simple vowels.

1. a, short, as a in man. Before l and r it is generally sounded as o in not.

2. â, long, the lengthened sound of a short, not as the English broad a in father, or long a in mane, but as a broad a is commonly sounded in Cornish English. Thus bâ would have something between the sound of the English word bare (of course without the r trilled at all) in the mouth of a correct speaker, and the actual sound of the bleat of a sheep. {56}

In some words, and especially before a liquid followed by a consonant, a tends to be sounded as aw or short o. Thus âls, cliff, gwander, weakness, wartha, upper, are sounded awls, gwonder, wortha or worra, and brâs, great, is sounded brawz.

In unaccented syllables a represents nearly the sound of u in until, or, as a final, the English sound of a at the end of proper names, such as Vienna, Maria, etc., which is more or less the final e of German, meine, deine, etc., or perhaps the e of the French words le, de, me, etc.

3. e, short, as e in men, pen, etc.

4. ê, long, as ai in main, ay in say. {57}

5. i, short, as i in in, pin, etc.

6. î, long, as ee in seen, etc.

7. o, short, as o in on.

8. ô, long, as aw in dawn, not as o in bone.

9. _, obscure, as _o_ in _London_, _ton_, etc.

10. u, short, as u in full.

11. û, long, as oo in fool.

12. _, obscure, as _u_ in _until_.

13. _, long, as _i_ in _mine_.

14. y, short, as y in carry, marry, etc. This is used chiefly as an unaccented final in a word of more than one syllable.

In the case of the letter y, there is a variation of sound in such monosyllables as n, wh, j, h under certain circumstances. In this system of spelling the circumflex is omitted when these words are enclitic.

b. Compound vowels.

Of these, _aw_, _ai_, _ei_, _ay_, _ey_, _ou_, are only repetitions of the simple vowels _ô_, _û_, and _. The other four have sounds not otherwise represented.

1. aw has the same sound as ô. It is very rarely used.

2. _ai_, _ay_, _ei_, _ey_, have nearly the same sound as _, rather more diphthongalised.

3. eu, ew have the sound of ew in the English word dew, the usual English long u. This sound is also represented in Cornish by y consonant followed by u, as in the word yu, is, which has exactly the sound of the English personal pronoun you.

4. oi, oy have the sound of oy in boy.

5. Ow has two sounds(1) as an unaccented final, as o in bone. This is also its sound when it occurs without any consonant, in the possessive pronoun ow, my, and the participle particle ow; (2) in other cases it sounds as ou in you, and rarely as ow in now.

6. Ou has the same sound as û, and as the second sound of ow. It is the regular symbol for that sound in Breton, and very commonly in the Cornish dramas, where, as in Breton, u commonly represented, approximately, the French u, which later became î or ew.

General Remarks on the Vowels.

In the Middle Cornish manuscripts the vowels are represented in various ways, and there is a special uncertainty about unaccented and obscure vowels.

Vowels were sometimes lengthened by doubling, or by adding a y, and rarely, until Jordans Creation, by adding a mute e after the closing consonant; but often quantity was not indicated at all.

Long î (ee in see) was more often than not represented by y, but, as in Welsh, y not infrequently represented the obscure vowel (u in until), and often a sound which later became a short e, but in unaccented syllables was, as is not unusually the case in English, more of the nature of the obscure vowel, or perhaps something between that and a short i. Indeed all unaccented vowels tend to become obscure, very much as they do in English, and hence are variously expressed.

The u of the earlier MSS. probably once represented approximately the French u or the German u, the u of Devon and East Cornwall English, or the ao of Scottish Gaelic, not exactly the same sounds, but very near to each other. As in Greek and Welsh, this sound approached nearer and nearer to î (ee in seen), until in Cornish it ceased to be recognised as having any u sound in it at all. In Welsh it is still written as u, and in carefully spoken Welsh is quite distinguishable from î. In Breton the sound is still approximately that of the French u. In some words in Cornish this sound became ew (as in the English word few) and rarely û (oo in moon), but generally it became î (English ee). {59a}

What was once the sound of the French and Breton eu or the German o, was represented in the MSS. by u, eu, ue. Later this became ê (ay in may). Thus, dueth or duth, came, became dêth; luen, leun, full, became lên; due, comes, became dê; mur, meur, great, became mêr. This change is found occasionally as early as the Poem of the Passion. The rhythm shows that ue and eu form only one syllable. In the case of lues (luas), many, which later became lîas (or leeas), the rhythm shows that the u and e did not form a single vowel. Occasionally, as in the second person plural of certain tenses, eu of the early MSS. became ew, which it was probably intended to represent, but was often confused with ou (û or oo). {59b}

The sound of ô or aw, as it certainly became in later Cornish, was represented by e, o, oy, a, oa, ao, au, aw. The tendency to pronounce a as aw or short o before l, n, r, doubled or followed by a consonant, and sometimes single, is very marked in the spelling of late Cornish, and in the present pronunciation of place-names. There is no evidence of its age in Cornish; but it is very common in English and Irish, though unknown in standard Welsh or Breton.

There seems no doubt, by the same evidence, that a long y of older Cornish often became i, as in the English word mine. Vulgarly, as with the English long i, it sometimes even became oy. Boson writes choy for chy, house, but Lhuyd writes it tshyi or tshei, which last is its usual modern sound in place-names. N, we, wh, you, j, they, and h, she, are written nei, huei, dzhei, hei, by Lhuyd, and Jenkins of Alverton, using the earlier form of the third person plural, written y in the Dramas, spells it eye. Yet there are cases where the older pronunciation is retained, and probably this was always the case when the words were enclitic. Prof. Loth has pointed out a similar change in the Quiberon sub-dialect of Vannetais Breton, and that in some of the same words.

In the unscientific spelling of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, that is to say, in the system of every one except Lhuyd, and occasionally of Gwavas and Tonkin when they followed Lhuyd, the English values of the period were often given to the letters; but the following were vowel symbols in general use:

For â of the a, aa Lhuyd â. present system

,, a ,, a, u, e, o ,, a.

,, ê ,, ea ,, ê.

,, e ,, e, i ,, e.

,, _î_ ,, _ee_ ,, _î_, _.

,, i ,, i ,, i.

,, ô, aw ,, oa, o, aw, Lhuyd writes an inverted au, ao a or ô.

,, o ,, o Lhuyd o.

,, _, _, _ ,, _o_, _u_, _a_, _e_ ,, _y_.

,, _, _ou_ ,, _u_, _oo_, _ou_ ,, _u_, _û_.

,, ow ,, ô, ow, ou, au ,, ou, o, ô.

,, u ,, u, oo ,, u.

,, ew, yu, eu ew, yu, yw ,, iu, yu, eu. ,,

,, _, _ei_, _ay_ ,, _y_, _ei_, _ay_ ,, _ei_, _y_, _y_.

,, y ,, y, i, e ,, y, i.

A final e mute was often used to lengthen a vowel, as in English. Many names of places and persons retain this e mute at the present day, and when the preceding vowel is a, educated persons generally give it the sound of the English long a in mane, but that is a change analogous to the modern vulgarism of pronouncing clerk as clurk instead of clark. The proper sound of the Cornish â is still heard in such words in the mouths of the peasantry. Compare such a name as Polglaze in the two pronunciations.

§ 3. The Consonants.

Simple: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, y, z.

Compound: bm, ch, dh, dn, gw, gh, ng, qw, sh, th, wh, zh, gwl, gwr, qwr, wl, wr.

a. Simple consonants.

1. b has the same sound as in English.

2. c is always hard, being used only before a, o, u. The same sound before e, i, y is represented by k.

3. d before a, o, u is usually hard, as in English, but, as in Gaelic, before e, i, y it has a sound approaching to j, or like di in soldier. In the MSS. a soft g was often written for d in such cases. It is a common change in many languages. Cf. the Italian oggi, to-day, for the Latin hodie.

4. f has the same sound as in English. In the MSS. it is often confused with v. As a final it is very lightly sounded.

5. g is always hard, as in get, go. The soft g, as in gin, is here represented by j, but in the MSS. g was often used for it.

6. h has two degrees of sound. As an initial it is rather more lightly sounded than in English, except when it is a mutation of c (see Chapter II.), when it is more strongly sounded. Then, and when it occurs in the middle of a word, it represents in a lighter form the guttural ch of Breton, the ch of German, Welsh, and Gaelic, or the guttural gh of older English. At the end of a word this is to be written gh. It is a smooth guttural, as in Scottish Gaelic, without the rasping sound which it has in colloquial Welsh or in German.

7. j is sounded as in English. It generally represents what was once written s. Lhuyd writes dzh for this sound, and the MSS. often represent it by g.

8. k is generally only used before e, i, y, or as a final. It has the same sound as in English. It often happens in grammatical inflections that a broad root vowel is changed to a thin one. In such cases if the preceding letter is a c it must be changed to k.

9. l has the ordinary English sound. Sometimes a double l of earlier Cornish was written lh (telhar, place, for teller). This may perhaps represent the aspirated ll of Welsh, or (as in Portuguese) the l mouillé (as li in valiant).

10. m has usually the same sound as in English. When it follows a short vowel in an accented syllable or a monosyllable, it has a peculiar sound as though a b were prefixed to it, or as though the speaker had a slight cold in the head. This b was frequently written in the later MSS., and in the mouths of less educated persons the b supplanted the m altogether. Thus lemmyn, now, became successively lebman and lebban. The vanishing of the m altogether did not occur in monosyllables, and it is undesirable to imitate it in other words. In the system of spelling adopted in this book, the b will be written in cases where it was habitually written in later Cornish, but even when it is not written it is always to be sounded in the case of short vowels in accented syllables or monosyllables.

11. n is usually sounded as in English. When it follows a short vowel in an accented syllable or in a monosyllable, a d sound (analogous to the b sound with m) precedes it. This d is often written in the later MSS., and will be used in this book in cases where it is regularly found in later Cornish, but it is to be pronounced even where it is not written. In words of more than one syllable {63} the d often supplanted the n (e.g. henna, that, became successively hedna and hedda), and monosyllables were sometimes made into dissyllables by it (e.g. pen, pedn, pedden); but both of these are vulgarisms not to be imitated.

12. p is sounded as in English.

13. q is sounded as in English, and is always followed by w. It is generally used in an initial mutation (see Chapter II.) of gw, but occurs occasionally, followed by w, as a radical sound.

14. r has the same sound as in correct English, that is to say, it is very slightly heard when followed by a consonant or at the end of a word, unless the next word begins with a vowel, but, as in English, it often influences the preceding vowel. Its full sound is trilled, not guttural.

15. s is the most puzzling of the consonants. It had probably four or five different values in the MSS., and might represent s, z, sh, zh, j according to circumstances. As an initial, or before c, k, f, l, m, n, p, q, r, t, w, it was generally s, as in so; as a final, and before b, d, g, j, v, it was normally z or as s in rose. But between two vowels in the same word, or coming after another consonant and followed by a vowel, or as a final followed by a word beginning with a vowel and closely connected grammatically with its predecessor, it had commonly the sound of j, so much so that g soft was often substituted for it, and there are cases where even an initial s must have meant sh or zh. Thus we find cowsesow, speeches, written cowgegyow, carensa, love, carenga (for carenja), and in place-names, though we find Nanskeval, Nanspean, Nanswidn when the epithet begins with a consonant, when it begins with a vowel we find Nanjizel (=Nans isal, the lower valley). Sometimes in late Cornish the definite j sound so completely superseded the s or z, that it or its equivalent, g soft or dzh, was always written for it, and in such cases it is written j in the present system of spelling, but in other cases the best rules will be to pronounce s

1. As an initial; before c, k, f, l, m, n, p, q, r, t, w; or when doubled, as s in so.

2. As a final, except when the next word, grammatically connected, begins with a vowel; or before b, d, g, j, v, as z or s in rose.

3. Between two vowels in the same word; after another consonant and followed by a vowel; or as a final followed by a grammatically connected word, such as an epithet, beginning with a vowel, as j.

For the last rule compare Mrs. Gamps pronunciation of English (in Martin Chuzzlewit). There seems to have been an inherent tendency to the j, sh, or zh sounds in every Cornish s, {64} but especially in those which represent a d or t of Welsh and Breton. The writer is aware that this is a very inadequate discussion of the question, but he does not wish to be unduly intricate, or to enter into a deep phonetic explanation. Those who would study the question more minutely are referred to an article by Prof. J. Loth in vol. xviii. of the Revue Celtique.

16. t before a, o, u is hard, as in English, but before e, i, y has a sound approaching to that of ch in church, or to ti in words ending in tion. Sometimes ch is written and fully pronounced where a t was formerly written. Thus ch, house, was formerly ty, and in the eighteenth century tî, thou, was pronounced and often written chee.

17. v is sounded as in English, but is often nearly inaudible at the end of a word, unless the next word begins with a vowel. Thus ev, he, is often written e in later MSS.

18. w, except in compound vowels, is always a consonant, and has the same sound as in English. For its sound before l and r see Compound consonants.

19. _y_ consonant is sounded as _y_ consonant in English, or as _j_ in German. It is always consonant when it precedes a vowel, unless it is written _, when it is a vowel, as in such words as _cres_, _tak_, etc.

20. z is only used as an initial, but it is seldom used at all. The sound is that of an English z.

b. Compound consonants.

1. bm, dn represent respectively the sound of m and n after a short vowel in an accented syllable or monosyllable (see m, n). There is no vowel sound between the two letters.

2. ch is always sounded as in church. It usually represents a former t, or else occurs in borrowed English words.

3. dh is sounded as th in thy, the, etc., the Welsh dd, the Old English and Icelandic ð, the Modern Greek . In the MSS. it is represented by th or [Picture: Letter]. Lhuyd writes it . {65}

4. _th_ (written [Picture: Letter] by Lhuyd) is sounded as _th_ in _thin_, _thick_, etc., the Welsh _th_, the Old English and Icelandic þ, the Greek _. At the end of a syllable, especially after _r_, the sounds of _dh_ and _th_ are very light and tend to become inaudible, and are often represented by _h_, or omitted altogether. Thus, _gwartha_, _porth_, _barth_, _lowarth_, _gordhya_, _gortheb_, _kerdh_ often appear as _gwarha_, _gwarra_, _por_, _barh_, _lowar_, _lowarh_, _gorria_, _gorreb_, _kerr_. Thus also, _Porthgwartha_ (in St. Levan), is now written _Porthgwarrah_ and pronounced nearly _Pergworra_.

5. gh is used at the end of words for the strong or guttural h. Lhuyd writes a Greek for this sound.

6. ng (written by Lhuyd with an inverted Irish g) has the sound of ng in singer, not as in finger or manger.

7. sh has the same sound as in English. It is only used in a few words of English derivation.

8. In wh the h is always sounded. This combination represents the Welsh chw. Lhuyd writes it hu.

9. zh has the broader sound of sh, or that of the French j.

10. In gwl, gwr, qwr, wl, wr there is a very light but quite audible sound of w before the l or r. So light is the w that it was often omitted in the MSS. Thus gwlasketh, kingdom, gwrîg, did, and the mutation wrîg were sometimes written glasketh, grîg, rîg. But this was incorrect.

* * * * *

There must have been among Cornish speakers a tendency to a somewhat blurred sound of certain letters, as though there were an obstruction of some sort in their vocal organs, not altogether unlike that attributed on the stage and in fiction, with some foundation in fact, to the Hebrew race. This is shown by the tendency to turn s and z into sh and zh, and to insert b before m, and d before n. In the English spoken in Cornwall at the present day this tendency has quite disappeared, and the pronunciation, though not always the same as the standard English, is remarkably crisp and clear. Readers are solemnly warned against attempting to base or support any theories of Jewish or even of Phnician influence in Cornwall on the above coincidence.

These directions for pronunciation must needs be only approximate. The exact phonetics are not attainable. The pronunciation of Cornish place-names forms something of a guide to the old sounds, only one must be careful not to be misled by the modern tendency to pronounce words as they are spelt according to the English values of letters, and one must also remember that there is no settled system of place-name orthography.



CHAPTER IITHE INITIAL MUTATIONS

In all the Celtic languages there are certain partly grammatical and partly phonetic changes of the first letters of words, which are called by various names, the most convenient of which is initial mutations. These changes take place in Cornish when words beginning with the letters P, C or K, T or Ch, B, G, D or J, and M are preceded by certain adjectives, prepositions, pronouns, particles, etc., which stand in some governing or qualifying relation to them. Words beginning with other letters, except occasionally F and S, do not change their initials. Very similar changes are often made in the case of the second halves of compound words.

The mutable letters, P, C or K, T or Ch; B, G, D or J form two classes, with mutual relations to one another. A third class, related to the other two, is formed of F or V, H, Dh, and Th. Of these last F and H are the only ones that can occur as primary or unchanged initials. Of these

P, C or K, and T or Ch are called tenues or thin (or hard) letters.

B, G, and D or J are called mediæ or middle (or soft).

F or V, H, Dh, and Th are called aspirates.

One set of tenuis, media, and aspirate is called labial (or lip letters), a second is called guttural (or throat letters), a third is called dental (or teeth letters), from the parts of the mouth most used in forming them.

The labials are:

Tenuis, P; Media, B; Aspirate, F or V.

The gutturals are:

Tenuis, C or K; Media, G; Aspirate, H.

The dentals are:

Tenuis, T or Ch; Media, D or J; Aspirate, Th or Dh.

There is no difficulty in perceiving that the letters forming each of these classes are closely related to one another; in most languages they are interchangeable under certain conditions, and the changes in the Celtic languages called initial mutations are based upon these relations, though the method, rules, and arrangement of these changes differ in the six languages, as do also the names by which they are known.

In Cornish (as in Breton) the general principle is that (1) the tenuis changes under some circumstances into the media, and under others into a form of the aspirate; and that (2) the media changes to a form of the aspirate under some circumstances, and into the tenuis under others; but that (3) the conditions which change the tenuis into the media change the media into the aspirate: while those which change (4) the tenuis into the aspirate leave the media unchanged; and those which change (5) the media to the tenuis leave the tenuis unchanged.

In this book we shall call the original or radical condition of a word its FIRST STATE.

Thus Pen, a head, Car, a friend, Tâs, a father, Blew, hair, Gras, grace, Dên, a man, Mab, a son, are in their first state.

The change of the tenuis to the media, or a radical media to an aspirate, we call the SECOND STATE.

Thus, the same words in their second state are Ben, Gar, Dâs, Vlew, ras, Dhên, Vab.

The change of the tenuis to the aspirate we call the THIRD STATE.

Thus, for the first three words the third state is Fen, Har, Thâs.

The other four, beginning with mediæ or m, have no third state.

The change from the media to the tenuis we call the FOURTH STATE. It is commonly called provection.

Thus, the fourth state of Blew, Gras, and Dên (the words beginning with tenues or m having no fourth state) is Plew, Cras, Tên.

[It is to be noted, however, that none of these three words, being nouns, would be likely to be subjected to this last change in any real construction, for the fourth state is used almost exclusively with ow, the particle of the present participle of verbs, with the conjunctions a and mar, if, and maga, as, sometimes with the verbal particle y or e, and sometimes with the adverbial particle en, so that it is generally applied to verbs and adjectives.]

The following is a table of changes:

P has two changes, to B (second state), and F (third state).

C (or K) {70a} has two changes, to G (second state) and H (third state).

T (or Ch) {70b} has two changes, to D (or J) {70b} (second state) and Th (third state).

B has two changes, to V (second state) and P (fourth state).

G has two changes, omitted or changed to W (second state) and C {70a} or K or Q (fourth state).

D has two changes, Dh (second state) and T (fourth state).

M has one change, to V (second state).

Occasionally in a few words F changes in the second state to V, and in one case to H. S rarely changes to Z. There is one change of D to N (like what is called the nasal mutation in Welsh). This is in the word dôr, earth, which after the article an is nôr.

In the following tables cases of the use of mutations are shown. It is to be noted that e, his, is one of the words which govern the second state, and ow, my, the third state, and agan, our, the first state, while the particle ow of the present participle governs the fourth state.

Examples of the use of the first, second, and third states:

First State. Second State. Third State.

Tenues:

Agan Pen, our head e ben, his head ow fen, my head

Agan Car, our e gar, his friend ow har, my friend friend e dâs, his father ow thâs, my father Agan Tâs, our father

Mediæ:

Agan Blew, our hair e vlew, his hair ow blew, my hair (no change) Agan Gras, our e ras, his grace grace ow gras, my grace (no e wolow, his light change) Agan Golow, our light e dhên, his man ow golow, my light (no change) Agan Dên, our man e vab, his son ow dên, my man (no Agan Mab, our son change)

ow mab, my son (no change)



Examples of the use of the fourth state:

First State. Fourth State.

Tenues:

Palas, to dig ow palas, digging (no change)

Cara, to love ow cra, loving (no change)

Kelmy, to bind ow kelmy, binding (no change)

Terry, to break ow terry, breaking (no change)

Mediæ:

Bewa, to live ow pewa, living

Grra, to put ow crra, putting

Gwelas, to see ow qwelas, seeing

Dôs, to come ow tôs, coming

Môs, to go ow môs, going (no change)



There are a few irregular mutations. Rarely a B after the adverbial particle en changes to F instead of P, e.g. en fras, greatly, from bras, sometimes an M after the same particle changes to F, sometimes an initial G becomes Wh, not C or K, for the fourth state, and in the MSS. there are other exceptional changes. The mutations are very irregularly written even in the best MSS. Sometimes a word is written in its first state when it ought to be in one of the other states, and sometimes mutations are made when they ought not to be, but probably the writers used them correctly enough in speaking, without perhaps clearly recognising the changes as they made them.

The rules for the use of the initial mutations will be given, as occasion occurs, throughout the book, and they will be tabulated at the end, where they will require less explanation than they would if they were given now. But this chapter should be thoroughly learnt and understood before going any further, as these changes are a very important part of Cornish grammar, and a habit should be formed of making them correctly.



CHAPTER IIITHE ARTICLE

§ 1. The definite article the is an, for all numbers and genders. When the noun that follows is feminine and singular, or masculine and plural, its initial, if mutable, is in the second state. If it is masculine and singular, or feminine and plural, the initial is in the first state. {73}

When the article an is preceded by a preposition or conjunction, and sometimes by other words, ending in a vowel, the article loses its vowel and is written n. Thus:

Dên, man, masc. sing.; an dên, the man. dhôn dên, to the man.

Benen, woman, fem. sing.; an venen, the woman. dhôn venen, to the woman.

Tassow, fathers, masc. plur.; an dassow, the fathers. dhôn dassow, to the fathers.

Benenes, women, fem. plur.; an benenes, the women. dhôn benenes, to the women.

The apostrophe is not written for the elided a of an in the MSS., but the preposition and article appear as one word, dhôn, dren, han, etc., for to the, by the, and the, etc. But it is better to write it, to avoid confusion, especially between an, from the, and the simple article, an. There are certain cases of contraction which have been accepted as single words, and in these the apostrophe is not used. Thus pandra (=pa an dra, what (is) the thing? i.e. what is it?) is used for the interrogative what? but is never written pan dra. There are occasional further compounds of pandra, e.g. pandrus (or pendrus)=pa an dra es, or pandryu=pa an dra yu, both meaning what thing is? pandrama=pa an dra a wrama, what shall I do? pandrellen=pa an dra a wrellen, what should I do?

As in the other Celtic languages, when a noun is followed by another noun in the possessive appositional genitive, the first noun has no definite article. Thus ch an dên, the house of the man, not an ch an dên. The same rule applies to a similar appositional genitive in Hebrewa curious coincidence between two quite unconnected languages.

§ 2. The Indefinite Article.

As a rule a singular noun without any article expressed, except in the case of a noun followed by the appositional genitive, is considered to be in the indefinite state, and would be translated into English by a noun preceded by the indefinite article a or an. But partly as a corrupt following of English or French, and partly for emphasis, denoting a single one (like yr un in Welsh), the word a or an is sometimes represented by idn (earlier un), one. This is rare, especially in late Cornish. A similar indefinite article is common in Breton. Occasionally idn or un was used, as in Breton, with a verbal noun (or infinitive), to form what in English would be a present participle. Yn un scolchye, skulking, lit. in a skulking (Passion, 74, 2), yn un garme, shouting, crying out, lit. in a shouting (Passion, 168, 1), yn un fystyne, hastening, lit. in a hastening (Passion, 178, 1; 241, 4), but this construction is not found in late Cornish.



CHAPTER IVTHE NOUN

§ 1. The Formation of Nouns.

Nouns are either primitive or derived. Primitive nouns have no special terminations to distinguish them from other words. Derived nouns, chiefly abstract, are formed from adjectives, verbs, or other nouns. There are also verbal nouns which have the form of the infinitive of verbs.

1. Nouns are derived from adjectives and occasionally from nouns and verbs, by adding der or ter. Thus:

dader, goodness, from da, good.

gwîrder, truth, from gwîr, true.

gwander, weakness, from gwan or gwadn, weak.

golowder, brightness, from golow, light.

tekter, beauty, from teg, beautiful.

whekter, sweetness, from wheg, sweet.

îthekter, horror, from îthek, horrible.

melder, sweetness (to taste), from mel, honey.

yender, coldness, from yên or yein, cold.

splander, brightness, splendour, from splan, bright.

tewlder, darkness, from tewal, dark.

tewder, thickness, from tew, thick.

tanowder, thinness, from tanow, thin.

powsder, heaviness, from pows, heavy.

scavder, lightness (of weight), from scav, light.

medhalder, softness, from medhal, soft.

glanithder, cleanness, from glanith, clean.

mgilder, warmth, from mgil, warm.

tmder, heat, from tm (or tbm), hot.

downder, depth, from down, deep.

sehter (or zehar), drought, from segh, dry.

ewhelder, height, from ewhel, high.

crevder, strength, from crev, strong.

Some adjectives ending in s revert to an original t in this formation. Thus:

calletter, hardness, from cales, hard.

goscotter, shelter, from goskes, sheltering.

ponvotter, trouble, from ponvos, trouble.

It will be seen that this der or ter answers to the English termination ness, and may be added to almost any adjective to form the corresponding abstract noun.

2. Abstract nouns are derived from other nouns or adjectives by the addition of eth or neth.

gwiryoneth, truth, from gwiryon, truthful.

cosoleth, rest, peace, from csel, quiet.

skîantoleth, wisdom, from skîantol, wise.

folneth, folly, from fol, a fool.

materneth, royalty, from matern, a king.

gokeneth, stupidity, from goky, a fool.

mescogneth, {76} madness, from mescok, a madman.

gowegneth, falsehood, from gowek, a liar.

roweth, bounty, from ro, a gift.

This termination answers more or less to the Latin itas or English ity.

3. Abstract nouns are derived from verbs by the addition of ans. Thus:

crejyans, belief, from cresy (or crejy), to believe.

givyans, forgiveness, from gava, to forgive.

deskyans, learning, from desky, to learn.

disqwedhyans, discovery, from disqwedhas, to discover.

gordhyans (gorryans), glory, from gordhya (gorrya), to worship.

bownans, life, from bewa, to live.

marnans, death, from marwel or merwel, to die.

selwans, salvation, from selwel, to save.

tristyans, sadness, from trist, sad.

tibyans, thought, from tibya, to think.

This termination answers to the Latin antia or entia, and the English ance or ence. It is generally added to the root of the verb.

4. Nouns signifying agents or doers are derived from other nouns, adjectives, and verbs by the addition of or, er, ar, or yas (earlier iad or iat).

tor, a tiler, from t, to cover.

pestrior, a wizard, from pestry, magic.

pescajor, a fisherman, from pescas, plur. of pesk, fish.

coslyer, a counsellor, from csl, counsel.

revader or revajor, a rower, from rev, an oar.

trccyer, a fuller.

lyuyar, a dyer, from, lyu, colour.

gwîadar, a weaver, from gwîa, to weave.

bnkyer, a cooper, from bnk, a blow.

mdowlar, a wrestler, from mdowla, to wrestle.

gnnador or gonajor, a sower, from gnas, to sow or plant.

mijar, a reaper, from mijy, to reap.

stênor, a tinner, from stên, tin.

selwyas, a saviour, from selwel, to save.

gwithyas (also gwithyor), a guardian, from gwithya, to keep.

kernyas, a trumpeter, from corn, a horn.

rennyas, a carver, from ranna, to divide.

sewyas, a tailor, from sewy, to sew.

prkenyas, an enchanter, from the intensive prefix pur (lit. very) and cana, to sing.

helhyas, a pursuer, from helhya, to hunt.

scrivinyas, a writer, from scrîfa, to write.

offeryas, a priest, from offeren, mass.

hmbrnkyas, a leader, from hmbrnkya, to lead.

Many words in yas occur only in the Cottonian Vocabulary, and appear there as ending in iad or iat, but since all the Cottonian words in iad and iat which do appear in later MSS. are made in the latter to end in yas (or ias), and since it may be taken as an invariable rule that all words ending in t or d in Welsh or Breton, if they occur at all in Cornish, end in s, any Cottonian word in iat or iad may fairly be taken for purposes of modern Cornish to end in yas.

§ 2. The Gender of Nouns.

Nouns are of two genders, masculine and feminine. There is no neuter.

There is no rule whereby to tell the gender of a word, except in the case of animate objects, where the gender simply follows the sex.

There are only three grammatical cases in which gender matters at all.

1. When a noun or an adjective preceding a noun is preceded by the article an, the. If the noun or adjective is masculine singular or the noun feminine, or the adjective of either, plural, its initial remains in the first state. If the noun or adjective is feminine singular or the noun is masculine plural, {78} it is changed to the second state.

When a qualifying adjective follows a noun in the masculine or in the plural of either gender, the initial of the adjective remains in the first state. If the noun is feminine singular, the initial of the adjective changes to the second state.

3. The pronoun of the third person singular, used for a feminine noun, even when it signifies an inanimate object, is h, she, not ev, he. Examples:

tâs, a father; an tâs, the father.

tassow, fathers; an dassow, the fathers.

mergh, a daughter; an vergh, the daughter.

merhes, daughters; an merhes, the daughters.

tâs mas, a good father; mergh vas, a good daughter; an vergh vas, the good daughter.

tassow mas, good fathers; merhes mas, good daughters.

It will be evident, considering that a large number of nouns and adjectives do not begin with mutable letters, that the question of gender only applies to a limited number of nouns and adjectives, and therefore presents but little difficulty. Perhaps the best way to learn the genders of nouns with mutable initials is to get accustomed to their sound with the article prefixed.

The feminine equivalents of certain masculine nouns denoting animate objects are represented, as in other languages, in one of two ways, by the addition of a syllable or by different words.

1. By the addition of es. This is the regular form.

arledh, lord; arledhes, lady.

pestrior, a wizard; pestriores, a witch.

coweth, a companion, masc.; cowethes, a companion, fem.

mow, a boy; mowes, a girl.

sans, a saint; sanses, a female saint.

eneval, an animal, masc.; enevales, an animal, fem.

pehador or pehajor, a sinner, masc.; pehadores, a sinner, fem.

Except in the case of the other class of feminines, of which a list is given below, it may be taken as a general rule that the corresponding feminine of any noun denoting a masculine animate object is formed in this way.

2. By a different word. These are mostly those which denote relationships and familiar animals, and there are in some cases, as in English, further words to denote the young of both sexes, or the neuter.

dên, man; benen, woman; flogh, child.

gour, husband; gwrêg, wife.

mab, son; mergh, daughter.

ewiter, uncle; modreb, aunt.

tâs, father; mam, mother.

sîra, father; dama, mother.

sîra widn, {80} grandfather; dama widn, grandmother.

altrou, godfather; altrewan, godmother.

broder, brother; hoer, sister.

noy, nephew; noys, niece.

tarow, bull; bewgh, cow; jion, ox; lewgh, calf; ldn, bullock; lejek, heifer.

hordh or hûr, ram; davas, sheep; mowls, wether; ôn, lamb.

margh, horse; caseg, mare; ebal, colt.

bk, he-goat; gavar, goat; min, kid.

baedh, boar; banew, sow; porhal, little pig; gwîs, old sow; ragomogh, hog; mohen, pig (plur. mogh); torgh, hog.

k, dog; gêst, bitch.

gourgath, tom-cat; cath, cat.

carow, stag; ewik, hind; lewgh-ewik, fawn.

ktyorgh, roe buck; yorgh, roe doe.

keliok, cock; yar, hen; mabyer, chicken.

keliokwôdh, gander; gôdh, goose.

keliokôs, drake; hôs, duck.

§ 3. The Cases of Nouns.

All cases except the genitive and accusative are formed by prepositions, as in English. Of these prepositions some govern one state of the initial and some another, as will be seen in the chapter on prepositions, but when the article an, the, comes between the preposition and the noun, the initial is not changed by the preposition, but only, if at all (in the case of a feminine singular or masculine plural), by the article.

The genitive, by which must here be understood (in its old-fashioned sense) all those conditions under which a noun would in English be preceded by of, or followed by s, is formed in four ways, each of which has a different meaning.

1. The genitive of possession is the appositional genitive. This is formed by placing the noun that is in the genitive immediately after the noun which it qualifies, or, if the former has the definite article, or is qualified by a possessive pronoun or prefixed adjective, with only these intervening. No change of initial is made, {81} except the usual change of feminine singular or masculine plural nouns after an, or the changes caused by possessive pronouns, etc. The first of the two nouns must have no article. Thus:

ch dên, the house of a man, or a mans house.

ch an dên, the house of the man, or the mans house.

ch benen, the house of a woman.

ch an venen, the house of the woman.

But not an ch an dên or an ch an venen.

If there is a succession of genitives, only the last noun can have an article. Thus:

darras ch gour an venen, the door of the house of the husband of the woman.

2. The inflected genitive. This, which only exists, and that doubtfully, in the case of a few words, is formed by the modification of the root vowel. It is one of the common genitives of the Gaelic dialects, and as such is important, for it is not recognised in Welsh or Breton. Lhuyd gives five instances of itmargh, a horse, gen. mergh; mergh, a daughter, gen. myrgh; pen, a head, gen. pyn (used only in the quasi-preposition erbyn, against); whêl, work, gen. wheyl; crês, midst, gen. creys, but even these were very seldom used, and only probably in a few expressions. It would seem that the initial of the genitive word should in this case be in the second state. Thus:

rên vergh, a horses mane.

3. The genitive of attribution, quality, origin, or quantity, denoted in English by the preposition of, but not expressible also by the possessive in s, though in many cases an adjective might be substituted for it, is expressed in Cornish by the preposition a, which puts the initial in the second state. Thus:

a. Quality. Arledh a ras, Lord of grace; an Matern a wordhyans, the King of glory.

b. Origin. an Tâs an Nêv, the Father of Heaven (cf. Pater de cælis Deus, translated in the English Prayer-book, O God, the Father of Heaven); dên a Gernow, a man of Cornwall.

c. Quantity. Words denoting number, quantity, etc., generally adjectives or numerals, may be followed by this form of genitive. Thus:

lên a ras, full of grace.

lower a s, plenty of corn.

milyow a bensow, thousands of pounds.

4. The genitive of material is rather the use of a noun as an adjective. It differs from the appositional genitive in that the first noun may have the article before it, and the second does not, and that if the first noun be feminine singular, the initial of the second noun is in the second state. Thus:

tolyer predn, a platter of wood.

tre bredn, a town of wood.

The accusative or objective is usually the same as the nominative, but it is to be remembered that there are a certain number of verbs which in English are followed directly by an accusative, but in Cornish require the intervention of a preposition.

The vocative is preceded by a, which signifies O, or by a personal pronoun. The initial after a and sometimes after the pronoun changes to the second state. Thus:

mab, son; a vab, O son.

benen, woman; a venen, O woman; ti venen, thou woman.

why princis (Res. Dom., iii. 124), ye princes.

§ 4. The Plural of Nouns.

There are seven ways of forming the plural of nouns.

1. In ow or yow (pronounced o or yo). This is the commonest form, and would naturally be used for most new words. It answers to the Welsh au or iau, and the Breton ou or iou.

alwedh, a key, alwedhow.

dorn, a hand, dornow.

arv, a weapon, arvow.

bedh, a grave, bedhow.

ro, a gift, roow.

scovorn, an ear, scouornow.

dêdh, a day, dêdhyow.

Dew, God, dewow.

enev, soul, enevow.

cledh, ditch, cledhyow.

gwredh, root, gwredhyow.

menedh, mountain, menedhyow.

trev, tre, town, trevow.

tîr, land, tiryow,

Some which follow this form have peculiarities of their own.

a. Some double the last consonant, which has the effect of shortening the sound of the preceding vowel, and if the last consonant is an s, giving it the sound of s instead of z. Thus:

Tâs, father, tassow.

fôs, wall, fossow.

lêr, floor, lerryow.

gêr, word, gerryow.

garget, garter, gargettow.

b. Some, which end in er or ar, drop the last vowel. Thus:

levar, book, levrow.

dagar, tear, dagrow.

kenter, nail, kentrow.

c. Some insert g or k after a final l.

csl, counsel, cslgow.

tewal, dark, tewlgow or tewalgow.

del, leaves (collectively), delkyow (simple plural).

d. Some modify the root vowel. Thus:

mâl, a joint, melyow.

2. In yon or on. This is also very common.

Cristin, a Christian, Cristinyon.

sgwer, esquire, sgwerryon.

caradow, friend, caradowyon.

sclr, scholar, sclryon.

deskibl, disciple, deskiblyon.

Breth, Briton, Brethon.

Sows, Englishman, Sowson.

prev, worm, prevyon.

When a word ends in k, and has this form of the plural (as most words ending in k have) the last letter becomes g.

bohajak, poor, bohajagyon.

marrek, knight, marregyon.

gowek, liar, gowegyon.

Some modify the root vowel.

clav, sick, clevyon.

mab, son, mebyon.

gwas, serving-man, gwesyon.

Yethow, Jew, Yethewon.

Kernow, Cornishman, Kernewon.

kîf, dear, kefyon.

gwîr, true, gweryon.

Those ending in er and ar, after a mute, contract the last syllable of the root.

lader, thief, laddron.

This termination is the only one used for the plural of adjectives. These are rarely inflected when in agreement with a plural noun, but when used as nouns they make their plural in this way. A large number of adjectives and also some nouns end in ek or ak. It is also the regular plural of words ending in or denoting an agent.

3. In y. This termination is more common in Cornish than in Welsh or Breton, though it is not uncommon in those languages also. It is often written i in the MSS.

esel, limb, esely.

mowes, girl, mowesy.

Gwidhel, Irishman, Gwidhely.

castell, castle, castelly.

legast, lobster, legesty (with a change of vowel).

porhel, pig, porhelly.

bîgel, shepherd, bîgely.

profes, prophet, profesy or profejy.

servis, servant, servisy or servijy.

gwithes, guardian, gwithesy. arledh, lord, arledhy.

trahes, cutter, trahesy (e.g. trahesy meyn, stone cutters).

This plural is mostly used for words ending in l and s, though not exclusively, and it occurs occasionally with other words. When a word ends in s preceded by a thin vowel, that letter is sometimes written j in the plural.

4. In es or edh. This is the equivalent of the Welsh edd, ydd, or oedd, and the Breton ed, though it is not necessarily used for the same words. Sometimes the vowel is modified. Thus:

mergh, daughter, merhes. {86}

benen, woman, benenes.

flogh, child, flehes.

côl, coal, côles.

rôm, room, rômes.

laha, law, lahes.

best, beast, bestes.

silly, eel, sillyes.

abostol, apostle, abesteledh.

broder, brother; brederedh, brethren.

el, angel, eledh.

gwrêg, wife, gwrêgedh.

A variant of this, written by Lhuyd az, yz, or oz, the vowel being obscure, is best represented in this spelling by as. It perhaps answers to the Welsh od, and iaid.

canker, crab, kencras.

pesk, fish, pescas.

bes, finger, besyas.

bat, staff, battas.

fow, den, fowas.

cap, cap, cappas.

5. By the modification of the vowel.

trôs, foot, treys.

mên, stone, meyn.

broder, brother; breder, brothers.

davas, sheep, deves, but also devejyow.

margh, horse, mergh.

tol, hole, tel.

ascorn, bone, escarn.

sans, saint, sêns, but also sansow.

dans, tooth, dêns.

yar, hen, yer.

mab, son, mêb, but also mebyon.

manek, glove, menik.

gavar, goat, gever.

6. By dropping the syllable en or an from the singular; or rather in this case the singular is formed from a plural, usually more or less collective, by adding the individualising suffix an or en. The words to which this applies are mostly such as are more commonly used in the plural, and the en becomes, as Norris calls it, an individualising particle. Thus:

dêl, leaves, foliage; dêlen, a leaf.

gwrîhon, sparks; gwrîhonen, a spark.

gwêdh, trees; gwêdhen, a tree.

gwêl, rods, twigs; gwêlen, a rod, a twig.

lûhas, lightning; lûhesen, a flash of lightning.

scow, elder trees; scowen, an elder tree.

eithin, furze; eithinen, a furze bush.

loggas, mice; loggosan or loggojan, a mouse.

low, lice; lewen, a louse.

redan, fern; redanen, a single fern.

mor, berries; moren, a berry.

hern, pilchards; hernen, a pilchard.

mrryan, ants; murryanen, an ant.

on, ash trees; onnen, an ash.

enwedh, ash trees; enwedhen, an ash, from on, ash, gwêdh, trees.

glasten, oaks; glastenen, an oak.

gwern, alders; gwernen, an alder.

spern, thorns; spernen, a thorn.

bannol, broom (the plants collectively); bannolen, a broom (to sweep with).

And many others, chiefly names of plants and animals of a more or less gregarious nature. Some of these have other plurals, formed by adding one of the plural terminations to the collective plural. These would be used when the collective idea was not required. Thus:

dêl, leaves (collective); delkyow or delgyow, leaves (not collectively).

Some singulars in en form their modern plurals from a lost collective plural, i.e. by dropping the en and adding one of the ordinary plural terminations. Thus:

asen, a rib; asow, ribs.

gwillen, a sea-gull; gwilles, gulls.

7. In en, with or without alteration of vowel and contraction. Thus:

k, dog; kîen.

hanow, name; henwen (formerly hynwyn).

There is no general definite rule for the formation of plurals; they must be learnt by experience. Some words are found with two plurals, but this generally means a tendency in modern Cornish to consider yow or ow to be the normal termination, and to discard other endings in favour of it, just as the plural in s in English has superseded all but a very few other forms. Thus:

escop (or epscop), bishop; escobyon or escobow.

Dew, God; dewon or dewow.

flogh, child; flehes or flehesow (flejow).

dêlen, leaf; dêlyow or delkyow.

tîr, land; terros or terryow.

enes, island; eneses or enesow.

§ 5. The so-called Dual.

Parts of the body which are double (ears, eyes, hands, arms, shoulders, knees, etc.), when mentioned in reference to the two ears, eyes, etc. of the same person, are expressed by a compound with the numeral deu, two, prefixed to the singular. The Welsh and Breton grammarians call this a dual. When eyes, ears, etc. are mentioned as belonging to more than one person, the plural is formed in one of the usual ways. Thus:

lâv, hand; dual deulâv.

lagas, eye; dual deulagas; pl. lagasow.

scovorn, ear; dual deuscovorn; pl. scovornow.

glîn, knee; dual deulin.

elin, elbow; deulin.

bregh, arm; deuvregh.

bron, breast; deuvron.

scoudh, shoulder; deuscoudh.

For hands in general the plural is formed from dorn (which means more exactly fist), dornow; there is, as in Welsh, no regular plural of lâv. A variant of glîn is penglin (lit. knee-end), with a dual pedndewlin, cf. Welsh penelin, elbow.

* * * * *

Lastly, the plural of dên, man, is almost always tîs (earlier tus), folk, though Lhuyd gives dynion as well.



CHAPTER VTHE ADJECTIVE

Adjectives are primitive or derived. Primitive adjectives have no specially characteristic terminations. Derived adjectives are mostly formed by adding ek to a noun or verb, which may be said to answer to ous, ful, etc., in English. Thus:

gallos, power; gallosek, powerful.

own, fear; ownek, fearful.

lowena, joy; lowenek, joyful.

marthes, wonder; marthesek, marvellous.

moreth, grief; morethek, mournful.

ponfos, trouble; ponfsek, troubled.

anfês, misfortune; anfêsek, unfortunate.

whans, desire; whansek, desirous.

colon, heart; colonnek, hearty.

The feminine of an adjective is formed in two ways.

1. By changing the initial to the second state, if it is mutable. This only happens when the adjective follows a feminine singular noun. When the adjective precedes the noun, singular or plural, and when it follows a masculine singular noun or a plural of either gender, the initial of the adjective remains in its first state, unless by reason of other circumstances than agreement, e.g. preceding prepositions, pronouns, etc., or when the article an precedes an adjective qualifying a noun of feminine singular. Unlike Breton, but like Welsh, an adjective qualifying and following a masculine plural does not change.

2. Rarely and irregularly, by the alteration of the root vowel as well as by the change of initial. This, however, though mentioned by Lhuyd and occasionally found in MSS., was practically obsolete long before his time.

The plural of adjectives is formed by the addition of yon or on. Rarely, chiefly in poetry, this plural is found in agreement with a plural noun, but usually qualifying adjectives are treated as indeclinable, but for the initial mutation, and the plural form is only used, as a general thing, when an adjective is used as a noun.

The normal position of the adjective is after the noun. Sometimes it precedes it, and in that case it changes the initial of the noun to the second state, unless the adjective is in the comparative or superlative degree, when the initial is unchanged. The adjectives that most commonly precede the noun are drôg, evil; hen, old; lên, full; hager, ugly; fals, false; cam, crooked. Mer, great, may come before or after.

The comparative degree is formed by adding ah and the superlative by adding a to the positive, but as in English they can also be formed by the use of moy, more, and moyha, most. There are, of course, the usual irregular comparisons. The comparative or superlative adjective usually precedes the noun which it qualifies, though for the sake of verse or on account of emphasis it may follow it, sometimes with the definite article intervening. Than after a comparative is es (older ys or ages) or vel.

Examples of the use of adjectives:

Dên gallosek, a powerful man.

Benen deg, a fair woman.

Mergh dewon, or mergh dew, black horses.

Benenes teg, fair women.

An hen dhên, the old man. (The more usual expression is an den coth).

An hen venen, the old woman. (More usually an venen goth).

An lowenegyon, the joyful ones.

Brassah gallos, greater power.

gwîn an gwella / an gwella gwîn / gwîn gwella } the best wine.

whekkah es mel, sweeter than honey.

Bron Ewhella, the highest hill (now Brown Willy).

The irregular comparisons are:

Da (or Mas), good; gwel, better; gwella, best.

Drôg, bad; gwêth, worse; gwêtha, worst; but generally lakkah, comparative of lak (loose, remiss, lax), is used to signify worse.

Mêr, great; moy, greater or more; moyha, greatest or most; but also bras, comp. brassah, super. brassa.

Bîan, little; leh, less; lha, least; but there is also a comp. behadnah, and super, behadna, from an earlier form, behan.

Ogas, near; nes, nearer; nessa, nearest.



CHAPTER VITHE NUMERALS

CARDINAL ORDINAL

1. idn, or nen (older un, 1st. kensa. onan, onon). {94}

2. deu (older dyw, dew). 2nd. nessa or secund.

3. tr, fem. teir (older 3rd. trûja (older tresse, tyr). trege).

4. pajer (older, m. peswar, 4th. peswordha (older peswere, f. feder). pyswere).

5. pemp (older pymp). 5th. pempes (older pympes).

6. wheh (or whe). 6th. whethes (older whefes).

7. seyth. 7th. seythes (older seythves).

8. eyth. 8th. eythes.

9. now (pronounced as the 9th. nowes. English word now).

10. deg (older dek). 10th. degves.

11. idnak. 11th. idn-dhegves.

12. dawdhak(older dewthak). 12th. dawdhegves.

13. tôrdhak. 13th. tôrdhegves.

14. peswôrdhak. 14th. peswôrdhegves.

15. pempthak. 15th. pempthegves.

16. whedhak. 16th. whedhegves.

17. seydhak. 17th. seydhegves.

18. eydhak. 18th. eydhegves.

19. nownjak (ow as in 19th. nownjakves. now).

20. igans. 20th. igansves.

21. nen war igans. 21st. kensa war igans.

22. deu war igans, etc. 22nd. nessa war igans, etc.

30. deg war igans. 30th. degves war igans.

31. idnak war igans, etc. 31st. idn-dhegves war igans, etc.

40. deugans. 40th. deugansves.

50. deg war deugans (or 50th. degves war deugans. hanter cans).

60. tr igans. 60th. try-igansves.

70. deg war tr igans or tr 70th. degves war try-igans or tri igans ha deg. igans ha degves.

80. pajer igans. 80th. pajer-igansves.

90. deg war pajer igans or 90th. degves war pajer-igansves or pajer igans ha deg. pajer igans ha degves.

100. cans. 100th. cansves.

200. deu cans. 200th. deu cansves.

300. tryhans. 300th. tryhansves.

1000. mil. 1000th. milves.

1,000,000. milvil or milyon. millionth. milvilves.



When compound numbers are used, the noun follows the first of them. Thus:

tr igans bledhan ha deg, 70 years (threescore years and ten), or deg bledhan war tr igans.

Larger compounds are made somewhat as in English. Thus A.D. 1904 is Bledhan agan Arledh nownjak cans ha pajer.

The later lists of ordinal numbers usually have vas for the termination, but the practice of the older MSS., the analogy of Welsh and Breton, and the very definite sound of the last syllable of pempes and whethes in the traditional fragments collected by the present writer in 1875, all point to e as the correct vowel.

Nouns which follow numerals are put in the singular number, {96} unless they are preceded by the preposition a, of. Thus:

wheh dên, six men, not wheh denyon or wheh tîs.

tr mab, three sons, not tr mebyon.

pajer paw, not pajer pawyow, four feet (a name still used in the English of Cornwall for a newt).

But sometimes, in a collective sense:

mil a bensow, a thousand [of] pounds.

wheh a vebyon ha wheh a verhes, six sons and six daughters.

The numerals, cardinal or ordinal, unlike certain of them in Welsh and Breton, do not change the initials of the nouns which follow them.

It may be well to add here certain applications of the numerals.

Once, twice, three times, etc. are represented by the cardinal numbers followed by gweth, time (in the above sense), with its initial in the second state, idnweth, deuweth, trweth, etc. Sometimes plek, fold, is used, as milblek, a thousand-fold.

Proportional parts are: qwartan, a quarter, hanter, half, and for the rest the ordinal numeral followed by radn, part, e.g. trûja radn, the third part.

The divisions of time are: secund, a second; minnis, a minute; êr, an hour; dêdh, a day; seithan, a week; mîs, a month; bledhan, a year; cansvledhan, a century. Oclock is expressed by êr; tr êr, three oclock. Half-past three is hanter êr woja tr=half-an-hour after three. Midday and midnight are hanter-dêdh and hanter-nos. Half-past twelve (noon) is hanter êr woja hanter-dêdh.

The names of coins are: pevar, a farthing; demma, or hanter-denar, a halfpenny; denar, a penny; whednar [=wheh denar], sixpence; sôls, a shilling; hanter-corn, half-a-crown; corn, a crown; pens, a pound.

Measurements of length are: inch; trôs, a foot; gwêlan, a yard; fadhom; mildir, a mile.

Weights are: ons, ounce; pens, pound; tn, ton.



CHAPTER VIITHE PRONOUNS

§ 1. The Personal Pronouns.

There are four forms of the Personal pronouns. These forms are used under various circumstances, but they are mostly reducible to a single letter with or without its vowel for each person, the variations depending upon (a) the state of that letter, and (b) whether the vowel is placed before or after it. The vowel is elided in some cases, and coalesces with another vowel in others.

1. As the subject of a verb and preceding it.

2. As the subject or object of a verb and following it. This is for some pronouns the same as the first form, for others the first form with its initial in the second state.

3. As the object of a verb, but placed between a particle ending in a vowel and the verb. This form is used also for possessive pronouns of the first and second persons singular when they are preceded by the conjunction ha, and, or by a preposition ending in a vowel, or by en, in.

4. In composition with a preposition, and for forming the persons of an inflected tense of a verb.

In the first and second the consonant is followed by a vowel. In the third and fourth the consonant ends the word.

1. The First Person Singular. English, I or me. Letter M (V).

1st form. mî. mî a vedn, I will.

2nd form. vî. gwith vî, keep me.

3rd form. m. neb am gwrîg, he who made me.

4th form. m or v. genev, with me; dhem, to me; carav, I love.



The compounds of pronoun and preposition are written as one word, without an apostrophe, as the form of the preposition also is often affected by the composition. A list of these will be found later on, as they present some irregularities.

2. The Second Person Singular. English, thou or thee. Letter T (D).

1st form. tî (pronounced nearly tî a vedn, thou wilt. chee, and sometimes so written).

2nd form. dî (often written sy or menjes dî, thou gy in the older MSS., and wouldst. pronounced jee, nearly).

3rd form. th (often d in the mî ath bes, I pray older MSS.). This is thee, reth tynerchys, followed by the second state hath greeted thee of the initial, or in the (Passion, 115, 2). case of d by the fourth.

4th form. s. genes, with thee.

3. The Third Person Singular, masculine. English, he or him. Letter V or N, or a vowel.

1st form. ev (with the v ev a vedn, he will. very lightly sounded, and often silent. The older form is ef).

2nd form. ev or e. menja ev, he would.

3rd form. n. mî an pes, I pray him.

This form is commonly used in the earlier MSS. It represents an accusative en or hen which still exists in Breton. In more recent Cornish, with the frequent use of the auxiliary form of the verb, where the pronominal object precedes the infinitive in its possessive form, this construction became unusual.

4th form. o. enno, in him, ganso, with him. In this form several words have an inserted dh between the preposition and the pronoun. Ragdho, for him, dhôdho, to him, not rago, dhôo. A similar euphonic dh occurs in the case of the third persons feminine and plural.

4. Third Person Singular, feminine. English, she, her. Letter H, S, or a vowel.

1st form. h. h a vedn, she will.

2nd form. h. a medh h, said she.

3rd form. s. mî as henow, I name her. This form is rarely found in the later MSS. Either the possessive î or the form h (the latter often put after the verb) was used, in the rare cases of this construction.

4th form. î. gensî, with her; dhedhî, to her.

5. First Person Plural. English, we, us. Letter N.

1st form. n. n a vedn, we will.

2nd form. n. na, blamyough n, do not blame us.

3rd form. n. ev an doro, he will bring us. This form, perhaps owing to its being the same as the 3rd form of the third person singular, is rare even in the older MSS. The possessive gan (for agan) is generally used instead of it, ev a gan doro.

4th form. n, preceded by ragon, for us; genen, almost any vowel. with us; dhen, to us; warnan, on us.

6. Second Person Singular. English, you. Letter, Wh, Gh, or S.

1st form. wh. wh a vedn, you will.

2nd form. wh. nî wreugh wh, you do not.

3rd form. s. ev as doro, he will bring you. This form is very rare even in the older MSS. The possessive gas (for agas) is generally used instead.

4th form: ugh. genough, with you; dheugh, to you.

7. Third Person Plural. English, they, them.

1st form. _, _j_, _an _ a vedn_, _j a vedn_, j_. or _an j a vedn_, they This last is the regular will. form in the latest Cornish. In the earlier MSS. _y_ only is used for _they_; later _an gy_ or _an dzhei_ (as Lhuyd writes it) became usual. It is only found in the MSS. of the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century, and probably originated in a wrong division of words. The third person plural of most inflected tenses of verbs ends in _ons_, _ans_, _ens_. If the pronoun were added, this would take the form of _ons _, etc., as in _carons _ (_amant illi_), they love, and the usual pronunciation of _s_ would soon bring this combination to _caronjy_, which is easily divided into _car onjy_. The compound preposition form in later Cornish often ended in _ans_, followed or not followed by the 1st or 2nd form of the pronoun. Thus in Jordans _Creation_ (1611) we find _anodhans y_ (from them) for an older _anodhe_. This would give an additional reason for the confusion.

2nd form. _. _medhons _ (often written _medh an jy_), said they.

3rd form. s. mî as agor, I will open them.

4th form. ns, e. dhodhans, to them; gensans or genjans, with them.

The form in e is older (dhethe, ganse, etc.), but became obsolete by the middle of the seventeenth century. It will have been seen:

1. That the first and second persons singular are the only ones which possess the four separate forms complete.

2. That the second form of all but these two persons is usually the same as the first form.

3. That the third form is not much used in later Cornish except for the same two persons.

It may also be noted that though the full and emphatic pronunciation of h, n, wh, and j is that of the English words high, nigh, why, and the first syllable of jibe, when, as is often the case, there is no emphasis of any sort on them, the same thing happens to them as commonly happens in rapid speech in English to the word my, and the y ceases to have the sound of î English, but has the sound of a short (not obscure) e English. Thus in the common Cornish Thank you, mêr ras dhô wh, which is sounded as one word, merásdhawhy, the y has the short sound which the same letter usually has at the end of a word. But it might happen otherwise. Thus the following sentences are within the experience of most of us at the end of some simple commercial transaction:

Customer (carelessly, having received the article and paid the money), Thánk you.

Shopkeeper (in a half-reproving tone), Thank you, sir.

In Cornish the customer would say Merásdkawhy, in the ordinary tone, but the shopkeeper might answer Merasdha whý, sira, and would sound the pronoun like the English word why, unless, being a good Cornish speaker, he preferred to say Mêr ras dhô gas honan (Thanks to yourself).

The same principle applies to h, n, and an j, but less with the last, which is generally treated as a dissyllable with the accent on the last syllable.

§ 2. The Possessive Pronouns.

1. First Person Singular. English, my.

ow, governing the third state.

When the initial of the noun has no third state, ow governs the first state:

ow thâs, my father; ow gwlas, my country.

After a preposition ending in a vowel, after en, in, changed to e, or after the conjunction ha, and, my is generally represented by m, which governs the first state:

dhôm tâs, to my father; ham tâs, and my father.

em corf, in my body.

Sometimes in these cases the preposition or conjunction is combined with ow. This is especially common in Jordans play of The Creation. The initial, if possible, is then in the third state:

me haw mab, I and my son; thow thas, to my father.

2. Second Person Singular. English, thy.

dha (older form dhe, dhy), governing the second state:

dha dâs, thy father.

After a preposition ending in a vowel, after en, or after ha, thy is represented by th, generally governing the second state, but sometimes, when the initial following it is d, the fourth.

dhôth dâs, to thy father; ha th dâs, and thy father.

e th gorf, in thy body; a th trôk (R.D., 1730), from thy evil.

Very often these mutations were not written in the Dramas. In later Cornish this form was not always used, but one often finds dhô dha, ha dha, en dha, etc. instead.

3. Third Person Singular, masculine. English, his.

e (older form y), governing the second state.

This, altered to y, coalesces with a preposition ending in a vowel, forming a diphthong, which is written with an apostrophe between the two vowels. It still governs the second state:

e dâs, his father; dhôy (pron. dhoy) dâs, to his father; hay dâs, and his father.

4. Third Person Singular, feminine; English, her.

î, governing the third state, or when there is no third state, the first. It coalesces with prepositions ending in a vowel and with ha in the same way as the masculine:

î thâs, her father; î gwlas, her country; hai thâs, and her father.

In the earlier MSS. both these possessive pronouns were written y, the only distinction being in the initial mutation which followed. In the later MSS. î is often written e.

5. First Person Plural. English, our.

agan, governing the first state:

agan tâs, our father.

6. Second Person Plural. English, your.

agas, governing the first state:

agas tâs, your father.

7. Third Person Plural. English, their.

aga, governing the third, or failing that, the first state:

aga thâs, their father; aga gwlas, their country.

When preceded by a preposition ending in a vowel or by ha, the three plural possessive pronouns lose their initial a:

dhô gas, ha gan, etc.

The a of the last syllable of agan, agas, aga is obscure, and is often found represented by e, o, or u in the MSS. Even when not preceded by a vowel these words are often found as gan, gas, ga (gun, gen, gon, gus, guz, ges, go).

When a pronoun is the object of a verb in the infinitive or of a verb formed with the auxiliary verbs gwîl, to do, menny, to will, etc. and an infinitive, the pronoun-object is represented by the possessive pronoun preceding and governing (as to initial mutation) this infinitive:

ev a wrîg ow tholla, he did deceive me.

mî a vedn e grejy, I will believe it.

mî a wrîg agas danvon, I did send you.

The reason of this is that in Cornish, as in the other Celtic languages, the infinitive is counted as a verbal noun, signifying the act of doing. This conception of the infinitive explains many Celtic constructions. The literal force of the above examples would be he did (or made) the deceiving of me, I will the believing of it, I did the sending of you. Similarly, when the object is a noun, it really follows the infinitive as an appositional genitive.

Frequently the second form of the corresponding personal pronoun follows a noun preceded by a possessive pronoun. This ought to be for emphasis, and, when it is so, the sound of the personal pronoun would be its full sound; but it is frequently merely redundant, and then it is enclitic, forming as it were an unaccented additional syllable tacked on to the noun:

agan Tâs ny, Our Father (nearly gun Tázny).

dhô m brodar vî, to my brother.

agas levar why, your book.

herlya yu gan gwary ny, hurling is our sport.

The last sentence is a good example of possible pronunciations. If it is an independent statement, the phrase emphasis being on hurling and sport, it would be accented hérlya yugan guaryny. If, however, we wish to say that hurling is our sport but football is yours (herlya yu gan gwary n, mes pella-drôs yu gas gwary wh), the second phrase-emphasis would be on n and wh, and they would be sounded as the English words nigh and why.

Sometimes the personal pronoun as a genitive following the noun, with or without the preposition a, of, was used instead of a possessive pronoun, but in this case it was probably not enclitic. Thus in a letter in verse by John Boson, in the Gwavas MS., dated 1710, we find:

Ma goz screfa compaz, den fir o (for a) vî, your writing is correct, my wise man, or, wise man of me.

And in a song by John Tonkin of St. Just in the same MS., the probable date of which is about 1700, we find:

An Prounter ni ez en Plew East, our parson who is in the parish of St. Just.

Or perhaps more correctly in a copy of one verse of this song in the Borlase MS.:

Prounter nei (ez) en pleu Est,

for the article an before a noun followed by an appositional genitive seems incorrect, though one finds in the earliest known version of the Lords Prayer, given in John Daviess Welsh translation of Robert Parsons Booke of Christian Exercise (1632), An Tas ni, though this may be a mistake for agan. In the song quoted above one finds also:

Dewe reffa sowia an eglez ni, Ha an prounterian da eze et an gy, God save our churches and the good parsons that are in them. And in Bosons version of the Commandments we find gwitha gerrio ve for keep my commandments.

§ 3. Pronominal Prepositions.

The prepositional form of the pronouns may be applied to almost any preposition, but there are a certain number of common cases in which the prepositions are modified by the composition, vowels being altered or letters being inserted between the preposition and this fragmentary pronoun, either for euphony or as survivals of archaic forms of the preposition or pronoun. The most usual of these modified forms occur in the composition of the prepositions a, of or from, dre, through, gans, with, dhrt (earlier dheworth and adheworth, Welsh oddiwrth), from, orth (or worth), at, to, rag, for, dhô, to, war, upon, en or idn, in.

ahanav, from me. dredhov, through me.

ahanas, from thee. dredhos, through thee.

anodho, from him. dredho, through him.

anedhi, from her. dredhi, through her.

ahanan, from us. dredhon, through us.

ahanough, from you. dredhough, through you.

anodhans, from them. dredhans, through them.

Other instances are:

genev, dhortam, orthev, ragov, dhem, warnav.

genes, dhortas, orthes, ragos, dhes, warnas.

ganso, dhorto, orto, ragdho, dhôdho, warnodho.

gensi, dhorti, orti, ragdhi, dhedhi, warnedhi.

genen, dhorten, orthen, ragon, dhen, warnan.

genough, dhortough, orthough, ragough, dheugh, warnough.

gensans, dhortans, ortans, ragdhans, dhodhans, warnodhans.

and

ennov or idnov or ettov.

ennos or idnos or ettos.

enno or idno or etto.

enni or idni or etti.

ennon or idnon or etton.

ennough or idnough or ettough.

ennans or idnans or ettans.

There are many various spellings of these words in the manuscripts, and especially there is great uncertainty as to the vowel which precedes the pronominal suffix. As the accent is always on the preposition, the vowel of the pronoun is usually obscure, and there is not so very much difference of sound in the last syllables of dredhov, genev, and warnav, but still there is a slight difference, and there must have been even more in early days.

The older form of the third person plural ended in e or a, anedha, dredha, ganse, orte, ragdha, dhedhe, warnedhe, ynna; but this form became obsolete by the middle of the seventeenth century, and these pronominal prepositions were assimilated to the third person plural of verbs. In this the Cornish began by resembling Breton and ended by approaching more nearly to Welsh.

The pronominal preposition form of dhô has variants for the first and second persons singular and first person plural, dhemmo, to me, dheso, dheso dî, to thee, and dhenny, to us. These are formed by the addition of the personal pronoun in a fuller form. In the cases of the other prepositions it is not uncommon to add the personal pronouns at the end of the pronominal compound, forming thereby a single word with the accent on the last syllable. Thus:

genev vî, with me, pronounced genavî.

genough wh, with you, pronounced genowh.

ragon n, for us, pronounced ragon.

In later Cornish these pronominal prepositions compounds were often neglected, and the prepositions were often used with the second form of the personal pronoun, but this was only a corrupt following of English, not to be imitated.

§ 4. The Relative Pronoun.

1. A simple relative, who or which, whether in the nominative or accusative, is represented most frequently by the particle a, governing the second state of the verb. Thus:

An Tâs a wrîg Nêv, the Father who made heaven.

An Nêv a wrîg an Tâs e, the Heaven which the Father made.

If the verb following the relative begins with a vowel, a is often omitted. Thus:

Ow thîs es genev, my people who are with me.

If the relative sentence is negative, ni, not, coalesces with a, producing na. Thus:

En le na vê dên bisqweth, in a place in which man never was.

When the relative is the object of the verb, or is preceded in English by a preposition, a redundant personal pronoun is added after the verb, with or without a combined preposition, but a preposition is never placed before the relative particle a itself. Thus:

An dên a dhanvonas Dew e, the man whom God sent (lit. whom God sent him).

An dên a vê an gêr cowses ganso, the man by whom the word was spoken (lit. whom the word was spoken by him).

2. Neb (earlier nep, and in late Cornish sometimes leb) is also used as a relative, with similar construction to that of a in the objective or prepositional condition. Properly it includes the antecedent, and should mean he who, those who, that which, those whom, etc., but it is commonly used as a simple relative, especially in late Cornish. Thus:

Agan Tâs ny neb es en Nêv, Our Father who art in heaven, in one of the many extant versions of the Lords Prayer.

Another version is Agan Tâs ny leb es en Nêv.

Dhe [tî] nep yu ioy ow holon, thou who art the joy of my heart (Res. Dom., 456).

An dên neb nan gwrîg, the man who did not do it.

Neb yu moyha, he who is greatest.

An dên neb Dew a wrîg e dhanvon, the man whom God did send.

An dên neb an gêr a rê cowses ganso, the man by whom the word was spoken.

Neb mî e wrîg ragdho, for whom I did it (lit. whom I did it for him).

But, unlike a, neb can have a preposition before it on occasions, with or without the redundant pronoun. Thus:

Ch en neb na vê dên vîth (enno), a house in which no man was.

§ 5. The Demonstrative Pronouns.

1. Absolute. Hem, hebma (orig. hemma), this, masculine; hom, hobma (homma), feminine.

Hen, hedna (ong. henna), that, masculine; hon, hodna (honna), feminine.

An remma (=an re-ma) is used also for the plural these, an renna for those.

2. In agreement. _An_ma_, this, these, e.g. _an bês-ma_, this world.

_An_na_, that, those, e.g. _an dên-na_, that man.

The noun is placed between an and ma or na, the latter being joined to it by a hyphen. In some cases when the noun ends in a vowel the m of ma is doubled, and the noun and demonstrative are written as one word:

an dremma, this town (for an dre-ma); an chymma, this house (for an ch-ma); alemma, hence (for a le-ma), from this place.

The same applies to the n of na.

When the noun is preceded by a preposition, an is omitted: war venedh-ma, on this mountain, not war an menedh-ma.

For emphasis, keth (same) is added after an: an keth dên-ma, this very man, this same man.

In very late Cornish, hebma, hobma, hedna, hodna were often corrupted into hebba, hobba, hedda, hodda.

In the Life of St. Meriasek, helma and holma are used for this, and it is easy to imagine helna and holna for that. The explanation suggested in Dr. Whitley Stokess note is helma=hen lemma, this in this place. Cf. this here and that there of vulgar English.

§ 6. The Interrogative Pronouns.

Pyu or pyua (written also pu, piwa, pew), who? A contraction of pe yu, who is? or, pe yu a, who is it who?

Pa, what?

Pandra (i.e. pa an dra, what the thing), what? e g. pandra vednough why gwîl, what will you do?

Panin (i.e. pa an in, which the one), whether of them?

Penîl (i.e. pa nîl, which of the two), which one?

§ 7. The Indefinite Pronouns.

Nep, neb, some or any.

Neppeth, somewhat (neb peth, some thing), anything.

Nebin (neb idn), some one.

Nebas, somewhat, a little, a few; also used to signify little, few, or hardly any.

Pyupennak (sometimes bennak), whoever.

Pa (or pandra) pennak, whatever.

Papennak l, whatsoever.

Ketep, every.

Kenifer, each; kenifer l, every one, as many as there are. Lhuyd gives a very emphatic form, pebs kenifer nen, which would mean every single one.

Pb or peb, all, every. Placed before the noun. Pb dên, every man.

l (or l), all. Placed before or after the noun. When placed before the noun the latter is preceded by an: l an dîs, all the people.

Bîth or vîth, any; travîth, anything; dên vîth, any man. With negatives it signifies at all; ni wôr dên vîth, no man at all knoweth; nynsyw travîth, there is nothing at all.

Mens (earlier myns), all, whatever; l mens o, all that there was; cowsens dên mens a vedn, let a man say all that he will. It is generally used as a relative combined with the antecedent all, but is also used without an expressed verb to follow it, though in such case probably the verb substantive is understood.

Kemmes, kebmes, as many as, whosoever; kemmes a wrîg bodh ow Thas, as many as have done the will of my Father.

Nîl or an nîl and e gîla (formerly nyl and y gyle) signify the one and the other. Nîl, originally an ail, the second, a word which, except in this case, has dropped out of Cornish in favour of secund and nessa (=the next), though it remains in Welsh and Breton, signifies one of two; e gîla (once y gyle or y gele) literally signifies his fellow, from e, his, and kîla (formerly kyle), fellow, companion. Thus:

Voz [bes] an Frenkock feen parrez tho [dhó] cummeraz telhar wara niel [war an nîl] ha an sousenack nobla war e gilla, for the fine French seems to take place upon the one [i.e. on Breton] and the nobler English on the other [i.e. Cornish] (from Nebbaz Gerriau dro tho Carnoack, by John Boson, circ. 1700).

The same expression occurs in the early Dramas, e.g. an nyl a delle pymp cans, ha hanter cans y gyle, the one owed five hundred and half a hundred the other.

Aral, other, plural erel, is sometimes used for e gîla. It is the usual word for other or another: dên aral, another man.

Another form occasionally used in Cornish for either gender, though in Breton it is only used for the regular feminine of e gîla (e gile) is eben, older form yben:

Heys Crist a gemeras an neyll lêf bys yn yben (Poem of Passion, 178), the length of Christ they took from one hand to the other.

Ken is also used for another:

Dhe ken pow, to another country; yn ken lyu, in another colour.

Nanîl, neither one, neither of two; it is nîl with the negative, and is sometimes written noniel. Boson uses it in a peculiar way:

Nanagu [na nag yu] an pobel coth tho bose skoothez, war noniel, nor are the old people to be depended upon neither.

Panîl, which of two (see above), is compounded with pa, which, and nîl.

Lîas, many, is used, like a numeral, with a substantive in the singular: lîas dôrn, many hands.

Re, some (see § 5), ones, things, is used also as a noun: an re marow, the dead; an re bîan, the little ones; ma re a lavar, there are some who say. Cf. Welsh rhai; Breton re.

Radn or ran, part, is also used in the sense of some.

Honan, self, is used with possessive pronouns as in English: ow honan, myself; dha honan, thyself, &c.



CHAPTER VIIITHE VERB IN GENERAL

§ 1. The nucleus of a Cornish verb is its root. This is used without any variation or addition for the third person singular of the present tense, and for the second person singular of the imperative.

Other parts of the verb are formed on this root in three ways:

1. By the inflected form, that is to say by the addition of certain syllables indicating person, tense, etc., with or without a modification of the root vowel. In older Cornish the word thus formed indicated person as well as tense without the addition of a pronoun, though if emphasis on the subject was intended the pronoun was used before or after it. In later Cornish the pronoun was almost always added after the verb, and as the latter word often ended with the same consonant as the former began with, the final consonant of the verb was often, but incorrectly, omitted in writing, as it was in sound. Thus:

Root car, love; first pers. sing. pres., carav, I love, with pronoun, carav vî, pronounced and often written cara vî; plur., caron, we love, caron n, often written caro n.

The inflected form is common in early Cornish, but in the later stages of the language it is hardly ever used, except in negative, interrogative, and dependent sentences, and in certain tenses of the verb to be. Even when it is used, it is more frequently the inflected form of an auxiliary verb with the infinitive or participle of the main verb.

2. By the impersonal form, as the Breton grammarians call it. This has inflections of tense but not of person, the latter being indicated by the personal pronouns, placed before the verb, which, being immediately preceded by the particle a, has its initial in the second state. This verb is the third person singular of the required tense. Thus:

Root car, third pers. sing. past, caras.

Impersonal form. Mî a garas, tî a garas, ev a garas, etc.

This form is frequently used in early and late Cornish for a direct affirmative sentence, beginning straight off with its nominative, or preceded only by and or but, etc.; but not so frequently in late Cornish, as the impersonal form of an auxiliary verb, with the infinitive of the main verb.

3. By the auxiliary form, either inflected or impersonal, with the infinitive or a participle of the main verb. The auxiliaries are:

Gîl or gwîl (older forms gwrthil, gwithil, etc.), to do.

Menny, to wish, to will.

Gally, to be able.

Gthvos, to know.

Bos, to be.

(a). Gwîl is used to form several tenses, and is used (1) in its impersonal form in principal affirmative sentences, (2) in its inflected form in negative, interrogative, or dependent sentences, with the infinitive of the main verb, more frequently than any other form, for the present, preterite, conditional, and imperative. Its use is similar to that of do, in the Cornish manner of speaking English. Thus:

Mî a wra cara, I love, lit. I do love.

Tî a wrîg cara, thou didst love.

In these two sentences, wra and wrîg are proclitics, unaccented syllables joined in sound to the word which follows.

Mar qwressa an dên cara, if the man would love.

Gwra cara, love thou (do thou love); gwreugh why cara, love ye.

Gwrens e bos, let him be.

(b). Menny is used as an auxiliary of the future and conditional. In principal affirmative sentences it is usually in its impersonal form, in negative, interrogative, or dependent sentences always in its inflected form. Thus:

Mî a vedn môs, I will go.

Mî a venja môs, I would go.

A vednough why môs? will you go?

(c). Gally is used, chiefly in the present and preterite, for can and could, but also for may and might. Thus:

Mî a el môs, I can (or may) go.

Mî a alja môs, I could (or might) go.

(d). Gdhvos in the present is sometimes used for can. Thus:

Mî ôr mos, I can go (lit. I know [how] to go).

These follow the same rule as the others with regard to the use of their impersonal and inflected forms.

(e). Bos, to be, as an auxiliary, is used, much as in English, with the present or past participle, to form the continuous present, the continuous past, and the passive. It is generally used in the inflected form in its present and imperfect in any sort of sentence, but in principal affirmative sentences it is generally used in the impersonal form for other tenses. It can also be used with gwîl or menny and gally as an auxiliary to it, while it is itself an auxiliary to another verb, but this is only what is done in English with such expressions as can be, will be, shall be, etc.