2022 Day 47

 2022 Dedh Dogens ha Seyth

De Merher, whetegves mis Whevrel

Wednesday, 16th February

Terweythyow, thera vy ow kelly ow perthyans! Nebes coth oma rag gwitha flogh bian, meur y nerth. Na vedn ev mos dhe'n gwely seyth eur. Nag ew da ganjo còsca eth ar glogh. Martesen ev a wra omrei ken naw eur. Diwedhes ew lebmyn bes na ellama còsca. Thera vy ow cosowes ort an gwens crev a-ves. Dû ew an nos. Ma othom dhebm a nebes pictours da rag ow nessa radn a dhescans.

Sometimes, I lose my patience! I'm rather old for looking after a small child with great energy. He won't go to bed at seven o'clock. He doesn't like sleeping at eight o'clock. Perhaps he will surrender before nine. It's late now but I can't sleep. I am listening to the strong wind outside. The night is dark. I need some good pictures for my next bit of lesson.

Building up our Cornish language Part 3a

Cressya emann agan tavas Kernôwek. Radn 3a

Drog ew genam! I'm sorry! (literally Bad is with me)

Nakevys ew genam hebma. I have forgotten this.

(More about this construction later.)

We saw Hedna (that one) and hebma (this one) in Part 1.

They are also pronouns -

demonstrative pronouns, rather than personal pronouns.

They can be used to identify nouns (or names)

Pandra ew hedna? indicates a DISTANT object or animal.

(related to ena = there)

The question can be shortened to Pandr'ew hedna?

or even Dr'ew hedna?

The plural equivalent is an re na (those ones).

Pandr'ew an re na? indicates distant things.

The answers might be:

(singular) Hedna ew kei. That is a dog.

(Thew hedna kei.)

(plural) An re na ew deves. Those are sheep.

(Thew an re na deves.)

The demonstrative pronouns can also be used in place of nouns in a sentence with a descriptor.

Hedna ew gwydn. That is white. (Thew hedna gwydn.)

An re na ew bian. Those are small. (Thew an re na bian.)

Similarly, Pandra ew hebma? indicates a NEAR object or

animal.

(related to òbma = here)

As before, the question can be shortened to

Pandr'ew hebma? or even

Dr'ew hebma?

The plural equivalent for near things is an re ma.

e.g. Pandr'ew an re ma? What are these?

To answer, you might say

Hebma ew x. That is a singular noun.

An re ma ew y. These are plural noun.

Hebma ew aval That is an apple. 

Aval ew. It's an apple.

An re ma ew know coll. These are hazelnuts. 

Know ens. They are hazelnuts.

Notice that "ew" is used for both singular and plural, whether it means "is" or "are" 

(unless the answer means "They are ..." 

rather than "These are ...")

They can also be used in place of nouns in a sentence with a

descriptor.

Hebma ew dû. This is black. (Thew hebma dû.)

An re ma ew brâs. These are big. (Thew an re ma brâs.)

Hedna and hebma are masculine and singular.

An re na and an re ma are gender non-specific.

Since nouns in Cornish are either masculine or feminine, there

are feminine equivalents, which we will look at next time.