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.