Saturday 24 January 2015

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit - children's rhyme ("Tommy Thumb")

Here is a children’s rhyme about all the fingers:
Bes broas, bes broas,                 Thumb, thumb (big finger)
Pe le ero whei?                             Where are you?
Otta vy, otta vy!                            Here I am, here I am (Behold me!)
Fatla genow’ whei?                      How do you do? (How is it with you?)

Bes rag, bes rag,                          Fore finger, fore finger
Pe le ero whei?                            Where are you?
Otta vy, otta vy!                           Here I am, here I am (Behold me!)
Fatla genow’ whei?                     How do you do? (How is it with you?)

Bes cres, bes cres,                      Middle finger, middle finger
Pe le ero whei?                            Where are you?
Otta vy, otta vy!                           Here I am, here I am (Behold me!)
Fatla genow’wh                           How do you do? (How is it with you?)

Bes besow, bes besow,             Ring finger, ring finger,
Pe le ero whei?                           Where are you?
Otta vy, otta vy!                          Here I am, here I am (Behold me!)
Fatla genow’wh                          How do you do? (How is it with you?)

Bes bian, bes bian,                    Little finger, little finger,
Pe le ero whei?                          Where are you?
Otta vy, otta vy!                         Here I am, here I am (Behold me!)
Fatla genow’whei?                    How do you do? (How is it with you?)

Besies oll, besies oll,                Fingers all, fingers all,
Pe le ero whei?                         Where are you?
Otta nei, otta nei!                      Here we are, here we are (Behold us!)
Fatla genow’whei?                   How do you do? (How is it with you?)



Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 43 (Pronunciation 3)

A little bit about pronunciation 3

In Cornish SWF/L, as in English, there are some words which look the same but sound different. There are other words that rhyme with one alternative but not the other, e.g.:
bes[1] (long vowel)                       finger (pl. besies)
bes[2] (long vowel)                       world (pl. besow)
bes[3]                                           but
bys[4]                                           until, till
rag (long vowel)                           fore
derag[5] (long vowel)                   in front of
rag (short vowel)                          for

hag                                               and (before a vowel)
nag                                               not (before vowels in bos to be)

War dhorn, thew bes rag hir,      
On a hand a fore finger is long,
hag hir ew an ger “bes” (rag “finger”) ha’n ger “rag” (rag “fore”).
and the word “bes(for “finger”) and the word “rag”(for “fore”) are long.           
Bes berr ew an geryow “bes”,  “bys”, “rag”, “hag” ha “nag”.
But the words “but”, “till”, “for”, “and” and “not” are short.




[1] Gendall has bêz to show the long vowel. MC uses bys (with alternative pronunciation)
[2] Gendall has bêz to show the long vowel. MC uses bys (with alternative pronunciation)
[3] Gendall uses byz, showing that the vowel is schwa. MC uses mes (coincidentally like Fr “mais”, but probably a contracted version of marnas)
[4] Gendall uses biz
[5] MC uses a-rag

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 42 (extending quantities)

Extending quantities

There are several little words we can use to modify adjectives, etc. They all cause soft mutation, e.g.:
pur                                                      very
mar                                                      so
re                                                         too

Hedna ew da.                                     That is good.
Hedna ew mar dha .                          That is so good.
Hedna ew da genam.                         I like that.              
Hedna ew mar dha genam.               I like that so much.

Hebma ew lever pur boos.               This is a very heavy book.
Re boos ew ev rag an estyllen.        It’s too heavy for the shelf.
Rag hedna, ma’n lever poos ma war an leur.             
                                                           Therefore, this heavy book is on the floor.

Cas ew genam an lever na.             I hate that book.
Nag ew pur dhe les.                         It’s not very interesting.
Drog ew, pur dhrog.                        It’s bad, very bad.
Hedna nag ew da gene’vy.              I do not like that.

Old rhyme, giving advice:
Na wrewgh eva re,                          Don’t drink too much,
Bes evow’ rag ’gas sehes,             But drink for your thirst,
Ha hedna, moy po le,                     And that, more or less,

’Vedn gwitha corf en ’ehes.           Will keep a body in health.

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 41 (Liking and loathing 1)

Liking and loathing 1

We can use the preposition gen, gans with (with slight modifications) with ew is, are (descriptive of bos to be) and da good to indicate whether you like something or not, e.g.:

Da ew gwin gwydn gene’vy.       
                                                I like white wine. (White wine is good with me.)
Ew da genow’whei tesednow?  
                                                Do you like cakes? (Are cakes good with you?)
Nag ew cor’ da ganj ev.                
                                                He doesn’t like beer. (Beer isn’t good with him.)
Dowr ew gwell gens’hei.              
                                                She prefers water. (Water is better with her.)

Other words can be substituted for da good to indicate other emotions, e.g.:

cas                                         hate, hateful
Cas ew gene’nei te heb leth.                   
                                                We hate tea without milk. …is hateful with us.

poos                                      reluctant (same word as heavy)
Poos ew gene’vy dhe wül hedna.         
                                                I am reluctant to do that. Reluctance is with me ..

mall                                        eager, keen
Mall ew gens’hei donsya.            
                                                She is eager to dance. She is keen to dance.

drog                                       bad, pain
Drog ew genam gwires.                           
                                               I hate spirits. I dislike spirits

Drog ew genev.                    I’m sorry. (preferred by Middle Cornish users)

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 40 (Pronunciation 2)

A Little Bit about Pronunciation 2

Wherever you have a pre-occlusion[1] after a vowel, the vowel is short, e.g.:

abm                                       a kiss                             
badna                                    a drop
dadna                                    under
labm                                      a jump, a leap                                   
gladn                                     a bank
hebma                                   this (m)
hedna                                    that (m)
hobma                                   this (f)
hodna                                    that (f)
cabm                                     wrong, crooked
mabm                                    mum
obma                                     here
pedn                                      a head
plobm                                    lead (cf Latin plumbum)
radn                                       a part, a portion
tabm                                      a bit
üdnek                                    eleven





[1] nn or mm in RMC. Pronounce with an unexploded b before m and unexploded d before n

Sunday 18 January 2015

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit answers to test your progress 2

Answers to Exercise 2a

1 There is more bread on the table.
2 There aren’t any apples (at all) in the tree.
3 There were five women.              
4 Give me more cheese and a bit of bread.
5 She is eating bread with honey.
6 There was an apple in my pocket.
7 I ate bread without butter.
8 Was his cat beautiful?
9 She saw her cat.
10 There wasn’t (any) butter on the bread.

Answers to Exercise 2b

1 O hager?
2 Era mel?
3 Ev a welas cath[1].
4 Ma hei (owth) eva te heb leth.
5 Thera deg den.
6 Me a dheuth tre de.
7 Ro dhebm aval.
8 Ev a sedhas war an bord,
9 saw nag era tesen (veth)
10 ha nag era te (veth).




[1] The <th> at end of words such as <cath>, <dheuth>, etc. is “unvoiced”. It is pronounced like the [th] in English [moth], [pith], etc.

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 39 (Pronunciation 1)

A Little Bit about Pronunciation I

Consonants following vowels affect how we pronounce those vowels. This can be shown by a number of words which differ only in their consonants. Sometimes the differences in vowel sound are quite subtle. In stressed monosyllables, the vowel is (usually) long before a single consonant but short before a double consonant or a cluster of different consonants, e.g.:

car                                 relative (a bit like Eng. [care] but pronounce r )
carr                                car       (vowel like Eng. [cat] but pronounce r)

Ma’n car vy o toas.      My relative is coming.
Ma va o lewa y garr.    He is driving his car.

el                                   angel  (long like Eng. [ale] but pure vowel)
ell                                  can      (rhymes with Eng. [fell])

El a dheuth dhe Maria.      An angel came to Mary.
Me a ell gweles pictûr.       I can see a picture.

pel                                ball (f)  (long like Eng. [pale] but pure vowel)
pell                               far        (rhymes with Eng. [fell])
an bel                           the ball (fem. noun mutates after an)
bell                               war, warfare

Ma’n maw o qwary gen pel.         The boy is playing with a ball.
Ma va o ponya pell gen y bel.      He runs (is running) far with his ball.
Thera bell en pow pell.                  There was war in a far country.

gwel[1]                          field     (rhymes with Eng. [ale] as above )
gwel[2]                          view    (rhymes with Eng. [ale] as above)
gwell[3]                         better  (rhymes with Eng. [fell])

Ma maw ha pel en gwel.         There is a boy and a ball in a field.
Gwell ew genam mos pell.      
                                     I prefer to go far. It is better with me to go far.
O chei ew henwys “Gwel an Mor”.         
                                     My house is called “Sea View”.
Ma gwell gwel a’n gwel.                             
                                    There is a better view of the field.

ber[4]                           spike, spear, spit
berr[5]                         short, brief

Thera an den coth ow treylya an ber.     
                                    The old man was turning the spit.
Ma’n maw o tegy lavrek berr.                  
                                    The boy was wearing short trousers (shorts).

gwin                             wine               (rhymes with Eng. [been])
gwydn, gwynn            white               (rhymes with Eng. [bin])

Gwin rüdh ew da genam.            I like red wine.
Bes gwin gwydn ew gwell.         But white wine is better.
En pow ma nag eus gwell gwin. In this country there is no better wine.

clok                              cloak              (sounds like  [clauk] )
clock                            clock              (sounds like Eng. [clock])

Ma clok coth en kist.                       There is old cloak in a chest.
Cabm ew an clock war an vos.      The clock on the wall is wrong.






[1] Gendall spells this gweal
[2] Gendall uses gwêl to show the long vowel
[3] Comparatives such as this can come before the noun
[4] Gendall uses bêr to show the long vowel. Pronounce somewhere between [beer] and [bear]
[5]  Short vowel as in [bet] but pronounce the r