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.