Tabm a Gernow 56 (stick insect)

Fatla gen agas lagajow? O whei lagajek? Ello whei gweles bestes bian e'mesk del glas? Pandr'ew hebma? Nag ew prev del. Ew hebma gwelen? Nag ew, bes preven gwelen ew. Ma'n preven ma o faynya boas gwelen vian. Ma whegh garr bes nag eus skelly dhodho. Na ell ev neyja. Ma va o qwaya pur syger, avel welen en gwens. Calish ew dhe weles prevas a'n par ma. Nag ens gwelys lies gweyth.  

More Bits of Late Cornish 2 (places 2)

Places 2

Other common suffixes are –jy (SWFM –ji) and –ty (SWFM –ti).  Again, they do not occur on their own but are derivations of MC chi meaning house (LC chei). They are unstressed endings. More specific than –va, they denote the building where an activity takes place or a thing is found. Words ending in –jy or –ty are also often neologisms, though there may be older, more genuine and idiomatic ways of saying the same thing.

gwarijy	theatre, playhouse
chei gwary	theatre, playhouse
plen an gwary	amphitheatre, playing place
crow	shed, hut
crowjy (SWFM krowji)	cottage, cabin
manerjy	manor house, country house
scol (f)	school
scoljy (m) (SWFM skolji)	schoolhouse
melin, belin (f)	mill
melinjy, belinjy (m) place name Mellingey place name Bolingey was Mellingy in 1516	mill house
boos	food
bosty	restaurant
pobas	to bake
peber	a baker
chei forn (vorn)	a bakery, a bakehouse
chei pobas	a bakery, a bakehouse
kig	meat
kiger	a butcher
kigty	a butcher’s shop
chei kiger	butcher’s

Example:                                        

Me eth dhe’n chei pobas ha perna bara, tesen safran ha nebes torthellow.

I went to the bakery and bought bread, a saffron cake and a few buns.

Quiz 1

1. What do you suppose is going on in an atomva?

2. If bath is a coin, what could be the word for a mint where coins are made?

3. If brag is malt, what do you suppose is going on in a bragjy?

4. Whereabouts in the Cornish countryside might you find a jynnjy?

More Bits of Late Cornish 1 (places 1)

Places 1

   We have already seen that a new word can be built by adding a suffix to an existing noun, verb or adjective, e.g. by adding –va to an activity or thing we have a place where that activity happens or that thing can be found. Many of the words will be neologisms, since the activities or things did not exist when Cornish was originally spoken (we probably over-use it now!). Va is not a noun found by itself, though it means a place (or abstract idea). Words ending in –va are feminine, so some of them mutate after the definite article an:

sport	sport
sportva [1] (f)	a stadium
gwary	a game or a play to play or to act
gwariva (f)	a stage (or a theatre)
an wariva	the stage (or the theatre)
lever	a book
leverva (f)	a library (or could be just a bookshelf)
gwias	a web
gwiasva (f)	a web-site
an wiasva	the web-site
attes	comfortable or easy
attesva (f)	“comfort stop”, toilet or lavatory

Here are some examples of use:

Me a wrüg moas dhe’n leverva dhe whilas lever dhe les.	I went to the library to look for an interesting book.
Sport ew da genam. Thera vy o moas dhe sportva de Sadorn ha gwary pel droos.	I like sport. I go to a stadium on Saturday and play football.
Hedna ew y wiasva. Whei ell redya y dybyansow ena.	That is his website. You can read his ideas there.

---

[1]  though we can use the loan word stadium

Tabm a Gernow 55 (Pill family)

E’n vledhen etek cans üdnek ha dewgens thera trigys en Cocks,

tre pur vian en Lannberan, teylû henwys Pill. 

Robert Pill, dew ha dewgens y vloodh, o den bal en bal cober 

(martesen St. George war Clegar). Jane henwys o y wreg. 

Bloodh hei en 1851 o dewgens. Thera seyth flogh dhodhans. 

Mary Jane, pemdhek hy bloodh, o meteth bal. Thomasine aga 

nessa mergh, peswardhek hy bloodh, o meteth bal e’wedh. 

Elizabeth, dewdhek hy bloodh, o mos bal solabres. 

Trei mos bal e’n teylû. Thera mergh aral. Selina o re yonk 

dhe voas mos bal. Pemp bloodh o hei ha scolores.

Thera mebyon e’n teylû e’wedh: William (deg bloodh) ha 

Robert (eth bloodh). Thens arvethesigyon en bal cober e’wedh. 

An yonca mab o Thomas Henry, nag era bes whetek mis y vloodh.

An düs bal a wrüg obery dadn an dor. An mosy bal ha’n vebyon 

yonk o spalyoresow ha spalyoryon po lappyors. Anjei a wrüg 

crackya ha cronkya an stof, tabm ha tabm, dhe radnow bian 

rag an vog (smelting house).

Otta Cocks hedhyw.

Deg bledhen òja hedna thera an teylû trigys en Cocks whath, 

bes lebmyn tho Robert tas, William ha Robert mab stenoryon. 

Thera Mary Jane, Elizabeth ha Selina trigys ganjans, oll 

andhemedhys. Pe le era Thomasine? Thera hei en ogas. 

Tho hei demedhys, dhe John Bawden, den bal, ha gen trei flogh

solabres.

En etek cans üdnek ha trei ügens tho an teylû Pill behatna. 

Jane Pill (trei ügens hy bloodh) o benyn wedhow. Gour hei a 

verwas. Nag era bes dew vab o trigys genjy. William (naw warn 

ügens bloodh) o driver jynn, ha James (etek bloodh) o gov. 

En ogas, gour Thomasine o den bal plobm (martesen en 

Whel Chyverton Nowydh en ogas) ha thera dhe Thomasine 

eth flogh. 

Otta men co Robert Pill en corfflan Lannberan. Ma henwyn 

Selina ha Robert war an keth men co.  Anjei a wrug merwel 

yonk.

Ha Thomasine? Teylû Bawden eth dhe Pow Sows noor dhe bollow glow ha  balyow horn. Gour Thomasine a verwas e'wedh. Hei o golheres ha hei a wobrenas romys dhe ostijy e'wedh. Encledhys ew hei en Barrow in Furness (hedn'ew "Kernow Bian").

Tabm a Gernow 54 (escaped llama)

Na dal vy doas mes? Rag fra na? Nebonan a wrüg egery an yet. Rag hedna me a dheuth mes. Ma whans dhebm a dhoas mes. Ma odhom dhebm a dhoas mes. Moy las ew an gwels war ves. Me a wrüg scappya rag debry.  

Marhasna 7 (buying by length)

So far we have concentrated on foods that can be bought by weight or in containers. Now let’s look at purchases that come by length – for those DIY enthusiasts and crafters among you who like making things from scratch.

What do we use for measuring length?

lath	yard stick (hence yard length)
scantlyn	ruler, yardstick
scantlyn üdn meter	metre rule
linen methera or  müsürel	tape measure

Here are the metric and imperial measurements:

misva (f)	inch
trooshes (trooshes pedrak)	foot (square foot)
lath (f)	yard (This can also just mean “measure”)
hanter lath	half a yard
kevelin	yard
millimeter	millimetre
centimeter	centimetre
meter	metre

Here are some of the things that can be bought by length:

predn	wood, timber
tymber	timber
styckedn	post
styllen (f) or astel (f)	board
planken (f)	board, plank
stull	thick plank
gwias	fabric (anything woven)
stoff	cloth, material, stuff
ledn	cloth
las	lace
snod	ribbon, tape
snod elastek	elastic
corden (f)	cord
loven (f)	rope

And where you might do your shopping:

gwerther prednyer or marchant predn	timber merchant
garth prednyer	wood yard
shoppa D.I.Y	D.I.Y. shop
shoppa peth naja/najeth	haberdashery

And here are some examples of use:

Re gòtt ew wor misva.	It's too short by an inch.
Ro 'mann higa an lath.	Stop cheating on the measure.
Ma dhebm patron rag cota. Me a wra perna pemp meter a gwias gwloan.	I have a pattern for a coat. I’ll buy 5m of woollen fabric.
Ma odhom dhebm a naw styckedn üdn meter rag pal.	I need nine 1m posts for a fence.
Me a venja trei lath a afinans las.	I’d like 3yd of lace trimming.

Here is an old rhyme about a cheating weaver:

Whei lader gwiader (weaver),

Lavarew’ ’gas pader (prayer),

Ha ro ’mann dhe higa (cheat) an lath.

Grew’ owna (mend) ’gas for’ow,

Hedhyw po avorow,

Ha whei ’ell boas den da whath!

Tabm a Gernow 53 (A Cornishman in Galicia)

Nei ell desky meur a skians dhort meyn co. Pe le a veu nebonan genys? Piw o an teylû? Pe le a wrüg nebonan merwel? Rag fra na wrüg nebonan merwel et y genejygva (genesigva)? 

James Nancarrow, Kernow dhort Lannberan, a verwas en Orense, Spayn. 

James a veu genys e'n vledhen mil eth cans ha dewgens. Ev a verwas en mil eth cans eth ha pajar ügens. Nag o ev bes dewgens bloodh ha eth. Nag o hedna pur goth. 

Rag fra era James en Spayn? Hedn'ew pell adre. Pe le ma Orense? Ma Orense en Galicia. Provins ewa en Spayn noor west, tiredh Keltek pecar ha Kernow, gen lies bal. Martesen tho ev den bal po maynor whel. Fatel a wrüg ev merwel? Na ora vy. Martesen e veu droglam e'n bal. Bes ev a verwas en Vigo ha nag era bal en Vigo. Vigo ew porth. Martesen James a veu robbys ha moldrys. Piw a or? Martesen thera cleves dhodho. Encleudhys o va en San Lorenzo. (San Lorenzo ew tassans tüs bal.)

Marhasna Exercise 3 (vocabulary odd one out)

Can you find the odd one out in each of these groups? (Everything is in alphabetical order.)

1.      chei gwary, chei kiger, chei pobas, gorvarhas, lety

2.      debry, eva, marhasna, mona, perna

3.      cowlys, criv, crow, er, fresk

4.      bara, dehen, dillas, know, manin

5.      betys, caretys, megys, tokis, tomatys

6.      canna, copart, fardel, kisten, sten

7.      goyeynhys, gwithys, pedrys, salys, sehys

8.      canna, canspoos, gram, ouns, peuns

9.      bernas, cawas, debry, eva, moas

10.    bara, coth, drog, gwag, marow

If you need a bit of help, these are the meanings of the odd ones out:

addled, bought, bread, can, clothes, cupboard, curdled, money, smoked, theatre

Marhasna Exercise 2 (English to Cornish)

How did you get on translating from Cornish into English? Answers will be in a later post. Now try translating in the reverse direction. There may be more than one correct answer.

Can you translate the following sentences into CORNISH?

1.      I am hungry.

2.      I am going shopping for shoes.

3.      I am buying clothes.

4.      I have no suitable clothes.

5.      I like eating fresh fruit.

6.      I am looking for frozen fish

7.      I bought dried beans.

8.      I would like to drink chilled beer.

9.      Is this fresh water?

10.    I am going to the bakery.

11.    Where is the supermarket?

12.    I need smoked cheese.

13.    I want raw carrots.

14.    Is there any dried apple?

15.    Do you have any saffron?

16.    The eggs are too small

17.    Your cream is sour.

18.    use by May 1st

19.    .Oysters are bad in August.

20.    I must buy a ginger cake.