Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 68 (A Bit About Colours)

A Bit About Colours

To ask what colour something is (whether the subject is singular or plural), we say:

Pe liw ew …?

e.g.      Pe liw ew an margh na?                What colour is that horse?

            Pe liw ew ev?                                 What colour is he?

            Pe liw ew an vergh[1] na?            What colour are those horses?

            Pe liw ens?[2]                                What colour are they?

The simplest answers could be:

Gwidn[3] ew.                                               It’s white.

Gwidn ens.                                                 They’re white.

We have a number of words for colours, some British and others perhaps influenced by Latin and Norman French, etc. Some relate to the natural world or are found in place names, e.g.:

cann[4]                                                        bright white, feldspar

gwidn                                                          white, fair

gwidnek                                                      whitish

skilwyn                                                       off-white

dû                                                                black, dark

loos                                                             grey

glas[5]                                                         blue, green (of vegetation), grey

blou[6]                                                        blue

rüdh[7]                                                       red

rous                                                           red

cogh [8], co’                                              blood red, scarlet

mel                                                            honey

melyn                                                        yellow, buff

gwer[9]                                                      bright green

kigliw                                                        pink (lit. meat/flesh colour)

purpur[10]                                                purple

tewl                                                          brown, dark

donek                                                       brown[11]

Other colours can be made by combining some of those above, e.g.:

rüdhvelyn                                              orange

glasrüdh                                                purple

gwidnrüdh                                             pink

We also have the names of metals (similar to their Latin names) that can be used to describe colour, e.g.:

owr[12]                                                  gold

owryek                                                  golden

arhans[13]                                            silver

arhansek                                              silvery

cober                                                    copper

brons                                                   bronze

Here are some terms involving colours:

canntir                                                quartz (lit. white land)

mor (collective)                       berries

                                       (from Latin morum mulberry, blackberry)

moren (f, individual)                          berry

moren dhû, mor dû                         blackberry

mola dhû                                          blackbird

spern (collective)                              thorns

spernen (f, individual)                      thorn

spernen dhû, spern dû                  blackthorn(s), sloe(s)

spernen widn, spern gwidn          whitethorn(s), hawthorn(s)

gwiwer                                             squirrel

gwiwer rous                                     red squirrel

gwiwer loos                                      grey squirrel

rüdhek                                               robin

pedn rous                                         red head, red headed

We have already seen some place names which include glas. Here are some more with other colours:

Kenwyn (Keynwyn 1316)               PN white/fair ridge

Baldhu (Baldue 1755)                     PN black/dark diggings

Carrick Luz                                    PN grey rock

Carnmeal (Carnmele 1501)            PN honey tor

Millook (Mellek 1345)                     PN honeyed

Ruthvoes (Rudhfos 1296)              PN red wall

Wheal Reeth (Wheal Rudh)            PN red mine

Pollreath (Poll Rudh)                       PN red pool

Redruth (Unyredreth 1563)            PN St Euny at a red ford

Wheal Vlow                                     PN blue mine

Gwarder (Gwerthour 1312)             PN green water/stream

And St Michael’s Mount was once called

Carrek Loos y’n Coos[14]                grey rock in the wood

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[1] Usually only male human plurals mutate after an. This is an exception, perhaps because riders personified their horses …

[2] This is non emphatic. If you want to be more emphatic you can use Pe liw en’jei?

[3]  SWFM <gwynn>

[4]  cf Latin candor shining whiteness

[5] cf Greek glaukos (Homer used it to describe the glimmering sea) / Latin glaucus blue-grey, green-grey – glaucous now used in botany to describe leaves (there is also a glaucous gull)

[6] cf French bleu blue

[7] in Late Cornish this is pronounced [reeth] rather than [rooth]

[8] blood itself is gooj

[9] cf Latin ver spring or viridis green

[10] cf Latin purpur purple

[11] theSWF glossary has gell light brown and gorm dark brown

[12] cf Latin aurum

[13] Gendall also has argan, cf Latin argentum

[14]  This is traditional pre SWF spelling . SWF wood is coos