A Bit
About Adverbs
So far we have seen a number of adverbs that
describe place, e.g.:
obma here
Ma kei obma. There is a dog here.
ena there
Ma cath ena. There is a cat there.
tre home, back
Thero’vy
o moas tre. I’m going home.
Some
of them begin with a- meaning of or from, e.g.:
alebma hence, of here
Voyd alebma! Get out of here!
alena thence, of there
Ma va o
toas mes alena. He’s
coming out of there.
We can
add others beginning with a- to our list[3].
Here are just a few examples:
abres early, on time, timely
ales away, abroad
arag forward
Adhesempis Alys a welas conin gwydn.
Suddenly Alice saw a white rabbit.
Boson eth ales[6] dhe scoll. Boson went away to
school.
Venja whei doas adreus? Would you
like to come across/over?
An vowes a gerdhas arag. The
girl walked forward.
Rim rag Flehes
Two
little dicky birds are sitting on the wall,
An eyl henwys
Peder, y gila henwys Pol
One named Peter, the
other named Paul.
Kew’ ales Peder! Kew’ ales Pol! Go away Peter! Go away
Paul!
Dew’ tre Peder! Dew’ tre Pol! Come back Peter! Come back
Paul!
We also have adverbs that describe time, e.g.:
lebmyn now
Pandra wra whei gwil lebmyn? What will
you do now?
nena then
Nena Erod a veu engrys. Then Herod was angry.
de yesterday
Me eth dhe’n wariva de. I
went to the theatre yesterday.
scon soon
Me a wra doas scon. I’ll
come soon.
Ma va ena solabres. He’s already there.
avorow tomorrow
haneth tonight,
this evening
old saying (c.f. “One good turn deserves
another.”):
Mar medno’whei moas gena vy haneth,
If
you will go with me tonight,
me a vedn moas gena whei avorow.
I
will go with you tomorrow.
We have met adverbs of intensity, which come before
an adjective[9],
e.g.:
pur very
Pur lowen o anjei. They were very
happy.
An gath o drog. The cat was bad.
Pur dhrog o an gath. The cat was very
bad.
re too
Re leun ew an hanath na. That
mug is too full.
An cota ew costek. The
coat is expensive.
Re gostek ew an cota . The
coat is too expensive.
mar so
Mar gostek ew hebma. This
is so expensive.
and one that comes after an adjective:
lowr quite,
enough
Fatla genes? Da lowr. How
are you? Quite well/ O.K.
We can add to these adverbs of frequency, e.g.:
neb pres sometime,
at any time
pub pres always,
all the time
rag nevra venitha for
ever and ever
Hei alja doas neb pres. She could come at any time.
Thero’vy pub pres
e’n gegin. I am always in the
kitchen.
Me a’th car rag nevra
venitha. I love you for ever and
ever.
Na wrüga vy byscath gweles lever Kernowek.
I
never saw a Cornish book.
[1] when motion is implied you can use bys
obma instead of obma
[2]
when motion is implied you can use bys dei or bystei instead of ena
[3]
You may see these adverbs written with a hyphen, e.g. a-dhesempis, etc.
[4] Nicholas Williams gives yn
sodyn
[6] Pronunciation stress on last syllable.
[7] Middle Cornish <fos>
is pronounced the same as <vos> after definite article!
[9]
Remember that they cause a soft mutation of some consonants.
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