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].
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.
[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
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