Friday 27 January 2017

Taking a new look at Cornish grammar 28 (indefinite pronouns)

Now it is time to have another look at SUBJECT. We had an initial look at personal subject pronouns in earlier lessons. These are used when we know who (or what) the subject is. 
Here is a summary to remind you of ones you are likely to see.

person
before verb
after verb
attached (if used) to the end of the verb
I
me
SWFM my
vy
-ma
you/thou
(familiar)
te or che
SWFM ty
che
-ta
he
ev
va or ev
-va
she
hei
SWFM hi
hei

we
nei
SWFM ni
nei

you (plural or formal)
whei
SWFM hwi
whei

they
anjei
SWFM i
anjei


We have also looked at demonstrative pronouns:
hedna
that (m)
hebma
this (m)
hodna
that (f)
hobma
this (f)
an re na
those
an re ma
these

To these we can add
aral
another
re erel
other ones
an re aral
the other one
an re erel (may be contracted to a’r’erol)1
the other ones

Sometimes, though, our knowledge is imprecise, so we need INDEFINITE pronouns. Look out for some little words: onan (or sometimes hüny) one (den man may also be used in this context) and tra or peth (SWFM pyth) thing. These are preceded by a few other indicators: e.g. neb some, pub each/every, keniver every, kettep every, lies many. There are a number of different, equally valid, combinations, e.g.
nebonan[2]
someone, somebody,
anyone, anybody
neb tra
something
neb peth
something
neppeth, nepeth
SWFM neppyth
something
pubonan
everyone, everybody
pub tra
everything
keniver onan
everyone, everybody
keniver tra
everything
kettep hüny
everyone
lies onan
many people
lies tra
many things
lies hüny
many people

Let us look at some positive examples with a location or action in the predicate:
Ma nebonan e’n chei.
SWFM Yma nebonan y’n chi.
There is somebody in the house.
or Someone is in the house.
Ma nebonan o toas.
SWFM Yma nebonan ow tos.
There is someone coming.
or Somebody is coming.
Ma neppeth e’n copart.
SWFM Yma neppyth y’n kopart.
There is something in the cupboard.
Ma keniver onan obma.
SWFM Yma keniver onan omma.
Everyone is here.
Keniver tra a godhas dhe’n dor.
Everything fell down.
Kettep hüny eth dhe’n shoppys.
Everyone went to the shops (went shopping).
Thera lies tra war an bord.
SWFM Yth esa lies tra war an voos.
There were many things on the table.

We can also use them in questions:
Eus nebonan ena?
Is there anybody there?
Is anyone there?
A wra pub onan doas dhe’n kescussülyans?
SWFM A wra pub onan dos dhe’n keskussulyans?
Will everyone come to the conference?
A wrüg pub tra fyllel?
Did everything fail (go wrong)?










[1]  Gendall has an rerol for "the others".

[2] Nebonan may be used in a positive statement or a question with a slightly different interpretation.  

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