Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 49 (A Bit More About the Past 2)

A Bit More About the Past 2

We have looked at the simple past tense (the preterite) which is usually recognised by the verbal particle a in front and an –as ending, e.g.

debry                                   eat                                                                              

a dhebras                            ate

gweles                                 see                                                                             

a welas                                saw

sedha                                   sit                                                                               

a sedhas                              sat

Though a few are irregular, e.g.:

doas                                      come

a dheuth                               came

If you can’t remember the simple preterite (because some are irregular or involve soft mutation), the compound preterite is easily produced by using a wrüg[1] did plus the verbal noun. It should, however be used sparingly – it is an emphatic form, best used in reply to a contrary suggestion or as confirmation, in much the same way as we use did in English, e.g.

me a wrüg doas                            I did come, I came

me a wrüg debry                           I did eat, I ate

me a wrüg gweles                        I did see, I saw

me a wrüg sedha                          I did sit, I sat

These sentences from previous lessons can be used to show the difference between the preterite and the compound preterite. Notice that the verbal noun shows no mutation:

Ev a dhebras tesen.                     He ate (a) cake.

Ev a wrüg debry tesen.

Hei a dheuth tre.                           She came home.

Hei a wrüg doas tre.

An den a welas cok.                     The man saw a fishing boat.

An den a wrüg gweles cok.

Ev a egoras beister.                       He opened a window.

Ev a wrüg egery beister.

Me eth dhe’n shoppys De’ Sadorn.              I went to the shops on Saturday.

Me a wrüg moas dhe’n shoppys De’ Sadorn.   

      

Me a bernas boos rag kidnyow Nadelik.     I bought food for Christmas dinner.

Ma a wrüg perna boos rag kidnyow Nadelik.  

                                                                           

An venyn yonk na a gerdhas war an treth.   

                                                        That young woman walked on the beach.      

An venyn yonk na a wrüg kerdhes[2] war an treth.   

You need to know the use of wrüg so that you can ask questions or make negative statements (with an appropriate change of particle[3]), e.g.:

(a) wrüga vy doas                           did I come?

(a) wrüga vy debry                         did I eat?

(a) wrüga vy gweles                       did I see?

(a) wrüga vy sedha                        did I sit?

na wrüga vy doas                           I didn’t come

na wrüga vy debry                         I didn’t eat

na wrüga vy gweles                       I didn’t see

na wrüga vy sedha                        I didn’t sit

Edrek! [4]’Wrüga vy sedha en agas chayr?       

                                                        Sorry! Did I sit in your chair?

Na wrüga vy agas gweles whei.   I didn’t see you.

  Here is the full affirmative version (we will look at the full interrogative and negative later, as they are less regular):

I did                                                 me  a wrüg

you did (familiar = thou didst)          che a wrüg

he did                                              ev a wrüg

she did                                             hei a wrüg

we did                                              nei a wrüg

you did (formal or plural)                 whei a wrüg

they did                                            anjei a wrüg

Here are some examples from Matthew II:

… e wrüg doas tüs für[5] adhor an est dhe Jerusalem …

                             there came (did come) wise men from the east to Jerusalem

wrüg is often combined with pa’ (RMC pan) meaning when or as soon as:

Ha pa’wrüg Herod an mytern[6] klowes hedma, e’ veu troblys …

                     as soon as Herod the king heard (did hear) this, he was troubled

Nena Herod, pa’wrüg e’ privedh creia an düs für adenewen,…

                 Then Herod, when he called (did call) the wise men aside privately,

Ha pa’wrüg anjei gweles an steren, jei wrüg rejoyssya gen meur a lowender.

And as soon as they saw (did see) the star they rejoiced (did rejoice) with much joy

Ha jei wrüg doas abera dhe’n chei, ha wrüg gweles an flogh yonk ...

And they came (did come) into the house, and saw (did see) the young child

And here are some examples from Jowan Chei a Horr

Ha pa’wrüg anjei doas dhe’n chei 

                                                     And when they came (did come) to the house

Ha pa’wrüg e’ doas dhe’n gegin       

                                                     And when he came (did come) to the kitchen

Ha pa’wrüg e’ doas dhe’n darras     

                                                     And when he came (did come) to the door

Ha pa’wrüg Jowan doas chei    And when John came (did come) home

… pa’wrügo’whei moas ker       …  when you went (did go) away

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[1] this is pronounced short [rigg] when combined with another verbal noun (as in the examples), but if used on its own meaning made, did  it is long [reeg]

[2] pronounced [kerrez]

[3] The “question particle” is used in Middle Cornish but has been dropped in Late Cornish (though the mutation gwrüg>wrüg remains).  

[4] In conversation the verbal particle is often left out

[5] In RLC tüs für is pronounced [teez feer]

[6] unusually the stress is on the final syllable