Taking a new look at Cormish grammar 26 (direct quotations)

One way of making a complex sentence is to use a simple sentence as a quotation. Your original sentence (in inverted commas) becomes part of the predicate, an object for a “reporting” verb. The rest of the sentence, which includes the subject, is known as a “reporting clause”.  This may come at any position in the sentence. 

There is one particular reporting verb which is widely used in Jowan Chei an Horr, in the historical present (or past). The attested examples are in the third person, though we could predict the other persons if we needed them. In conversation you would probably use different verbs (see next post)

medh ev e’medh ev (SWFM yn medh ev)	says/said he, quoth he
medh hei e’medh hei (SWFM yn medh hi)	says/said she, quoth she
medhans e’medh anjei (SWFM yn medhans i)	say/said they, quoth they

Here are some examples, based on JCH:

Medh an den dhe’n wreg, “Me a vedn moas dhe whiles whel dhe wül.”	Said the man to the wife, “I will go to look for work to do.”
“Pana whel ellesta gwil?” e’medh an tiak.	“What work canst thou do?” said the farmer.
“Mir, Jowan,” medh y vester, “obma dha wober.”	“Look, John,” said his master, “here are your wages.”
“Ha, Jowan,” e’medh anjei.	“Hello John,” they said.