Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 47 (Adding Bits to Words)

Adding Bits to Words

Some nouns and adjectives which are one syllable are turned into verbs by adding a short ending, such as  -a,  -ya, -as, e.g.:

glas                                               green

glassa                                           to become green

gras[1]                                           thanks, thankfulness, grace

grassa                                           to thank, to give thanks

Notice that the monosyllable, ending in a single consonant, has a long vowel. Doubling the consonant before adding the ending makes the vowel short. Even without doubling the consonant, the vowel in the penultimate syllable is shorter.

has[2]                                              seed

hasa                                                to scatter seed, to sow

crib[3] [4]                                         a comb, a crest, a reef[5]

cribas[6]                                          to comb, to rake

gleb[7]                                             damp, wet

glybya                                              to dampen, to get wet

park                                                 a park

parkya                                             to park (or to enclose a field)

leun                                                  full

lenel                                                 to fill    

Where the monosyllable ends in two consonants the vowel is already short, so there is no need to further double it.

gwask                                               a press, pressure

gwasca                                             to press

   Some other nouns and adjectives which are one syllable are turned into verbs by adding

–he on the end, e.g.:

glan                                                   clean

glanhe                                               to clean

gocky                                                silly

gockihe                                             to be silly

gwadn                                               weak

gwadnhe                                           to weaken

crev                                                    strong

crefhe                                                to strengthen

lowen                                                 happy

lowenhe                                             to make happy

nes                                                     closer, nearer

neshe                                                 to draw nearer, to approach

pell                                                     far, distant

pellhe                                                 to send away, to distance

tewal                                                  dark

tewlhe                                                to darken (something)

Somewhere between 1660 and 1700 Nicholas Boson wrote “Nebbaz Gerriau dro tho Carnoack”. This starts “Gun Tavas Carnoack eu mar pell gwadn hez, uz na ellen skant quatiez tho ewellaz crefhe arta…”, which he translated as “Our Cornish tongue hath been so long in the Wane, that We can hardly hope to see it increase (rally) again, …”

In SWFL this would be:

’Gan tavas Kernowek ew mar bell gwadnhes es na ellen scant qwaytyas dh’y weles crefhe arta, …

Here are examples using some of the words above:

E’n Gwenton, Yar Rous Vian a gavas has.      

                                               In the Spring, Little Red Hen found some seed.

Nena, hei a hasas an gwaneth.  

                                               Then, she sowed the wheat.                                  

Ma loor leun haneth.             There is a full moon this evening.

Ma Whevrel o lenel an creunyow[8] rag Meurth.                      

                                                February fills the dams for March.

E’n mettin avarr tho whath tewal.

                                                In the early morning it was still dark.

And here are some related Bible bits:

… ha thera tewlder[9] war vejeth an downder,

                                                    and darkness was upon the face of the deep

… ha Düw a dhiberthas an golow dorth an tewlder.

                                                    and God divided the light from the darkness

… ha’n tewlder ev a greias Nos and the darkness he called Night

… losow o ton has                     the herb yielding seed

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[1] this can also be spelt <grâss> with double ss to show it is unvoiced and a circumflex to  show that it is a long vowel

[2] pronounced [haze] – but not with the standard English diphthong!

[3] pronounced [kreeb]

[4] Gendall has crîb and crîban

[5] Surfers off Fistral Beach at Newquay wait eagerly for the arrival of the large wave called the “Cribba” caused when the right conditions occur at a reef off the coast (O.S. maps have wrong spelling).

[6] Gendall also has crîba

[7] pronounced approximately as [glabe], RMC spelling (different pronunciation) glyb

[8] pronounced [CRANEyow]  

[9] notice that the noun has been made by adding –der to the shortened adjective

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 46 (Bigger and Better Bits)

Bigger and Better Bits

A number of adjectives have corresponding comparatives and superlatives. In many cases the comparative is formed by doubling the final consonant (some are also hardened) and adding a. The superlative is formed by putting an the before the comparative. In pronunciation, a long vowel in the adjective is shortened in the comparative and superlative, e.g.:

broas                                              big

brassa                                            bigger

an brassa                                       the biggest

O chei ew broas.                            My house is big.

Dha chei ew brassa.                      Your house is bigger.

Chei an Vyternes ew an brassa.  The Queen’s house is the biggest.

bian                                                 small

behatna                                           smaller

an behatna                                      the smallest

Edhen ew bian.                               A bird is small.

Prev del ew behatna.                      A caterpillar is smaller.

Lowan ew an behatna.                   A louse is the smallest.

coth                                                  old

cottha                                               older

an cottha                                          the oldest

yonk                                                  young

yonca                                                younger

an yonca                                           the youngest

teg                                                      beautiful, lovely

tekka                                                  more beautiful, lovelier

an tekka                                             the most beautiful, the loveliest

hir                                                       long, tall

hirra                                                    longer, taller

an hirra                                               the longest, the tallest

da                                                        good

gwell                                                   better

an gwella                                            the best

Da ew genam gwin gwydn.               I like white wine.(White wine is good with me.)

Gwell ew genam gwin rüdh,             I prefer red wine, (Red wine is better with me)

bes bolla te ew an gwella genam.    but I like a cup of tea best.

                                                            (but a cup of tea is best with me.)

drog                                                     bad

gweth                                                   worse

an gwettha                                           the worst

e’n gwella pres                                    fortunately

e’n gwettha pres                                 unfortunately

lak                                                         useless, poor

lakka                                                     worse

an lakka                                                the worst

Ma lies gwreg lakka ’vel seg.             There are many wives more useless than draff.

   There are also other forms of comparison:

moy ... es                                              more ... than

mar[1] ...avel                                         as ... as

maga ... avel                                          as ... as          

gweth avel hedna                                 worse than that

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[1] mar or maga causes mixed mutation of following consonants

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 45 (Bits of the House)

Bits of the House

So far, we have had the words for house chei, houses treven, window beister, door daras. Let’s expand our vocabulary:

Ma treven broas dhe düs rych.              Rich people have big houses.

Ma lowar’ dhe’n chei nei.                        Our house has a garden.

Thero’vy o trigas en radnjy bian.           I am living in a small flat.

                                                                  I live in a small flat.

Nag eus lowar’ veth dhe’n radnjy na.   That flat has no garden at all.

Mons o trigas en crowjy.[1]                   They are living in a shack.

                                                                 They live in a cottage.

Ke a veu derevys adro dhe’n lowar’.     A hedge was built around the garden.

Ma yet e’n ke.                                          There is a gate in the hedge.

Ev a egoras beister.                                 He opened a window.

Ma hei o entra der an daras delergh.     She is entering through the back door.

Ew hedna den war agan to?                    Is that a man on our roof?

Tho an chymbla gwres a ven.                 The chimney was made of stone.

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[1] Crowjy can have multiple meanings: a cottage, a shack, a cabin, even a hovel. An adjective helps!

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 44 (A Bit More About the Past)

A Bit More About the Past

So far, we have looked at the descriptive version of the continuous past tense of boas to be, for long lasting conditions. The complete version is:

tho vy                        I was (this is also I am)

tho che                      you were (singular, familiar, this is also you are)

tho ev                        he was (present is ew not o)

tho hei                       she was (present is ew not o)

tho nei                       we were (this is also we are)

tho whei                    you were (formal or plural, this is also you are)

tho anjei                    they were (present is ens not o)

The negative version replaces the verbal particle th with the negative particle nag:

Nag o vy                    I was not

Nag o che                 You were not (singular, familiar)

Nag o ev                    He was not

Nag o hei                  She was not

Nag o nei                  We were not

Nag o whei               You were not (formal or plural)

Nag o anjei               They were not

  

The interrogative (question) version misses off the particle and starts the sentence with the verb:

O vy?                         Was I?

O che                         Were you?

O ev                           Was he?

O hei                          Was she?

O’nei                          Were we?

O whei                       Were you?

O anjei                       Were they?

Now we have a version for briefer conditions or events. The non-specific veu was, were, with verbal particles a, na, e (y in RMC), can be used with pronouns, nouns, names, adjectives, past participles, etc.:

Here are some examples using adjectives:

An sagh a veu gwag.                          The bag was empty.

An flehes a veu adermyn.                  The children were punctual.

Me a veu serrys rag tecken.               I was cross for a moment.

Here are some examples using past participles[1]:

Nei a veu engrys gen an kei.            We were annoyed with the dog.

Wella Gwavas a veu genys en Pensans.         

                                                           William Gwavas was born in Penzance.

An chei coth a veu derevys e’n vledhen etek cans.

                                                          The old house was built in the year 1800.

An olifans a veu pernys en Truru.The elephant was bought in T ruro.

An desen a veu debrys.                 The cake was eaten.

Here are some questions and negative examples:

A veu an gwin pernys gen an düs na? 

                                                         Was the wine bought by those people?

A veu an wedhen ma tevys en Kernow?          

                                                         Was this tree grown in Cornwall?

A veu anjei adermyn po na?         Were they on time or not?

Na veu an cor’ evys.                      The beer was not drunk.

Na veu an flehes nakevys.[2]        The children were not forgotten.

Here are some examples from literature:

Abraham a veu tas dhe Isak...[3]    Abraham was father to Isaac.

Pan veu Jesu genys en Bethlem…[4]      When Jesus was born in Bethlehem…

Na veu hedna coynt… [5]                            That was not strange…

… hag y veu golow.[6]                                  … and there was light.

William Bodinar’s letter, in its original spelling, gives an indication of how we should pronounce it:

… termen me vee mawe. when I was a boy

Me vee de more gen seara vee a pemp dean moy en cock.

                                                            I was at sea with my father and five more men in a boat.

So does Jooan Chei a Horr in John Boson’s spelling:

Po leea ve chee mar bel?[7]            Where were you so far?

Me a ve servia…[8]                            I was serving…

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[1] Gendall ends past participle in -ez

[2] SWFM <ankevy>

[3] Mathew 1:1

[4] Mathew 2:1

[5] Alys en Pow an Anethow, p1

[6] Jenesys 1:3

[7] Jowan Chei a Horr 14

[8] Jowan Chei a Horr 15