Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 89 (Asking Questions)

A Bit About Asking Questions

In the same way that most of our English question words have a similar beginning (who, what, why, where, when, etc.), so too do most Cornish question words.

The basic word for what is pe (Middle Cornish py). This can be used on its own or incorporated into longer terms, e.g.:

pe le[1]                                           where

This takes the positive form of boas locative. If you start with a positive statement involving a place, remove the place and put pe le at the beginning you arrive at the correct form of the question, e.g.:

Ma’n den o moas dhe’n dre.        The man is going to the town.

Ma’n den o moas ...                      The man is going ...

Pe le ma’n den o moas?              Where is the man going?

Pe le ma dha gath?                      Where is your cat?

                                        (literally; What place your cat is?)

Pe le thero’whei o moas?[2]        Where are you going?

                                         (literally; What place you are going?)

Pe le thera Jory owth eva newher?      

                                                       Where was George drinking last night?                                            (literally; What place George was drinking last night?)

pandra[3]                                       what

Pandr’ew hebma war an bord?   What is this on the table?

Pandr’ewa?                                   What is he? What is it?                   

Pandra wra hei gwil?                    What will she do?

peth[4]                                            what

Peth esta o pobas?                       What are you baking?

Peth ew hei?                                  What is she? What is it?

Peth a wrüssa whei  gweles?      What did you see?

pana[5]                                           what

Pana dhedh ew hedhyw?             What day is it today?

Pana bres ew?                               What time is it?

Pana bres ero’whei longya dhe eva te?

                                                         What time do you normally drink tea?

Pana bris ew an cota?                   What price is the coat?

Pana dermyn a wra agas noy doas?

                                                         What time will your nephew come?

Pana sort losowen  a venja’ma?   What sort of plant would I like?

pe eur[6]                                          what hour, what time, when

Pe eur ew hei lebmyn?                  What time is it now?

Pe eur üjy an düs o toas obma?   When are the people coming here?

piw[7]                                               who

Piw ew an den na?                         Who is that man?

Piw ew an venyn ma?                    Who is this woman?

Piw ens?                                          Who are they?

Piw a vedn gonis an hasen?         Who will plant the seed?

There are several ways of saying “How many?” or “How much?”

pe lies[8]                                         how many

Pe lies flogh eus e’n class?         How many children are there in the class?

Pe lies den a wrüss’ta gweles ena?      

                                                        How many people did you see there?

pes (followed by a singular noun – probably the most widely used way)

Pes bloodh o’whei?                     How many years of age (How old) are you?

Pes mildir eus dhe Loundres?   How many miles are there to London?

Pes bord eus ena?                      How many tables are there there?

peseul[9] (a)                                  how much (of)

Peseul eus obma?                        How many are there here?

                                                       How much is there here?

Peseul ew hedna?                        How much is that?

Peseul broas ew ev?                    How (much) big is it?

Peseul buhes eus dhis?               How many cows do you have?

Peseul leth eus fowt dhe nei?     How much milk do we need?

pegebmys (can stand alone)         how many

Pegebmys eus genes?                 How many have you?

Pegebmys pris a wrüg hei pea? How much (What price) did she pay?

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[1]  Ple in Middle Cornish; may be  pleth before a vowel in some tenses.

[2]  Later writers missed out the verbal particle: Pe le ero’whei o moas? Middle Cornish Pleth esowgh hwi ow mos? Also Pleth esos ta ow mos? Whither goest thou?

[3]  contraction of py an dra or pe an dra, meaning what the thing

[4]  contraction of py peth or pe peth meaning what thing. Less used in Late Cornish.

[5]  contraction of pe ehen a what kind of.  Causes soft mutation because of a. e.g. pres>bres, dedh>dhedh, etc.

[6]  Middle Cornish py eur or peur

[7]  Used in respect of people (or anthropomorphic animals!).

[8]  May also be pana lies. Since lies is followed by a singular noun in a statement, also use a singular noun after  pe lies or pana lies.

[9]  Late Cornish pezeal, Middle Cornish pyseul. Or Late Cornish combined with a it becomes pezealla (sometimes used before a noun but not before an adjective).