2024 Day 37

2024 Dedh Seytek warn Ugens

De Meurth, wheffes mis Whevrel

Tuesday, 6th February

Hedhyw o jorna hir. My a brederas adro dhe eryow!

Today was a long day. I thought about words!

• In Late Cornish the usual word for “day” is dedh (m).  

(Long vowel because dh is one phoneme, not two) 

It has an unusual mutation after an (though not after üdn) to an jedh.)  

The plural is dedhyow (though not used with numbers or lies “many”).  

e.g. Ma seyth dedh en seythen. There are 7 days in a week. 

e.g. My a wrüg desky Kenôwek lies dedh. I learnt Cornish for many days. 

e.g. Thera dedhyow da ha drog. There were good days and bad. 

In Middle Cornish (SWFM) the spelling is dydh.  

(Should not be pronunced short [dith]) 

This can also be used to mean “date”.  

e.g. Pana dhedh ewa hedhyw? What day/date is it today? 

(Notice that pana causes a soft mutation.) 

e.g. An dedh ew de Lün . The day is Monday 

e.g. An dedh ew pempes mis Whedhrel.  The date is 5th February. 

 

• For a day’s duration we can use jorna (m).  

e.g. every day keniver jorna  

• Our words for “days” together with the word for “book” lever (SWFM lyver) give 

lever-dedhyow (book of days) for “calendar” and  (SWFM lyver-dydhyow)

dedhlever  or jornal for “diary” (daybook).  (SWFM dydhlyver)  

e.g. Thera vy ow scrifa dedhlever. I am writing a diary.

e.g. Pepys a scrifas dedhlever hir. Pepys wrote a long diary. 

  

• For days of the week, the word is de or dy.   

This is a stand-alone word; it is not an abbreviation of dedh or dydh. So, an apostrophe in de’ Yow or dy’ Yow is unnecessary.  

It is pronounced with a schwa vowel because it is usually followed by a stressed syllable.  

• de  without a day name means "yesterday", i.e. the day before this one, and degensete means "the day before yesterday" 

• de vettin means "yesterday morning" (notice the soft mutation) 

• (SWFM de vyttin)  

 

e.g. Hedhyw ew de Meurth. De o de Lün. Degensete o de Sül.  

Today is Tuesday. Yesterday was Monday. The day before yesterday was Sunday. 

  

• A capital letter is not always needed for ordinary days, only for special days, or if it is combined with its day name:  

e.g. Saturday de Sadorn  

e.g. Good Friday De Gwener an Grows (can lose the De)  

e.g. Maundy Thursday De Yow Hablys (or > Deow Hablys).   

(Cablys means “guilty”; is there a connection? A day for penitence?) 

One Thursday has a very strange mutation. The Thursday one full week before Christmas is Chewydn (where Chew<Yow) 

e.g. Ash Wednesday De Merher Lüjiw   

Alternative spellings Merher ~ Marher (SWFM Mergher)  

e.g. Tuesday can be de Meurth or Demeurth.  

Shrove Tuesday De Meurh Enes  (SWFM Enys) 

(French "Mardi Gras" > "carnival". We can use Gool Enes for "carnival".)

e.g. Monday can be de Lün or Delün  (pre-SWF spelling/pronunciation was Leen) 

e.g. Palm Sunday De Sül Bleujyow or Desül Bleujyow (pre-SWF spelling/pronunciation was Zeel) 

  

• Remember the song that can be sung to the tune of ‘Clementine’:  

Ema seyth dedh, ema seyth dedh,  

ema seyth dedh en seythen;  

de Sül, de Lün, de Meurth, de Merher,  

de Yow, de Gwener, de Sadorn.