Writing a Diary 21 (times of activities)

Times of activities

Many of us have busy lives – we live by the clock, so we need to tell the time in Cornish. There are plenty of words relating to times of day (by the sun) but clocks and watches were in short supply when Cornish was a community language, so we have had to borrow.

There are two words for “hour”.              

The period of 60 minutes is <our> (m) and the hour meaning “time” is <eur> (f) (shortened to <er> or  <ar>.

Me a wòrtas üdn our.	I waited 1 hour.
Me a wrüg gòrtos dew our.	I waited 2 hours. I did wait 2 hours.
Me re wòrtas trei our ragos.	I have waited 3 hours for you.
An pres ew pemp eur.	The time is 5 o’clock.
Me vedn metya genes eth eur[1].	I will meet you at 8 o’clock.

Apart from going by the sun, people would have heard a church or clock tower bell <clogh[2]> – so hours “of the clock” are the same as hours “by the bell”.

Seyth er glogh ew.	It is 7 o’clock.
Me a wra agas gweles whegh er glogh.	I’ll see you at 6 o’clock.

In the absence of accurate minutes, you have either side of the hour (just before or just after):

Teyr eur po nebes ew.	It is just before 3 o’clock. (or some)
Hont dhe dhiw er glogh ew.	It’s just after 2 o’clock. (beyond)

And, of course we have middles, halves and quarters:

An kefewy a wrüg gorfedna hanter nos.	The party finished at midnight.
Me a dhabras ly hanter dedh.	I ate lunch at midday.
Me vedn dha weles hanter òja deg.	I will see you at half past 10.
Wra che metya genam qwarter dhe seyth?	Will you meet me at quarter to 7?
Wrüga whei mires ort agas program qwarter òja[3] eth?	Did you watch your program at quarter past 8?

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[1] some people translate English “at” with <dhe> but it is not necessary

[2] the final <gh> is silent in Late Cornish, <glogh> sounds like English “glow”

[3]  SWFM <kwarter wosa>