Wednesday, 9 September 2026

2026 Day 252

2026 Dedh Dew Cans Dewdhek ha Dewgens






De Merher, nawes mis Gwedngala
Wednesday, 9th September

Glaw lowr ew da. Re a law ew drog. Glaw en telher own ew da. Glaw en telher cabm ew drog. Gen glaw lowr en telher own plansow ell tevy et ta. Heb glaw veth ma deveyth ha tir wast dhen. Gen loskvan cünys fossil thera nei ow cawas glaw trenk. Ew hedna vas po drog? Martesen ev alja drei nebes sulfur ha neitrojen dhe'n dor mars eus fowt anodho. Bes nag ew glaw trenk da rag delkyow. Badna glaw war do ew da lowr. Badna glaw der toll en to ow crow ew grevos. An nenbren ew gleb. Res ew an toll bos ownys. An to a dal bos stanch.

Enough rain is good. Too much rain is bad. Rain in the right place is good. Rain in the wrong place is bad. With enough rain in the right place plants can grow well. Without any rain at all we have desert and wasteland. With burning fossil fuels we are getting acid rain. Is that good or bad? Perhaps it can bring some sulphur and nitrogen to the ground if there's a shortage of it. But acid rain is not good for leaves. A drop of rain on a roof is OK. A drop of rain through a hole in my shed roof is annoying. The rafter is wet. The hole must be mended. The roof should be watertight.

Tuesday, 8 September 2026

2026 Day 251

2026 Dedh Dew Cans Üdnek ha Dogens









De Meurth, ethves mis Gwedngala
Tuesday, 8th September

Trehys ew an ys. Ma arrish - henn ew gwel leun a sowl. Wòja an glaw ma skyll gwer. Ma neppeth rag an gwarrak dhe dhebry. Nag ew an termyn own, na whath, dhe aras an dor gen jynn-tedna hag arder ha gònis has rag nessa bledhen. Re segh ew an dor whath - ha calys avel carn; avel carn calys. Nag ew an bestes gwarrak godra; lodnow ens rag kig bowin.

The corn is cut. There is a stubble field - that is a field full of stubble. After the rain there are green shoots. There is something for the cattle to eat. It is not the right time, not yet, to plough the ground with a tractor and plough and plant seed for next year. The ground is still too dry - and hard as rock; as hard rock. The animals are not dairy cattle; they are bullocks for beef.

Deg ger rag hedhyw Ten words for today
aras to plough
arder (m) plough
carn calys (m) hard rock
gònis has to sow seed, plant seed
gwarrak godra (coll.) dairy cattle
gwer green (can also use glas)
jynn-tedna (m) tractor (can also use tractor)
kig bowin (m) beef
lodnow (pl.) bullocks < lodn (m)
sowl (coll.) stubble
skyll (coll.) shoots

Monday, 7 September 2026

2026 Day 250

2026 Dedh Dew Cans ha Hanter Cans

De Lün, seythves mis Gwedngala
Monday, 7th September

It is interesting to see how the development of words we use in Cornish can be traced in place names, and how Cornish was progressively replaced by English. This happened noticeably in the old hundreds of Caradon and North Cornwall, adjacent to England.
Take the words a-bervedh, en bera, a-bera and bera, which we use for inside or inner:
TRESPARRETT (Rospervet 1086)  “middle/inner roughland”
= Rosperveth
CUTPARRETT (Cut Pervet 1324) “middle/inner wood” 
= Cuitpervet (OC)  The Old Cornish hard p is still preserved in pervet middle (and t in cuit wood)

TREBARWITH (Treberveth 1296) “middle/inner farm” 

= Treberveth Meanwhile p was softening to b in MC berveth

TREBARBER (Treberveth 1307) “middle/inner farm” 

= Treberveth 

TREBARVAH (P’uthno) (Treberveth 1342) “middle/inner farm” 

= Treberveth 


Another simple word that allows us to see development and replacement is Middle Cornish bighan which became bian (or vian with lenition). There are plenty of Little Farms (and a few Great Farms) down west, but not so many with earlier names. Perhaps it was more important (or isolated) places which hung onto the older fossilised forms for longer. There is a lot of overlap of old and new.


PENTIRE POINT, East: (Pentirbighan c1270) "little promontory" > Pentir Bian

LOOE, West (Porthbighan 1280, Portbian 1334) “little cove” >
Porth Bian MARAZION
(Marghasyou 1331) “Thursday market” >
Marhas Yow
CARBEAN (Carnbyan 1356) “little tor” >
Carn Bian  
MARAZION
(Marghasbighan 1359) “little market” >
Marhas Vian
TREBEATH (Trebigh 1583“small farm” >              
Trebigh The remnants of the gh affected the later pronunciation.
COOSEBEAN (Cusbyan c1400) “little wood”  >             
Coosbian        

After that comes the lenition and the stretched out vowel!

TREVEAN (Kea) Trevian little farm” 

TREVEAN (Madron) Trevian little farm” 

TREVEAN (Morvah) Trevian little farm” 

TREVEAN (Newlyn East) Trevian   little farm” 

TREVEAN (Perranuthnoe) Trevian little farm” 

TREVEAN (Sancreed) Trevian little farm” 

TREVEAN (St Keverne) Trevian little farm” 

TREVEAN (St Levan) Trevian little farm” 

TREVEAN (St Merryn) Trevian little farm” 

TREVEAR (St Issey) Treveur great farm” 

TREVEAR (St Merryn) Treveur great farm” 

TREVEAR (Sennen) Treveur great farm”