It is interesting to see how the development of words we use in Cornish can be traced in place names, and how Cornish was progressively replaced by English. This happened noticeably in the old hundreds of Caradon and North Cornwall, adjacent to England.
Take the words a-bervedh, en bera, a-bera and bera, which we use for inside or inner:
= Rosperveth
CUTPARRETT (Cut Pervet 1324) “middle/inner wood”
= Cuitpervet (OC) The Old Cornish hard p is still preserved in pervet middle (and t in cuit wood)
TREBARWITH (Treberveth 1296) “middle/inner farm”
= Treberveth Meanwhile p was softening to b in MC berveth
TREBARBER
(Treberveth 1307)
= Treberveth
TREBARVAH
(P’uthno) (Treberveth 1342)
= Treberveth
Another simple word that allows us to see development and replacement is Middle Cornish bighan which became bian (or vian with lenition). There are plenty of Little Farms (and a few Great Farms) down west, but not so many with earlier names. Perhaps it was more important (or isolated) places which hung onto the older fossilised forms for longer. There is a lot of overlap of old and new.
PENTIRE POINT, East: (Pentirbighan c1270)
After that comes the lenition and the stretched out vowel!
TREVEAN (Kea) Trevian “little farm”
TREVEAN (Madron) Trevian “little farm”
TREVEAN (Morvah) Trevian “little farm”
TREVEAN (Newlyn East) Trevian “little farm”
TREVEAN (Perranuthnoe) Trevian “little farm”
TREVEAN (Sancreed) Trevian “little farm”
TREVEAN (St Keverne) Trevian “little farm”
TREVEAN (St Levan) Trevian “little farm”
TREVEAN (St Merryn) Trevian “little farm”
TREVEAR (St Issey) Treveur “great farm”
TREVEAR (St Merryn) Treveur “great farm”
TREVEAR (Sennen) Treveur “great farm”
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