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