Wednesday, 7 May 2025

2025 Day 127

2025 Dedh Cans Seyth warn Ügens 


 

De Merher, seythves mis Me 

Wednesday, 7th May 


 

Era nei ow cül neppeth en maner own? Terweythyow ma whans dhen a brevyans. Pandr’ew an vorr own rag niverow? 

Are we doing something the right way? Sometimes we want proof. What is the right way for numbers? 

William Bodinar, “dean bodjack an puscas, (den bohojek an puscas) a scrifas lether dewdavosek (diwyethek) dhe Daines Barrington antiqwery den jentyl. Hemm ew an diwettha scrif dhort cowser genejek. Kernôweger o ev pecar’a Dolly Pentreath, hag en keth telher. 





Ev a scrifas:  

Moushole July ye the 3d 1776  

Sir I understand you wants to know my age.  

Bluth vee eue try egence a pemp.  

My age is three score and five. 

Ev a ûsyas trei ügens rag wheghweyth deg. 




E’n keth lether ev a scrifas: 

Me vee demore gen seara vee a pemp dean moy en cock 

I have ben to sea with my father and five other men in the boat 

Ev a ûsyas üdnek “dean moy” (den moy) wòja an niver pemp. 






Ev a scrifas ewedh: 

me rig scantlower clowes eden ger sowsneck

have not hard one word of English

Ev a ûsyas "eden ger" (üdn ger). Na wrug ev usya "onan".

Gwrewgh merkya laveryans: movys ew "eden" pell dhort "unn".







Nena ev a scrifas:

na ges moye vel pager po pemp en dreau nye

there is not more than four or five in our town

ell clapia Cornish leben

can talk Cornish now

poble coath pager egance blouth

old people four score years old

Ev a ûsyas pajar ügens rag ethweyth deg. 


eden > üdn (SWFMm unn)

try > trei (SWFMm tri)

pager > pajar (SWFMm peswar)

pemp > trei (SWFMm pymp)

egance > ügens (SWFMm ugens)


William Bodinar, a poor fisherman, wrote a bilingual letter to Daines Barrington, a gentleman antiquary. This is the last writing of a native speaker. He was a Cornish speaker like Dolly Pentreath, and in the same place. 

He wrote: 

Moushole July ye the 3d 1776  

Sir I understand you wants to know my age.  

Bluth vee eue try egence a pemp.  

My age is three score and five. 

He used three twenties for six tens (six times ten). 

In the same letter he wrote: 

Me vee demore gen seara vee a pemp dean moy en cock 

I have ben to sea with my father and five other men in the boat 

He used singular den moy after the number pemp. 

He also wrote: 

me rig scantlower clowes eden ger sowsneck

have not hard one word of English

He used "eden ger" (üdn ger). He did not use "onan".

Notice pronunciation: "eden" has moved far from "unn".

Then he wrote:

na ges moye vel pager po pemp en dreau nye

there is not more than four or five in our town

ell clapia Cornish leben

can talk Cornish now

poble coath pager egance blouth

old people four score years old

He used four twenties for eight times ten. 


 

No comments:

Post a Comment