Saturday 28 February 2015

An gewer en mis Whevrel

Thera tabm ergh dhen war an brially.




Ha thera keser war an idhyow.

Thera glaw war an mor.

Tho Breanek niwlek.

Terweythyow an howl a spladnas war an eythin.

Ha menowgh gwenjek o, gen mor garow.


Ha thera glaw dhen, pub pres glaw. 
Ma Whevrel  o lenel an creunyow rag Meurth.



Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit ~(Children's action rhyme)

Children’s Action Song.
This uses some of our verbs. Can you translate it? Extra vocabulary is given below.

Here we go round the mulberry bush on a cold and frosty morning.

 Posorn

Thero’nei ’moas ’dro dhe’n vorwedhen, vorwedhen, vorwedhen.
Thero’nei ’moas ’dro dhe’n vorwedhen, en mettin yeyn ha rewys.

                     **********************************
Mir! Thero’nei o sevel e’mann, ’sevel e’mann, ’sevel e’mann.
Mir! Thero’nei o sevel e’mann, en mettin yeyn ha rewys.
(pedn posorn)

Mir! Thero’nei ’omwolhy an vejeth, ’omwolhy  an vejeth, ’omwolhy  an vejeth.
Mir! Thero’nei ’omwolhy an vejeth, en mettin yeyn ha rewys.
(pedn posorn)

Mir! Thero’nei owth omwisca, ’omwisca, ’omwisca,
Mir! Thero’nei owth omwisca, en mettin yeyn ha rewys.
(pedn posorn)

Mir! Thero’nei o criba an pedn, ’criba an pedn, ’criba an pedn.
Mir! Thero’nei o criba an pedn, en mettin yeyn ha rewys.
(pedn posorn)


Mir! Thero’nei o tebri ’gan ly, ’tebri ’gan ly, ’tebri ’gan ly.
Mir! Thero’nei o tebri ’gan ly, en mettin yeyn ha rewys.
(pedn posorn)

Mir! Thero’nei o clanhe ’gan dens, ’clanhe ’gan dens, ’clanhe ’gan dens.
Mir! Thero’nei o clanhe ’gan dens, en mettin yeyn ha rewys.
(pedn posorn)

Mir! Thero’nei o moas dhe scoll, ’moas dhe scoll, ’moas dhe scoll.
Mir! Thero’nei o moas dhe scoll, en mettin yeyn ha rewys.
(pedn posorn)

Mir! Thero’nei o tesky Kernowek, ’tesky Kernowek, ’tesky Kernowek.
Mir! Thero’nei o tesky Kernowek, en mettin yeyn ha rewys.
(pedn posorn)

Gerva Vocabulary:
(Remember hard mutation for present participle/verbal noun: b to p, d to t, g to k
after “o” and soft mutation of feminine nouns after “an” )

morwedhen (f) (vorwedhen) = mulberry tree (mor = mulberries)                               
bejeth (f) = face (mutates to vejeth after an)                  
dens = teeth (sing. dans)
desky (tesky) = learn (learning)                                       
Kernowek = Cornish
ly = breakfast                                                           
Mir! = Look! (imperative 2s)
rewys = frozen, frosty
sevel e’mann = get up (getting up)
scoll = school                                                          

yeyn = cold               

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 54 (More on adding bits to words)

More on adding bits to words

We saw how some adjectives can be turned into verbs by adding an ending such as –he, e.g. converting glan clean to glanhe to clean. A similar thing can be done to some nouns (with slight adjustment of the final consonant) , e.g.:

golgh (m)                                          a wash
becomes
golhy                                                 to wash

This usually takes an object, e.g.
golhy an lestry                                to wash the dishes (vessels), to wash up

But if the object is yourself the verb can be made “reflexive”[1] by adding the prefix om-[2], e.g.:
omwolhy                                           to wash oneself, to bathe

These can be incorporated into several other terms:

golghva[3] gerry (f)                          carwash
scübel wolhy (f)                               mop
jynn golhy                                        washing machine
stevel omwolhy                               bathroom, washroom

Here are several other groups of words related in similar ways:

towl                                                    a throw (also a plan)
towlel                                                 to throw
omdowlel                                          to wrestle
omdowl                                             wrestling (sport)

set                                                      a seat
settya                                                 to set, place
omsettya                                           to attack
settyans                                            setting (location)
oversettya                                        to upset

don                                                    to carry
omdhon                                            to behave oneself [4]

plek                                                    a fold
plegya                                               to fold, to bend
omblegya                                         to bow, to bend oneself

gwisk                                                 a dress, a covering, a husk
gwisca[5]                                           to clothe, to dress
omwisca                                           to clothe oneself, to get dressed

pell                                                     distant, far
pellhe                                                 to distance
ombellhe                                           to withdraw, to distance oneself

lowen                                                 happy
lowenhe                                            to make happy
omlowenhe                                      to enjoy oneself

ober                                                   work
obery                                                 to work, to operate
omobery                                           to exercise

clowans                                            a feeling
clowes                                               to feel, to hear, to sense
omglowes                                         to be aware, to feel

cussul                                               advice, council
cussulya                                           to advise, to counsel
omgussulya                                     to discuss
tedna                                                 to pull, to draw
omdedna                                          to retire, to log out, to shrink
chersya                                             to cherish, to pet
omjersya                                           to make oneself comfortable

Let’s combine some of these verbs with things you have learnt in previous lessons:

Ev a vedn omdowlel gen Tas Broas.                 
                                                        He wants to wrestle with Big Daddy.
Nei a wrüg golhy an lestry.          We did wash the dishes.
                                                        We washed the dishes
Hei a omwiscas e’n mettin.          
                                          She dressed herself (got dressed) in the morning.
Me a wrüg omjersya war bluvek.                        
                                                    I made myself comfortable on a cushion.
Anjei a venja omdedna nessa bledhen.           
                                                   They would like to retire next year.

Notice that with vedn and venja there is no need to put dhe to in front of the main verb, even though we use to in English.




[1]  There is another common way of dealing with reflexive verbs, which we will deal with later. A number of these examples are neologisms which have never been found in the original literature.
[2] The om- prefix is pronounced schwa (In Late Cornish it appeared in a variety of spellings)
[3] the –va ending indicated some sort of place
[4] can also mean to conceive, to be pregnant, to bear children,  – which could be rather contradictory!! Rowe had this as humthan
[5]  RG has gwesga with a softer soundWe saw how some adjectives can be turned into verbs by adding an ending such as –he, e.g. converting glan clean to glanhe to clean. A similar thing can be done to some nouns (with slight adjustment of the final consonant) , e.g.:


Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 56 (Asking questions about the past)

Asking Questions About The Past.

We have seen two ways of making poasitive statements about the past – the preterite (simple past tense) and the compound preterite, e.g.:

Nei eth tre.                        We went home.
Nei ’wrüg moas tre.         We did go home. We went home.

However, for asking questions and making negative statements you must use the compound preterite. This is a slightly simplified version[1] (which also misses out the verbal particle a):

wrüga vy?                         did I?
wress’tajy?                       did you? (familiar)
wrüg ev?                          did he?
wrüg hei?                         did she?
wrüssa nei?                     did we?
wrüssa whei?                  did you? (formal and plural)
wrüg anjei?                     did they?

na wrüga vy                     I did not
na wress’tajy                   you did not (familiar)
na wrüg ev                       he did not
na wrüg hei                     she did not
na wrüssa nei                 we did not
na wrüssa whei               you did not (formal and plural)
na wrüg anjei                  they did not

Making some of our previous sentences into questions or negative statements:

Wrüssa nei golhy an lestry?                   
                                        Did we wash the dishes?
Na wrüssa nei golhy an lestry.                
                                        We did not wash the dishes.
Wrüg hei omwisca e’n mettin?               
                                        Did she get dressed in the morning?
Na wrüg hei omwisca e’n mettin.            
                                        She did not get dressed in the morning.
Wrüga vy omjersya war bluvek?            
                                        Did I make myself comfortable on a cushion?
Na wrüga vy omjersya war bluvek?     

                                        I did not make myself comfortable on a cushion.

[1]  There are also other forms which have a pronoun incorporated with the verb, which we will deal with later.

Learn Late Cornish Bit by Bit 55 (Let's go!)

Let’s go!

So far we have seen several examples involving the verb moas to go. We can use it in a number of tenses and moods, e.g.:

Thero’nei o moas dhe’n shoppys.         We are going to the shops.
Nei eth dhe’n varhas rag perna bara.    We went to market to buy bread.
Nei ’wrüg moas tre.                                 We did go home. We went home.
Nei a vedn moas gen agan tas.              We want to go with our father.
                                                                   We will go with our father.
Nei ’venja moas dhe’n treth.                   We would like to go to the beach.

You can invite others to accompany you when you go:

Gerow’ nei moas dhe’n shoppys.          Let’s go to the shops.
Gerow’ nei moas dhe varhas rag perna bara.
                                                                  Let’s go to market to buy bread.
Gerow’ nei moas tre.                               Let’s go home.
Gerow’ nei moas gen agan tas.              Let’s go with our father.
Gerow’ nei moas dhe’n treth.                  Let’s go to the beach.

You can, of course, use Gerow’ nei Let’s go with any other verb.

Gerow’ nei omdowlel gen Tas Broas.     Let’s wrestle with Big Daddy.
Gerow’ nei golhy an lestry.                      Let’s wash the dishes.
Gerow’ nei omwisca rag kidnyow.          Let’s got dressed for dinner.
Gerow’ nei omjersya war bluvogow.      
                                            Let’s make ourselves comfortable on cushions.

Gerow’ nei omdedna nessa bledhen.     Let’s retire next year.