Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 53 (A Bit About Yourself)

A Bit About Yourself

If you are going to talk about yourself you need to remember the two forms of boas to be. Use the descriptive tho vy I am for your personal characteristics and the locative thero vy with a verb for anything you do. Where you have a choice of word order, the important information comes first, depending on the circumstances, e.g.:

Tho vy benyn yonk.                         I am a young woman.

                                                          (in contrast to someone else)

Coth lowr o vy.                                I am quite old.

                                                         (rather than any other age)

Bloodh vy ew trei ügens.               I am sixty years old.

                                                         (My years are three score.)

Thero vy o triga en Truru               I live in Truro.

Thero vy trigys en Truru.[1]          I live in Truro.

Thero vy o conis en lowar’.           I work in a garden.

Nag ero vy o conis.                       I don’t work.

Omdednys o vy.                            I am retired.

                                                        (as opposed to being something else)

Tho vy medhek.                             I am a doctor.

                                                        (in contrast to someone else)

Nag eus whel dhebm.                    I have no work. I’m out of work.

Blew vy ew loos.                            My hair is grey.

                                                         (in contrast to someone else’s hair)

Ma pedn dü dhebm.                       I have black hair (head).

Ma barv[2] gwidn dhe vy.             I have a white beard.

Lagajow vy ew blou.                      My eyes are blue.

                                                        (in contrast to someone else’s eyes)

Hir o vy.                                          I am tall. (rather than short)

There is an alternative, idiomatic form you can use for describing others:

Den dü y var’ …                            A man with a black beard …

Üdn venyn melyn hy blew …       One woman with blonde hair …

 

Here is a selection of extra vocabulary you might find useful:

beautiful           teg big                    broas fat                     tew heavy               poos light                  scav naughty            drog short                  berr slim                   moon small                 bian strong               crev sweet                wheg thin                   tanow

ugly                     hager[3] weak                     gwadn bald                      mool black                     dü blonde                   melyn brown                   donak curly                      crüllys dark                       tewal green                     glas, gwer red                         rous straight                  compes white                      gwydn

A children’s rhyme:

Blew crüllys, blew crüllys,           Curly locks, curly locks,

Ven’ta che boas dhe vy?              Wilt thou be mine?

Na wra che golhy lestry,               Thou shalt not wash dishes.

Na whath boosa mogh.                 Nor yet feed the swine.

Che ’wra sedha war bluvek          Thou shalt sit on a cushion

Ha gwrias gwry fin,                        And sew a fine seam,

Ha debry sevy,                               And dine upon strawberries,

Dehen ha con.                                Sugar and cream.

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[1] Thero vy trigys  is a “stock phrase”

[2] In RLC we do not pronounce the final [v] of barv 

[3] goes before the noun

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 52 (A Bit About Wanting Things)

A Bit About Wanting Things

To say you want something or would like something you can use a modal or auxiliary (helper) verb.

mednes[1]                                           will, to wish, to want

When used with a verbal particle the initial m mutates to v, even though the particle may not be written or spoken in Late Cornish. To show that a particle has been missed out you can write an apostrophe.

In the present tense the following forms are used:

me a vedn}                                       I will, I wish, I want

me vedn}

  

   In RMC, when the personal pronoun is written after the verb[2] it causes changes to the ending in the first and second persons. The RLC spelling is simplified[3].

[4]vydna’ vy?                                  will I?

na vydnavy                                      I will not, I do not wish, I do not want

In RLC the affirmative just uses a monoform (actually the third person singular) with all the pronouns, nouns and names.

You can choose whether to use the verbal particle or the apostrophe when you write it[5] – whatever you think sounds better when you say it, e.g.:

me a vedn, me vedn                      I will, I wish, I want

che a vedn, che vedn                    you will, you wish, you want (familiar)

ev a vedn, e’ vedn                          he will, he wishes, he wants

hei a vedn, hei vedn                      she will, she wishes, she wants

nei a vedn, nei vedn                      we will, we wish, we want

whei a vedn, whei vedn                you will, you wish,

                                                         you want (formal and plural)

anjei a vedn, anjei vedn                they will, they wish, they want

an flogh vedn                                  the child will, the child wishes,

                                                        the child wants

 flehes vedn                                     children will, children wish, children want

Jowan vedn                                     John will, John wishes, John wants

And this modal verb can be used with an object or with an action (verb), e.g.:

Me a vedn tabm moy.                    I want a bit more. (object)

Ev a vedn kens caretys.               He prefers carrots. (object) lit.

                                                         He wants first carrots.

Hei vedn mos tre.                           She wants to go home. (verb)

Nei a vedn dos gena whei.            We will come with you. (verb)

termyn a vedn dos                         a time that will come (verb) i.e. the future

As you can see vedn can be used to indicate the future or volition or both (there is not universal agreement on which is more correct!). In terms of wanting, a milder version of mednes can be used (the conditional). Again we use the monoform (third person singular)

a venja or venja.

This can also be used as the past tense for mednes.

me a venja                                        I would like, I wanted

che a venja                                       you would like, you wanted (familiar)

ev a venja                                         he would like, he wanted

hei a venja                                        she would like, she wanted

nei a venja                                        we would like, we wanted

whei a venja                                    you would like, you wanted (formal or plural)

anjei a venja                                     they would like, they wanted

Me a venja bolla’de.                        I’d like a cup of tea.  

Hei a venja kens gwin.                  She would prefer wine.

                                                         She would like first wine.

Jowan na venja servya na fella[6].John didn’t want to serve any further.       

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[1] RMC mynnes

[2] called the “personal” form

[3] This will be covered more fully in a later lesson

[4] RMC a vynnav vy?  In RLC this can also be written vadna vy

[5] For the moment I shall continue to use the particle in these lessons, but the alternative is not wrong. 

[6] spirant mutation of pella further to fella after na – but pronounced [velha] in RLC

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 51 (Pronunciation 4)

A Bit About Pronunciation 4

Place names[1] (and surnames) which are based on the Cornish language have acquired English spelling[2] which give clues to Late Cornish pronunciation of the original[3], e.g.

glas                                                    green

related place names include

Goonlaze (Goon Las)                     green downs

Lusty Glaze (Lostyn Glas)              little green tail of land (possibly)     

Borlase (Borlas) (also a surname)         green hummock 

Carclaze (Crug Las)                        green barrow

Carnclaze (Carn Glas)                    green/grey tor

Ellenglaze (Elyn Glas)                    green Elyn (stream name, “bend”)

Hallaze (Hallas)                               green marsh

Polglase (Polglas)                           blue/green pool

Polglaze (Polglas)                           blue/green pool

           

crib (f)                                              a comb, a crest, a reef

                                   

related place names include

Carn Greeb (Carn Grib)                  crest/reef crag

Carn Gribba (Carn Grib)                 crest/reef crag

Greeb Point (an Gryb)                     the crest/reef

Gribba Point (Carn Gryb)                crest/reef crag

Polcrebo (Polcrybow)                     pool by crests/ridges

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[1] see A Concise Dictionary of Cornish Place-Names by Craig Weatherhill, Evertype 2009 and  Place Names in Cornwall and Scilly by Craig Weatherhill, Wessex Books 2005

[2] also Modern Cornish spelling

[3] This is in addition to the phonetic spelling given by Edward Lhuyd.

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit (Test your progress 3)

Can you find the little bits to translate the following? Everything you need should be somewhere in earlier posts.

Exercise 3a

1. Ro dhebm tabm tesen.

2. Ma botel a leth war an bord.

3. Ma va o tebry pot a vel.

4. Hei a vedh benyn deg.

5. Me a vedh ena.

6. Ero whei e’n gegin?

7. Ma den coth gen an venyn goth.

8. Ev a lebmas war vord isel.

9. Thera boos moy e’n fardel.

10. Ma fardel leun a voos e’n gegin. 

Exercise 3b

1. Give me a glass of wine, please.

2. There is a young child in the house.

3. He is an ugly man.

4. I was a young man.

5. He saw a young child.

6. You are buying a honey pot without honey.

7. Are you Kate or Tamsyn?

8. He will not be faithful.

9. Is there more wine in the wine bottle?

10. There is food in a huge chest.

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 50 (Kith and Kin)

Kith and Kin

car[1] (m) kerens[2] (pl)                 male relative[3], relation, 

                                                        family member, parent

cares (f) caresow (pl)[4]                female relative, relation, family member

kerens (pl)                                      can also be used for parents

coweth(m) cowetha (pl)                male friend(s)

cowethes (f) cowethesow (pl)     female friend(s)

cothman[5](m) cothmans (pl)      male friend(s)

At Christmas, New Year and other festive occasions we like to meet up with family and friends. So what can we say about them? Here’s some of the vocabulary we used in earlier lessons. Notice that we have had two words for father:

Ev a vedh y sira.                             He will be his father.

…gen sira vy ha pemp den moy   with my father and five more men

An tas ew.                                        It’s the father.

Agan Tas nei eus en Nev…            Our Father that is in Heaven…

Vedh hei dama dha?                     Will she be a good mother?

gans o dama                                   with my mother, by my mother

An den a bernas kei rag y vab.    The man bought a dog for his son.

An maw ma ew o mab.                  This boy is my son.

aga broder                                      their brother

reb hy whor                                    beside her sister

Building on these (note the mutations):

sira[6]                                              a father

an sira                                             the father

üdn sira                                           one father, a particular father

sirys                                                 fathers

tas                                                    a father

an tas                                               the father

üdn tas                                             one father, a particular father

tasow                                                fathers

an dasow[7]                                     the fathers

hendas                                              forefather, ancestor

hendasow                                          forefathers, ancestors

ragdas                                               forefather, ancestor

ragdasow[8]                                      forefathers, ancestors

dama                                                  a mother

an dhama                                           the mother

üdn dhama                                        one mother, a particular mother

damyow                                             mothers

an damyow                                        the mothers

We also have a rather more informal version of mother:

mabm                                                 a mother, a mum

an vabm                                             the mother, etc.

üdn vabm                                           one mum, a particular mum

mabmow                                            mums

an mabmow [9]                                  the mums

mab                                                    a son

an mab                                               the son

üdn mab                                             one son, a particular son

mebyon                                              sons

an vebyon                                          the sons

mergh                                                 a daughter

an vergh                                             the daughter

üdn vergh                                          one daughter, a particular daughter

merhes                                               daughters

an merhes                                          the daughters

broder                                                 a brother

an broder                                            the brother

üdn broder                                          one brother, a particular brother

breder                                                  brothers

an vreder                                             the brothers

whor                                                     a sister

an whor                                                the sister

üdn whor                                             one sister, a particular sister

wheredh                                               sisters

an wheredh                                           the sisters

We can use these words with some of our previous vocabulary, e.g.:

Ma üdn whor dhebm.                            I have one sister.

Thera dew[10] vroder dhebm.              I had two brothers.

Ev a welas y vroder[11]de.                   He saw his brother yesterday.

Wrüg hei gweles hy whor Nos Nadelik?          

                                                            Did she see her sister on Christmas Eve?

Na wrüg hei.                                          She did not.

Bes hei wrüg gweles hy thas[12].       But she did see her father.

O dama a gribas hy fedn[13].              My mother combed her hair (head).

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[1] long vowel sound, rather like English [care]

[2] shorter vowels

[3] male plurals are also used for mixed gender groups

[4] note the shift in stress in pronunciation from [KARes] to [karESow]

[5] RLC cuthman (same pronunciation, first vowel is a scwha)

[6] pronounced [zeera]

[7] remember that plurals of masculine people mutate after an

[8] Richard Gendall’s 2000 grammar book is called Tavas a Ragadasow The Language of My Forefathers

[9] remember that plural feminine nouns do not mutate after an the 

[10] dew two causes soft mutation of b>v

[11] soft mutation of b>v after y his

[12] hy her causes spirant mutation of t>th

[13] another spirant mutation after hy her, p>f