Taking a new look at Cornish grammar 29 (negative subject pronouns)

There are some negative versions of indefinite pronouns which are used in negative sentences, with a negative verb. Unlike English, where we avoid a double negative and can say “Nobody came”, in Cornish we have to use a double negative to say “Nobody didn’t come”. 

The main negative indicators to look out for are nag not (used in place of neb) and veth no, none, not any.

nagonan	no-one, nobody, none, not one
den veth den’eth	nobody, no-one
tra veth	nothing

Here are some examples:

Nag eus nagonan obma. SWFM Nyns eus nagonan omma.	There is nobody here. There isn’t anybody here.
Nag era den veth ena. SWFM Nyns esa den vyth ena.	There was nobody there. There wasn’t anyone there.
Na veu den’eth en chei. SWFM Ny veu den’yth yn chi.	There was nobody home (in the house). There wasn’t anyone home.
Na or den veth. SWFM Ny wor den vyth.	Nobody knows.
Nag eus tra veth e’n gisten. SWFM Nyns eus tra vyth y’n gisten.	There is nothing in the box. There isn’t anything in the box.
Nag ew nagonan a bris. SWFM Nyns yw nagonan a bris.	No-one is important.
Nag ew tra veth dhe les. SWFM Nyns yw tra vyth dhe les.	Nothing is interesting.

Tabm a Gernow 99 (January plants)

Mis Genver ew en gwav. Yeyn ew, saw nag ew re yeyn rag oll a'n flourys. Na veu ergh dhen whath. Etho ma flourys gwenton solabres; ma flourys melen a neb ehen. Otta losow lagas bian reb an vorr (fordh) ogas dhe vargen tir. Keniver delen ew pecar'a colon. Bohes lijek ens dre reson a'n prei war an vorr. 

Nag eus bes pemp seythen dhia Nadelik ha nag ew Corawes whath, bettegens ma lily Corawes solabres. Ma'n re ma reb an eglos Lannberan.  

War an menedh en Cocks (bargen tir "Cook's" en termyn eus passys) ma lies eythinen. Ma'n howl o spladn war an menedh soth. Thew an gwedh noth, heb del, bes leun a delkyow ha flourys ew an bagasow eythin. 

Moy skeujek ew trolergh dredh an cosow reb hens horn coth diswres. Ma idhyow o tevy war lies gwedhen scaw, war lies colwedhen ha war lies gwedhen aral. Lebmyn ma mor idhyow dû. Da ew an re na gen edhyn. 

En gwetha pres thew idhyow re boos rag gwedh coth ha gwadn. Lies gweyth gwedhen a wra codha dor. Ha nena an rüsk a wra codha ales. Scavellow cronek a wra tevy war bredn codhys. Hebm'ew scavel gronek "scovarn velvet".

Taking a new look at Cornish grammar 28 (indefinite pronouns)

Now it is time to have another look at SUBJECT. We had an initial look at personal subject pronouns in earlier lessons. These are used when we know who (or what) the subject is. 

Here is a summary to remind you of ones you are likely to see.

person	before verb	after verb	attached (if used) to the end of the verb
I	me SWFM my	vy	-ma
you/thou (familiar)	te or che SWFM ty	che	-ta
he	ev	va or ev	-va
she	hei SWFM hi	hei
we	nei SWFM ni	nei
you (plural or formal)	whei SWFM hwi	whei
they	anjei SWFM i	anjei

We have also looked at demonstrative pronouns:

hedna	that (m)	hebma	this (m)
hodna	that (f)	hobma	this (f)
an re na	those	an re ma	these

To these we can add

aral	another
re erel	other ones
an re aral	the other one
an re erel (may be contracted to a’r’erol)1	the other ones

Sometimes, though, our knowledge is imprecise, so we need INDEFINITE pronouns. Look out for some little words: onan (or sometimes hüny) one (den man may also be used in this context) and tra or peth (SWFM pyth) thing. These are preceded by a few other indicators: e.g. neb some, pub each/every, keniver every, kettep every, lies many. There are a number of different, equally valid, combinations, e.g.

nebonan[2]	someone, somebody, anyone, anybody
neb tra	something
neb peth	something
neppeth, nepeth SWFM neppyth	something
pubonan	everyone, everybody
pub tra	everything
keniver onan	everyone, everybody
keniver tra	everything
kettep hüny	everyone
lies onan	many people
lies tra	many things
lies hüny	many people

Let us look at some positive examples with a location or action in the predicate:

Ma nebonan e’n chei. SWFM Yma nebonan y’n chi.	There is somebody in the house. or Someone is in the house.
Ma nebonan o toas. SWFM Yma nebonan ow tos.	There is someone coming. or Somebody is coming.
Ma neppeth e’n copart. SWFM Yma neppyth y’n kopart.	There is something in the cupboard.
Ma keniver onan obma. SWFM Yma keniver onan omma.	Everyone is here.
Keniver tra a godhas dhe’n dor.	Everything fell down.
Kettep hüny eth dhe’n shoppys.	Everyone went to the shops (went shopping).
Thera lies tra war an bord. SWFM Yth esa lies tra war an voos.	There were many things on the table.

We can also use them in questions:

Eus nebonan ena?	Is there anybody there? Is anyone there?
A wra pub onan doas dhe’n kescussülyans? SWFM A wra pub onan dos dhe’n keskussulyans?	Will everyone come to the conference?
A wrüg pub tra fyllel?	Did everything fail (go wrong)?

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[1]  Gendall has an rerol for "the others".
[2] Nebonan may be used in a positive statement or a question with a slightly different interpretation.  

Taking a new look at Cornish grammar 27 (reporting verbs)

In English we have many alternative verbs to report speech. We do in Cornish as well, because we spend a lot of time talking about what other people say (or write)! Here are a few of them:

comondya	to command
creia	to cry
garma	to shout
gofen	to ask
gwarnya	to warn
hockya	to stutter
leverel	to say
ola	to weep
scrifa	to write
scrija	to screech
üja	to scream
whetha	to whisper

Here are some examples of how they might be used. (Some of them need the imperative, which we will look at in a later post.)

“Sav!” ev a gomondyas.	“Stand!” he commanded.
Mons o creia, “Ladorn! Ladorn!”	They cry, “Robbers! Robbers!”
“Thero vy obma,” ev a garmas.	“I am here,” he shouted.
An venyn a wrüg gofen, “Piw o whei?”	The woman asked, “Who are you?”
Hei a wrüg gwarnya, “Kebmer with!”	She warned, “Take care!”
Ma’n flogh o hockya, “M-m-m-m-mabmik.”	The child stutters, “M-m-m-m-mummy.”
Me a wra leverel, “Lowen o vy.”	I will say, “I am happy.”
“Nag o vy lowen,” hei a olas.	“I am not happy,” she wept.
Ma va o scrifa, “Hedna ew gwir.”	He is writing (writes), “That is true.”
“Ke dhe ves!” hei a scrijas.	“Go away!” she screeched.
Mons owth üja, “Harow!”	They scream, “Help!”
“Tush!” ev a whethas.	“Hush!” he whispered.