Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 69 (What You Can Do)

A Bit About What You Can Do

We have looked at what we want to do or would like to do. 

Me  venja clappya Kernowek.         I would like to speak Cornish.

Na  vadna vy clappya Sowsnek.     I will not speak English.

Now we will look at what we are able to do. If we say we can do something we need to make it clear whether we know how to do it or whether we are allowed to do it, which may or may not amount to the same thing, e.g.:

[1]Woro whei clappya Kernowek?   

                                                     Can you (Do you know how to) speak Cornish?

Me a wor clappya Kernowek.           I can (I know how to) speak Cornish.

Na worama clappya Godhalek.        I can’t (I don’t know how to) speak Gaelic.

Na ellama clappya Kernowek dhe Sowsnegoryon.

                                                            I can’t speak Cornish to English speakers.

Ello whei clappya Kernowek haneth?  

                                                            Can you speak Cornish this evening?

Na ellen nei clappya Kernowek oll an termyn, soweth.       

                                We can’t speak Cornish all the time, unfortunately.

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[1]  silent w (may be written without it)

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 68 (A Bit About Colours)

A Bit About Colours

To ask what colour something is (whether the subject is singular or plural), we say:

Pe liw ew …?

e.g.      Pe liw ew an margh na?                What colour is that horse?

            Pe liw ew ev?                                 What colour is he?

            Pe liw ew an vergh[1] na?            What colour are those horses?

            Pe liw ens?[2]                                What colour are they?

The simplest answers could be:

Gwidn[3] ew.                                               It’s white.

Gwidn ens.                                                 They’re white.

We have a number of words for colours, some British and others perhaps influenced by Latin and Norman French, etc. Some relate to the natural world or are found in place names, e.g.:

cann[4]                                                        bright white, feldspar

gwidn                                                          white, fair

gwidnek                                                      whitish

skilwyn                                                       off-white

dû                                                                black, dark

loos                                                             grey

glas[5]                                                         blue, green (of vegetation), grey

blou[6]                                                        blue

rüdh[7]                                                       red

rous                                                           red

cogh [8], co’                                              blood red, scarlet

mel                                                            honey

melyn                                                        yellow, buff

gwer[9]                                                      bright green

kigliw                                                        pink (lit. meat/flesh colour)

purpur[10]                                                purple

tewl                                                          brown, dark

donek                                                       brown[11]

Other colours can be made by combining some of those above, e.g.:

rüdhvelyn                                              orange

glasrüdh                                                purple

gwidnrüdh                                             pink

We also have the names of metals (similar to their Latin names) that can be used to describe colour, e.g.:

owr[12]                                                  gold

owryek                                                  golden

arhans[13]                                            silver

arhansek                                              silvery

cober                                                    copper

brons                                                   bronze

Here are some terms involving colours:

canntir                                                quartz (lit. white land)

mor (collective)                       berries

                                       (from Latin morum mulberry, blackberry)

moren (f, individual)                          berry

moren dhû, mor dû                         blackberry

mola dhû                                          blackbird

spern (collective)                              thorns

spernen (f, individual)                      thorn

spernen dhû, spern dû                  blackthorn(s), sloe(s)

spernen widn, spern gwidn          whitethorn(s), hawthorn(s)

gwiwer                                             squirrel

gwiwer rous                                     red squirrel

gwiwer loos                                      grey squirrel

rüdhek                                               robin

pedn rous                                         red head, red headed

We have already seen some place names which include glas. Here are some more with other colours:

Kenwyn (Keynwyn 1316)               PN white/fair ridge

Baldhu (Baldue 1755)                     PN black/dark diggings

Carrick Luz                                    PN grey rock

Carnmeal (Carnmele 1501)            PN honey tor

Millook (Mellek 1345)                     PN honeyed

Ruthvoes (Rudhfos 1296)              PN red wall

Wheal Reeth (Wheal Rudh)            PN red mine

Pollreath (Poll Rudh)                       PN red pool

Redruth (Unyredreth 1563)            PN St Euny at a red ford

Wheal Vlow                                     PN blue mine

Gwarder (Gwerthour 1312)             PN green water/stream

And St Michael’s Mount was once called

Carrek Loos y’n Coos[14]                grey rock in the wood

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[1] Usually only male human plurals mutate after an. This is an exception, perhaps because riders personified their horses …

[2] This is non emphatic. If you want to be more emphatic you can use Pe liw en’jei?

[3]  SWFM <gwynn>

[4]  cf Latin candor shining whiteness

[5] cf Greek glaukos (Homer used it to describe the glimmering sea) / Latin glaucus blue-grey, green-grey – glaucous now used in botany to describe leaves (there is also a glaucous gull)

[6] cf French bleu blue

[7] in Late Cornish this is pronounced [reeth] rather than [rooth]

[8] blood itself is gooj

[9] cf Latin ver spring or viridis green

[10] cf Latin purpur purple

[11] theSWF glossary has gell light brown and gorm dark brown

[12] cf Latin aurum

[13] Gendall also has argan, cf Latin argentum

[14]  This is traditional pre SWF spelling . SWF wood is coos

Kernow en gwenton

Misyow da ew mis Ebrel ha mis Me rag whilas “alsanders” (Smyrnium olusatrum). Debradow ens. Ma anjei o tevy war doppys aljyow hag en keow arvor. Nag ew ûsadow liw an flourys drefen boas gwer limaval po gwerwin. An lojow ma a veu dres gen an Romans termin pell alebma. Henwys o “erba pot Alexandria” (dhort Alexandria, martesen, po keskelmys gen Alsander Meur), drefen boas pub radn anodho debradow – gwreydh, garednow, del, flourys ha has. (Na wrüga vy biscath debry radn anodho!) Henwys ew, e’wedh, persil margh (horse parsley) po gwiles dû (black lovage).

Kernow en gwenton

Gwlas spernek ew Kernow. Eythin ew spernek ha ma prisk spernek erel e’wedh. Nag eus spern gwydn whath. Re avarr ew rag spern gwydn bes ma meur a spern du. Henwys ew spern du awos an eyrin du en kidnyadh, bes thew an bleujyow gwydn e’n pres ma.

Kernow en gwenton

Mis Ebrel ew. Ma gwenton obma. Thew an keow leun a flourys. Bardh Sowsnek Robert Seymour Bridges a scrifas “Spring goeth all in white”, bes en Kernow “ema gwenton o moas en melin” e’wedh.  Nag eus odhom dhen a howl: ma’n eythin o spladna melin ha golow. Ha ma eth wheg avel spis ha mel maga ta.

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 66 (More About Ma and Ma'n)

2. A Bit More About Ma and Ma’n

Ma is part of the verb boas to be. We can use it with any of the places noted above, e.g.:

Ma va ena.                                           He is there. It (m) is there.

Ma den obma.                                     There is a man here.

Ma va o toas mes alena.                     He’s coming out of there.

Ma deg kei en keunva.                        There are ten dogs in a kennel.

Ma cota en dilasva.                             There is a coat in a wardrobe.

If we want to use the definite article after Ma (and after en) we must use an apostrophe, Ma’n and e’n (and the meaning changes):

Ma’n den obma.                                 The man is here.

Ma’n deg kei e’n geunva.                  The ten dogs are in the kennel.

Ma’n cota e’n dhilasva.                     The coat is in the wardrobe.

We also use it with verbs involving place, e.g.:

Ma den o moas ena.                           There is a man going there.

Ma’n den o toas obma.                      The man is coming here.

Ma deg kei o triga e’n geunva.          There are ten dogs living in the kennel.

Ma’n cota o cregy en dilasva.            The coat is hanging in a wardrobe.

And we can say this and that in relation to place, e.g.:

Ma kei e’n geunva ma.                       There is a dog in this kennel.

Ma cota o cregy e’n dhilasva na.       There is a coat hanging in that wardrobe.

Ma’n den o moas dhe’n teller na.      The man is going to that place.

The place nouns ending in –va are feminine, so some of them mutate after the definite article, e.g.:

Ma’n bagas war wariva.                   The group is on a stage.

Ma bagas war an wariva.                 There is a group on the stage.

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 67 (Indicating Place)

A Bit About Indicating Place

We have already seen some ways of indicating what there is in a particular place, e.g.:

Hebma ew maw lowen.                              This is a happy boy.

Hedna ew den coth.                                   That is an old man.

Cath vian ew hobma.                                 This is a little cat.

O gwiasva ew hodna.                                That is my website.

Ma cador obma.                                          There is a chair here.

Ma daras ena.                                              There’s a door there.

Even more emphatic – saying “See here” or “See there” or “Look at this” or “Look at that” – we have:

Ottobma …                                                   Here is …

Ottena …                                                      There is …

Ottobma o levrow.                                      Here are my books.

Ottena agas gerlever.                                There is your dictionary.

Ottena y chei.                                              There is his house.

 

You can use otta[1] with pronouns and names, e.g.:

otta vy                                                           behold me, here I am

otta che                                                         behold you, here/there you are

otta va                                                           behold him/it, here/there he/it is

otta hei                                                 behold her/it, here/there she/it is

otta nei                                                          behold us, here we are

otta whei                                                       behold you, here/there you are

otta jei                                                          behold them, here/there they are.

otta Jory                                                   behold George, here/there is George.

otta Kettern                                                  behold Kate, here/there is Kate.

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[1]  Gendall spells this yta, meaning that the first letter is pronounced schwa.