Taking a new look at Cornish grammar 9 (subject noun phrases)

So far we have used a single noun as our subject. We can make it more interesting by adding a descriptive adjective to form a noun phrase, e.g. young children flehes yònk. In Cornish the adjective usually follows the noun (we will deal with exceptions later) and goes before the demonstrative na or ma, e.g. these young children an flehes yònk ma. Various characteristics are easily added and help to build up a better mental picture. 

Mester Gov coth a dhesk. Mester Gov koth a dhysk.	Old Mr. Smith teaches.
Tüs diek a gusk. Tus diek a gosk.	Lazy people sleep.
Flehes yònk a wary. Fleghes yowynk a wari.	Young children play.
Benyn wheg a dheuth. Benyn hweg a dheuth.	A nice woman came.
Bagas da a ganas. Bagas da a ganas.	A good group sang.
An stüdhyer hir na eth. An studhyer hir na eth.	That tall student went.
Ma edhyn teg o càna.  Yma edhyn teg ow kana.	Lovely birds are singing.
Ma’n kei drog o qwary. Yma’n ki drog ow kwari.	The naughty dog is playing.
Ma den skentel o tesky. Yma den skentel ow tyski.	A clever man is teaching.

In English we can say "a man with white hair". We cannot do a word for word translation into Cornish using "with" - it would make us think he was carrying his hair or he had it in his possession. Instead we must say "a man, white his hair". Here are some examples.

Mester Gov gwydn y vlew a dhesk. Mester Gov gwynn y vlew a dhysk.	Mr. Smith with white hair teaches.
Tüs gwàdn aga corfow a gusk. Tus gwann aga korfow a gosk.	People with weak bodies sleep.
Flehes meur aga nerth a wary. Fleghes meur aga nerth a wari.	Children with great energy play.
Benyn, teg hy bejeth, a dheuth. Benyn, teg hy bejeth, a dheuth.	A woman with a beautiful face came.
Bagas, wheg aga levow, a ganas. Bagas, hweg aga levow, a ganas.	A group with sweet voices sang.
An stüdhyer na, broas y frigow, eth. An studhyer-na, bras y frigow, eth.	That student with a big nose went.
Ma edhen hir hy gelvin o càna.  Yma edhen hir hy gelvin ow kana.	A bird with a long beak is singing.
Ma’n kei dû y gota o qwary. Yma’n ki du y gota ow kwari.	The dog with a black coat is playing.
Ma den owryek y wedrow o tesky. Yma den owrek y wedrow ow tyski.	A man with golden glasses is teaching.

Tabm a Gernow 79 (cats)

Cusca ew da gen cathes. Anjei a ell cusca en pub teller. 

Ma gwers famos gen Eleanor Farjeon. 

Cats sleep anywhere, any table, any chair.
Top of piano, window-ledge, in the middle, on the edge.
Open draw, empty shoe, anybody's lap will do.
Fitted in a cardboard box, in the cupboard with your frocks.
Anywhere! They don't care! Cats sleep anywhere.
Eleanor Farjeon (1881 - 1965)

Cathes a gusk en neb le ...

Holly henwys ew an gath goth ma. Ma blew hir dhedhy. Liwys ew hei avel crogen croban. Hebm'ew liw nag eus disqwedhys bes en cathes benow. Da ew genjy cusca war vordes.

Ma'n cath ma o cuska war gador vrehek. Nag eus bes trei garr ha hanter lost dhe'n gath ma. E veu dhedhy nebes droglabmow! Saffie henwys ew hei. Gwydn ha brithys donek ha dû ew hy blew. 

 Ottòbma gourgath loos y vlew. Hanow ev ew Minou (hebm'ew cathik po chett en Frenkek, car dre hevel). Da ew ganjo cusca en kistednow.



Ha war diwedh, Bertie, roos po cogh ("jinjer") ha gwydn y vlew,  a venja cusca en sagh e'mesk an eylgelghyans cartbord.

Taking a new look at Cornish grammar 8 (definite and demonstrative subjects)

Definite and demonstrative subjects.

If we use a noun on its own as our subject, it implies the indefinite article and is subsequently rather vague. “A dog is playing” could be any dog. But is we say “The dog is playing” it is more definite. And “That dog is playing” goes even further.  In Cornish, an (’n after a vowel) is the definite article before the noun. If we also put the demonstrative adjectives, ma or na, after the noun we can achieve “this”, “these”, “that” or “these”. You use ma (short for obma SWFM omma here¹) and na (short for ena there) for both singular and plural. Some people like to use a hyphen with ma and na.

In the present continuous:

Ma kei o qwary. SWFM Yma ki ow kwari.	A dog is playing.
Ma keun o qwary. SWFM Yma keun ow kwari.	Dogs are playing.
Ma’n kei o qwary. SWFM Yma’n ki ow kwari.	The dog is playing.
Ma’n keun o qwary. SWFM Yma’n keun ow kwari.	The dogs are playing.
Ma’n kei ma o qwary. SWFM Yma’n ki-ma ow kwari.	This dog is playing.
Ma’n keun ma o qwary. SWFM Yma’n keun-ma ow kwari.	These dogs are playing.
Ma’n kei na o qwary. SWFM Yma’n ki-na ow kwari.	That dog is playing.
Ma’n keun na o qwary. SWFM Yma’n keun-na ow kwari.	Those dogs are playing.

In the present-future:

Kei a wary. SWFM Ki a wari.	A dog plays.
Keun a wary. SWFM Keun a wari.	Dogs play.
An kei a wary. SWFM An ki a wari.	The dog plays.
An keun a wary. SWFM An keun a wari.	The dogs play.
An kei ma a wary. SWFM An ki-ma a wari.	This dog plays.
An keun ma a wary. SWFM An keun-ma a wari.	These dogs play.
An kei na a wary. SWFM An ki-na a wari.	That dog plays.
An keun na a wary. SWFM An keun-na a wari.	Those dogs play.

In the preterite (simple past):

Kei a waras. SWFM Ki a waras.	A dog played.
Keun a waras. SWFM Keun a waras.	Dogs played.
An kei a waras. SWFM An ki a waras.	The dog played.
An keun a waras. SWFM An keun a waras.	The dogs played.
An kei ma a waras. SWFM An ki-ma a waras.	This dog played.
An keun ma a waras. SWFM An keun-ma a waras.	These dogs played.
An kei na a waras. SWFM An ki-na a waras.	That dog played.
An keun na a waras. SWFM An keun-na a waras.	Those dogs played.

Replacing the subjects with the corresponding demonstrative pronouns we get:

Ma hebma2 o qwary. SWFM Yma hemma ow kwari.	This one is playing.
Ma ’n re ma o qwary. Yma an re-ma ow kwari.	These are playing.
Ma hedna o qwary. Yma henna ow kwari.	That one is playing.
Ma’n re na o qwary. Yma an re-na ow kwari.	Those are playing.
Hebma a wary. Hemma a wari.	This one plays.
An re ma a wary. An re-ma a wari.	These play.
Hedna a wary. Henna a wari.	That one plays.
An re na a wary. An re-na a wari.	Those play.
Hebma a waras. Hemma a waras.	This one played.
An re ma a waras. An re-ma a waras.	These played.
Hedna a waras. Henna a waras.	That one played.
An re na a waras. An re-na a waras.	Those played.

[1] If you compare the Middle Cornish with the Late Cornish you will see certain differences. “Pre-occlusion” is a feature of Late Cornish pronunciation, where /mm/  became /^bm/ (in words such as omma/obma here, hemma/hebma this one) and /nn/ became /^dn/ (in words such as henna/hedna that one). Some Late Cornish writers went even further with hedda.

[2] Hebma this one and hedna that one are used if the subject is masculine or of unknown gender. If you know that the subject is feminine you use homma/hobma (or holma) this one and honna/hodna or even hodda that one.