Tabm a Gernow 4 (gorse)

Ma eythin whath. Ma eythin solabres. Ma eythin pub termyn. Ma eythin en pub seson. Ma eythin rag nevra. Eythin bys vycken!

Tabm a Gernow 3 (path of stream)

Ma’n gover o moas en tnow ahes dhe nessa poll. 

En hav thew an poll-ma bian lowr bes en gwav brassa ew. 

Òja kewer pur lawek ma dowr o fedn dres an vownder.

Òja hedna ma’n gover o moas mes a wel rag termyn. 

En pib ew ev, dadn an vownder ha dadn an nor en  park overdevys. 

War an diwedh ma radn bian a’n ooth o tisqwedhes en launder en lowarh, 

kens junya gen radn aral ort an pib.

Tabm a Gernow 2 (source of stream)

A Bit of Cornwall

Dadn an eglos en Lanberan ma gwel. Pur leb ew an gwel en gwav. 

Ma va ow ledry war nans dhe lagen. 

En termyn eus passyes nag era lagen òbma; nag era bes venten. 

Thera  lenesow (nuns) dhort an eglos o longya dhe guntel dowr dhort an venten rag an eglos, nebonan a wrüg laul dhebm. 

Whath ma venten e’n lagen.

Ma pib o moas kerr, dhe wover e'n pras awoles.

Ma'n gover bian o resek dredh an pras e'mesk bestes.

  

Tabm a Gernow 1 (hillforts)

A Bit of Cornwall

A Bit of Cornwall

Òtta chei broas war venedh ogas dhe’n mor. “Castle Lambourne” henwys ew ev. Bes rag fra “Castle” ha rag fra “Lambourne”?

Nag ewa castel. Chei broas ew saw nag ew castel, tabm veth. Eus castel en ogas, martesen? Nag eus castel poran bes ma ker. An düs e’n chei ell gweles ker. Ma dew ger, en gwir etta; an eyl henwys “Caer Kief” hag y gila henwys “Caer Dane”. Pur goth ew an dhew.

Òtta Caer Kief, dhe voas gwelys dhort pub tû.

Nag ew an tiredh adro henwys “Lambourne”. Perranzabuloe henwys ew an pluw; “Peran Treth” en 1608. Ma’n chei ogas dhe’n eglos Peran ha dhe’n corfflan Peran. Cotheans a “Lan” ha “Peran” ew “Lambourne”. Hebma ew Lanberan.

Òtta an corfflan. 

Òtta an eglos.  

Personal Descriptions 6 (boas descriptive and body type)

Personal Descriptions 6

   The verb boas to be is one of the cornerstones in learning Cornish. For descriptions we have been using the “descriptive” form, what some people call the “short form”. It is one of the main ways in which RLC (Revived Late Cornish) differs from RMC (Revived Middle Cornish). Over the course of several hundred years the language evolved. Which version should one choose? There is no right or wrong. Those of us who speak Late Cornish like to think we are carrying on from where the last native speakers (in the west of Cornwall), such as William Bodinar, left off. Or perhaps we are just speaking what was, in effect, the western dialect. Those who speak Middle Cornish like to think they are using Cornish from its literary peak. It is a good idea to at least recognise both.

	RLC (SWFLt)	after the description:	RMC “short form”
I am You/Thou are He is She is We are You are They are	Tho vy Tho che Thew ev Thew hei Tho nei Tho whei Tho anjei or Thens	o vy o che or os ta ew ev or ewa ew hei o nei o whei o anjei or ens	Yth ov vy or My yw Yth os ta or Ty yw Yth yw ev or Ev yw Yth yw hi or Hi yw Yth on ni or Ni yw Yth owgh hwi or Hwi yw Yth yns i or I yw

Here are some more adjectives you can use when describing people (you may well see alternative spellings!). There are some over-lapping meanings:

pretty, lovely teg, hegar clever   codnyk, skentel fast üskis   fat, plump tew, berrik             funny   wharthüs             giant    cowrek             happy  lôwen              hard-working   diwysyk, harpin healthy yagh  heavy   poos               large broas              muscular keherek             strong crev                        tall hir                         rough   garow, asper            royal    rial             proud   gothüs

ugly hager stupid (tal)sogh, gocky slow syger, lent thin, skinny tanow, kednek gloomy trûedhek, trist dwarf   corek sad truedhek, trûan, trist lazy diek sickly anyagh light scàv small    bian bony ascornek weak gwàdn short berr smooth smodh common kebmyn lowly, humble huvel, evel, isel/esel

Personal Descriptions Examples

   The Bible has some good examples of personal descriptions, mostly hairy ones, e.g.:

Jenesys 27:11

… “den blewek ew ow broder Esaw saw me, den smodh o vy.”

… “my brother Esau is a hairy man but I am a smooth man.”

Can Salamon 5:11

Y bedn[1] ew an owr moyha fin; crüllys ew y vlew[2], mar dhû[3] avel bran[4].

His head is (as) the most fine gold, his hair is curled, as black as a raven.

1 Corynthyans 11:14-15

… Mars ew hir blew an den, meth ewa dhodho. Mars ew hir blew an venyn, hy glory ewa.

… If the man’s hair is long, it is a shame to him. If the woman’s hair is long, it is her glory.

Levitycus 19:27

Na wrewgh whei rowndya blew agas pednow[5]; na wreth tacla amal dha varv.

You shall not round the hair of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the border of thy beard.

Levitycus 14:9

… ev a wra trehy oll y vlew dhort y bedn; ev a wra omdhyvarva[6] ha trehydhe ves y abranjow[7], oll y vlew. …

… he shall cut all his hair off his head; he shall shave off his beard and cut away his eyebrows, all his hair: …

Jujys 16:17

… mar pedh ow fedn[8] pylys, ena ow nerth a wra ow forsakya …

… if my head be shaven, then my strength will forsake me …

---

[1]  this shows how pedn head “mutates” to bedn after y his

[2]  this shows how blew hair mutates to vlew after y his

[3]  dû black mutates to dhû after mar as/so

[4]  bran is a fairly general word for any big black bird of the crow family; you could use bran vroas for raven (broas > vroas big)

[5]  pednow heads is the plural of pedn; it has a typical –ow plural ending

[6]  here barv beard is incorporated into a longer word

[7] abranjow eyebrows is the Late Cornish plural of abrans;  another  –ow plural ending

[8]  this shows how pedn head “mutates” to fedn after ow my

Tabm Rag an Jedh: A Bit For the Day

Tabm Rag an Jedh 1 A Bit for the Day 1

An wheffes dedh a vis Genver (6^th January) ew Degol Stûl (the Feast of Epiphany).

dedh is the ordinary Late Cornish word for day (Middle Cornish dydh) , which mutates after the definite article to an jedh (Middle Cornish an jydh).  

“Degol (Middle Cornish Dygol)” is the Cornish word used for special days, feast days, festivals, holy days and, by extrapolation, holidays/vacations.

In English such days may end in –mas, e.g.

Degol Maria an Golow       Candlemas, 2 mis Whevrel

Degol  deis                          Lammas (“loaf mass” or “feast of ricks”), 1 mis Est

Degol Mihal                         Michaelmas, 29 mis Gwedngala

Apart from Degol Stûl we have:

degol kebmyn                     bank holiday (common holiday)

Degol Maria Mis Meurth     Feast of the Annunciation, 25 mis Meurth

Degol Maria en Hanter-Est Feast of the Assumption, 15 mis Est

Degol a’n Ollsans               All Hallows, 1 mis Dû

Degol Maria kens Nadelik  Feast of the Immaculate Conception, 
                                                                                                 8 mis Kevardhû

Degol Stefan                       St Stephen’s day, 26 mis Kevardhû (Boxing Day)

The second (shortened) element in “degol” is “gool”, meaning celebration, feast or festival. It may be used on its own, e.g.

gool lowen                           happy birthday, etc.

gool cans bloodh               centenary

gool deys, goldeys             harvest festival (dialect guldize)

gool Mihal                  Michaelmas                          

                                   

“De” is the word used at the beginning of days of the week (Middle Cornish dy)   . This is not an abbreviation, so does not need an apostrophe.

On its own de means “yesterday”. Hedhyw means “today”.

de Sül                                    Sunday

de Lün                                   Monday

de Meurth                             Tuesday

de Merher                             Wednesday

de Yow                                  Thursday

de Gwener                            Friday

de Sadorn                             Saturday

Personal Descriptions 5 (age and gender)

At some point age and gender come into the conversation:

den                                   man

benyn                               woman

flogh                                child

yonk                                 young (Middle Cornish yowynk)

coth                                  old      

tevesik/tevesiges              adult (grownup)

Benyn yonk o vy.             I’m a young woman.

Tevesiges yonk o vy.        I’m a young adult (female).

In English I might say “I’m a woman with grey hair.” In Cornish we say the equivalent of “I’m a woman, grey my hair.” We do not translate the “with”, so:

Benyn o vy loos o blew.             I’m a woman with grey hair.

Den coth o vy gwydn o barv.     I’m an old man with a white beard.

Flogh yonk o vy crüllys o blew. I’m a young child with curly hair.

Pedn rous o vy gwer o lagajow.  I’m a redhead with green eyes.

When talking to some Cornish speakers you may find that instead of starting a sentence with “Tho vy…” for “I am …” they start a sentence with “My yw …” (RMC spelling) e.g.

My yw benyn goth.                    I am an old woman.

My yw tevesik.                           I am a grownup (m).