Tabm a Gernow 95 (Cribbar wave)

De Gwener, an whetegves dedh a vis Kevardhû, thera lies person o cortos war an aljow en Towan Plüstry. Rag fra? Thens o cortos rag todn vroas henwys an “Cribbar” po Grier Gwedhwes. Pur hir ha diantel ew hei. Nag üjy an Cribbar o toas oll an termyn. Ma odhom a vortid compes ha gwens compes a ûgh dhe grib henwys an Cribbar ogas dhe Bedn Towyn.

Hedhyw nag era todn Cribbar. Moy isel o an todnow. Nag o anjei diantel. Nag o anjei pigüs. Nag o mar stowt an morplaynyers.




Todnow broas a sqwachyas war an carrigy saw na alja nagonan surfya ena.

Tabm a Gernow 94 (Mantol)

An kensa dedh warn ügens a vis Kevardhû ew Mantol; hedhyw a veu an jedh moy cott a’n vledhen, gen bohes ourys a wolowder an howl. Nag era an jedh bes seyth our naw mynysen ha dogans (dew ügens) en hester. Avorow a vedh hirra. Nag o an gewer pur dha hedhyw. Gwenjek o, ha glas o an mor ha'n eborn (ebron).  E'n cres an jedh gwag po nebes o an treth ha'n park kerry.

Tabm a Gernow 93 (Midwinter and high tide)

Degol Lucy a veu an terdhegves (13th) dedh a vis Kevardhû. Gool a wolowow ew. En termyn eus passys tho an jedh ma mantol gwav. An pagans a wrüg wolcubma gen golowow an dedhyow o hirhe. E'n jedh hedhyw thew mantol an kensa warn ügens (21st) a’n vis ma. Rag fra ma deffrans? An calendar Julian a veu chaunjys en 1752 dhe calendar Gregorian. Üdnek dedh a veu codhys dhort mis Gwedngala e'n vledhen na. Hedn’a veu an reson. Na wrüg mantol gwaya e’n vledhen saw an vledhen a wrüg gwaya adro dhe vantol!

Na veu odhom a wolowow e’n mis ma. Thera loor leun e’n nessa nos. Loor Yeyn henwys o hei. Gorloor o e’wedh. “Loor Yeyn” ew drefen an dedhyow a vedh moy yeyn alebma rag. Gorloor drefen boas an Loor ogas dhe’n Norves.

Ma loor leun o tedna an mor. Gen gorloor ma gorlanwes; ma mortid broas. Hedhyw, en mettin arvis, thera mortid pur ûhel. An mor a dowlas atal war an park kerry. Ev a dhros treth ha 

gobmon ha kewny dhe'n dor ha dhe'n stret e'wedh.

Otta lovan ha corden reb an vedhegva. Ma lies pollen magata.

Nag ew da gen edhyn kewer dhrog ha mor garow. Ma odhom a neb le rag sedha ha boas esy. Nag eus als vas obma, rag hedna ma'n gullys ma o sedha war to. 

Taking a new look at Cornish grammar 22 (compound sentences - subjects)

So far we have been looking at simple sentences with single clauses, with one subject and one verb in the predicate. These can be expanded to compound sentences by the use of ha and. But does adding an extra subject affect the form of the verb you use, and are all verbs treated the same?

First let’s see what happens when we expand our subjects (nouns prior to mutation are shown in brackets):

An den coth eth tre.	The old man went home.
An den coth ha y vergh (mergh) eth tre.	The old man and his daughter went home.
Ma’n den ma o qwary.	This man is playing. This man plays.
Ma’n den ma ha y vab (mab) o qwary.	This man and his son are playing. This man and his son play.
An maw a wra doas scon.	The boy will come soon.
An maw ha y das (tas) a wra doas scon.	The boy and his father will come soon.
Benyn a wrüg debry tesen.	A woman ate cake. A woman did eat cake.
Benyn ha’y dama a wrüg debry tesen.	A woman and her mother ate cake. A woman and her mother did eat cake.
An venyn (benyn) ma ew teg.	This woman is beautiful.
An venyn (benyn) ma ha’y flogh ew teg.	This woman and her child are beautiful.

As you can see, when using the third person, even if there is a difference in the English verb, the Cornish verb stays the same.

What happens with first and second persons? With simple, monoform, tenses the verb does not change when we drop in an extra subject. While there appear to be no rules about the word order of the subjects, as in English, some sound better (or more polite) than others. (We will look at how to deal with conjugated verbs in compound sentences in a later lesson.)

Me eth tre.	I went home.
Mabm ha me eth tre. Me ha Mabm eth tre.	Mum and I went home. I and Mum went home.
Me a wra doas scon.	I will come soon.
Me ha’m dama a wra doas scon. O dama ha me a wra doas scon.	I and my mother will come soon. My mother and I will come soon.
Whei a wrüg gwary peldroos.	You played football. You did play football.
Whei ha Wella a wrüg gwary peldroos. Wella ha whei a wrüg gwary peldroos.	You and William played football. You and William did play football.
Me a gar Kernow.	I love Cornwall.
Oll an bes ha me a gar Kernow. Me hag oll an bes a gar Kernow.	All the world and I love Cornwall. I and all the world love Cornwall.
Whei ew teg.	You are beautiful.
Whei ha gas cowethes ew teg. Agas cowethes ha whei ew teg.	You and your friend are beautiful. Your friend and you are beautiful.

Tabm a Gernow 92 (holly)

Ma'n kelynen vroas lowr ma o tevy e'n ke eglos Lannberan. En termyn eus passys tho bagas kelyn gwedhen Nadelek en lies chei a Gernow. Nag era gwedh Nadelek dhort shoppys e'n eur na. Nebonen e'n teylu a wrug moas dhe goos en ogas ha palas e'mann bagas kelyn bian po trehy scorr dhort gwedhen vroas. Golys ew an kelyn en Curl Sent Dey. Ma nebes versyon a'n curl ma. Otta onan anodhans.

Curl Sent Dey

1. Greun gwydn eus dhe’n kelyn, `ga wydn `vel an rew,

Ha denithys veu Jesus, an üdn Mâb a Dhuw.

          (pednposorn)

Ha Jesus ew ’gan Salvador, agan pernas der y woos,

Ha’n kelyn o an kensa dhe devy e’n coos,

Kelyn, Kelyn,

Ha’n kelyn o an kensa dhe devy e’n coos.

2. Greun glas eus dhe’n kelyn, ’ga las ’vel an gwels,

Ha Maria dheg Jesus, a verwas dhe’n crows.

          (pednposorn)

3. Greun dû eus dhe’n kelyn, ’ga dû ’vel an glow,

Ha Maria dheg Jesus, veu gorrys en vow.

          (pednposorn)

4. Greun rüdh eus dhe’n kelyn, ’ga rüdh ’vel an ros,

Ha Maria dheg Jesus a dhassorras e’n nos.

          (pednposorn)

Tabm a Gernow 91 (Christmas trees)

Pandr'ew hebma? Gwedhen vian ew. Pehen ew an wedhen? Pana sort gwedhen ew hei? Thew an del ydn ha berr avel najedhow. Nag ew hei pinbren, me a or. Saben ew, bes pehen? Hei a veu gwedhen Nadelek nanj ew nebes bledhen. Rag hedna sprûswedhen ew, dres lycklod. Bian ew hei rag hy bloodh. Gwerthys ew hei gans hy gwredhyow, saw na veu broas an gwredhyow. Me a's gwrüg planja e'n lowarth òja Nadelek, saw nag ew da genjy o gweres.  Nag üjy hei o cressya pur üskis.

An wedhen ma ew pinbren. An delkyow ew ydn, bes thens pur hir. Ma'n najedhow o tevy ort coplow. Me a wrüg gonis an wedhen ma dhort hasen aval saben. Re vroas ew an wedhen ha re hir ew an delkyow dhe voas gwedhen Nadelek. 

O flehes gwydn a gavas gwedhen Nadelek en crow lowarth, gen lies afinans. Thera garlons ha pelyow. Nag ew gwir an wedhen.  Fouls ew hei ha coth, bes da ew hei gens an flehes. Nei a gavas Metêrnes Gohien o coska enny. E veu res dhebm trouvya annedh nowydh rag hei.

Da ew an wedhen gans an gath e'wedh. Hei a wisk an pelyow o terlentry, ha cravas an wedhen-ven vlewek (gans hy üdn garr rag). 

Taking a new look at Cornish grammar 21 (boas and treylya)

Here are some more simple sentences (single clauses) using boas descriptive as the linking verb between the subject and descriptor. They are like equations where boas provides the equals sign! There are no action verbs, so there are no adverbs. This time there are no personal pronouns, though there are some demonstrative pronouns. Subject and descriptor may contain any combination of names, nouns and adjectives.

In Cornish we can generally do something which is not possible in English, and that is to reverse the subject and descriptor. In Cornish this alters the stress; the first element is what is stressed. In English it doesn’t work; you can reliably say “a daffodil is a yellow flower” but not “a yellow flower is a daffodil”.

An den coth na ew Mester Gov.	That old man is Mr. Smith.
Mester Gov ew an den coth na.	Mr. Smith is that old man.
Mestres Gov ew benyn goth.	Mrs. Smith is an old woman.
Benyn goth ew Mestres Gov.	Mrs. Smith is an old woman.
Hobm’ew dama skentel.	This is a clever mother.
Dama skentel ew hobma.	This is a clever mother.
An venyn yonk ma ew dama skentel.	This young woman is a clever mother.
Dama skentel ew an venyn yonk ma.	This young woman is a clever mother.
Teg ew an kei gwydn ma.	This white dog is beautiful.
An kei gwydn na ew lel.	That white dog is loyal.
Spladn ew hedna.	That is splendid.
Hedn’ew drog.	That is bad.
Tesen safòrn ew boos da.	Saffron cake is good food.
Boos da ew tesen safòrn.	Saffron cake is good food.

In English there are several other linking verbs that can be used between subject and descriptor in place of “to be”:  appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste, turn. Unfortunately, there is not a direct word for word translation into Cornish for all of them. We will have to learn some idioms later.

Here is a verb you can use; treylya. It can be used with an object,  to mean “translate” or “turn”. When intransitive, with or without an adverb, it can mean “turn”. But when used with an adjective it can mean “turn”, “become”, “grow”, “get”, etc. It is a secondary verb, so it needs an auxiliary, such as boas locative.

Ma’n den coth o treylya gwàdn.	The old man is becoming weak. The old man is getting weak. The old man is weakening.
An flogh diegrys a dreylyas glas.	The terrified child turned pale. The terrified child went pale. The terrified child paled.
Ma’n venyn glav na o treylya skith solabres.	That sick woman is already becoming tired. That sick woman is already getting tired. That sick woman is tiring already.
Ma’n lavalow o treylya arves.	The apples are turning ripe. The apples are getting ripe. The apples are ripening.
An kei goth a dreylyas dall.	The old dog went blind.
Ma’n venyn vethek o treylya rüdh.	The embarrassed woman is turning red. The embarrassed woman is blushing.
An gewer a dreylyas yeyn.	The weather turned cold. The weather got cold.
Ma’n delkyow o treylya melen.	The leaves are turning yellow. The leaves are yellowing.

Tabm a Gernow 90 (Penryn 800)

Pow spladn ew Kernow rag oll sortow goolyow. Ma lies gool en hav keffres ha gwav. Ma goolyow nowydh lowr (Truru Cita a Wolowys rag ensample) ha ma goolyow coth. Ma gool par termyn rag merkya wharvedhyans specyal. En mis Efan oll an bobel e'n dre Penrynn ogas dhe Falmeth a wolyas gen kefewy stret. Fondacyon Penrynn a veu nanj ew eth cans bledhen. 

Tabm a Gernow 89 (first day of winter)

Hedhyw ew an kensa dedh mis Kevardhû . An kensa dedh gwav keweroniethel ew e'wedh. Saw nag ew hebma an kensa dedh gwav Keltek. Du Halan Gwav a veu mis Dû kensa jorna. Hedna veu dalleth an vledhen nowyth Keltek e'wedh. (Gwrewgh redya adro dhe Du Halan Gwav en http://nebesgeryow.blogspot.co.uk/.)
Ha nag ew an kensa dedh gwav warlergh skians a'n ster. Hedna vedh moy diwettha en mis Kevardhû. Rag hedna res ew dhen gortos terebo mantol. Penag oll a vo an kensa jorna gwav thew an gewer vel gwav. Thera an trija rew nosweyth, ha niwlek lowr ew hei e'wedh. 


Nag ew cler an eborn, bes comolek ew. Nag eus howldrevel spladn hedhyw. Cüdhys ew an howl adhelergh dhe cloudys tewal.

 Ma rew war veistry ha war gerry (drefen nag eus carjy).