Personal Descriptions 5 (age and gender)

At some point age and gender come into the conversation:

den                                   man

benyn                               woman

flogh                                child

yonk                                 young (Middle Cornish yowynk)

coth                                  old      

tevesik/tevesiges              adult (grownup)

Benyn yonk o vy.             I’m a young woman.

Tevesiges yonk o vy.        I’m a young adult (female).

In English I might say “I’m a woman with grey hair.” In Cornish we say the equivalent of “I’m a woman, grey my hair.” We do not translate the “with”, so:

Benyn o vy loos o blew.             I’m a woman with grey hair.

Den coth o vy gwydn o barv.     I’m an old man with a white beard.

Flogh yonk o vy crüllys o blew. I’m a young child with curly hair.

Pedn rous o vy gwer o lagajow.  I’m a redhead with green eyes.

When talking to some Cornish speakers you may find that instead of starting a sentence with “Tho vy…” for “I am …” they start a sentence with “My yw …” (RMC spelling) e.g.

My yw benyn goth.                    I am an old woman.

My yw tevesik.                           I am a grownup (m).