Lesson 2.3

Nessa (Secund) Descanz – Radn Trei
SWF: Nessa (Second) Descans – Radn Trei
Next (Second ) Lesson – Part Three
Revised 20 November 2009

Recap:

Tho ve yein. (SWF: Th o’vy yeyn.) I am cold.
Tho ve (SWF: th o’vy) is the full version of I am,
used when the word order is verb, subject, adjective.

It is the descriptive form of boaz (SWF: bos) be/being (what SWF calls the "short form").

Skîth o ve. (SWF: Skith o’vy).
Lûan o ve hidhu. (SWF: Lowen o’vy hedhyw).
Iach/Jack o ve. (SWF: Yagh o’vy.)

In these sentences the word order is adjective, verb, subject.
In Modern Cornish we put the most important element at the beginning (skîth, lûan, etc.).

Tho ve/o ve is part of the verb boaz (SWF: bos) be/being (descriptive).

Here is Richard Gendall’s complete version of boaz (based on Lhuyd) (SWF: bos)
The form used with in-built pronoun subject, always starts with th- and is followed by the complement.
It is not used in negative or interrogative:

thôm, thô vi = I am (It is not always essential to put the diacritic mark over ô.)
SWF: th o’ma, th o’vy
thôz, thô chi = thou art, you are (sg. familiar)
SWF: th os, th os’ta, th o’che
theu, theua = it is (neuter) (RG makes wide use of u in place of w)
SWF: th ew, th ewa
theu ê = he is or it is (m)
SWF: th ew e’
theu hei = she is or it is (f)
SWF: th ew hei
thôn, thô nei = we are
SWF: th on, th o’nei
thô, thô hwei = you are (sg. polite or pl.)
SWF: th o’whei
thenz, thenzi = they are
SWF: th ens, th en’jei

If you start a sentence with an adjective drop the th from the start of tho etc..

Tubm o ve. (lit. hot am I)
SWF: Tobm o’vy.

Iach/Jack ew ê. (lit. well is he)
SWF: Yagh ew ev.

Fettu ew hei. (lit. pretty is she)
SWF: Fettow ew hei.

Lûan o nei. (lit. happy are we)
SWF: Lowen o’nei.

Hagar o whei. (lit. ugly are you)
SWF: Hager o’whei.

Trawedhak enz. (lit. sad are they)
SWF: Truedhek ens.

Turn this form round to form a question.

O ve tubm?
SWF: O’vy tobm?

Ew ê (or ewa) jack?
SWF: Ew ev (or ewa) yagh?

Ew hei fettu?
SWF: Ew hei fettow?

O nei lûan?
SWF: O’nei lowan?

O whei hagar?
SWF: O’whei hager?

Enz trawedhak?
SWF: Ens truedhek?


The negative version of the verb is formed by putting NAG in front of the question form.

nag o ve I am not
SWF: nag o’vy

nagew ê, nag ewa, or just nagew he is not/it is not
SWF: nag ew e’, nag ewa, nag ew

nag ew hei she is not
SWF: nag ew hei

nag o nei we are not
SWF: nag o’nei

nag o whei you are not
SWF: nag o’whei

nag enz they are not
SWF: nag ens

Nag is only used with the verb be/being, for other verbs you use na.
Thus:

Nag o ve tubm.
SWF: Nag o’vy tobm.

Nagew ê jack.
SWF: Nag ew e’ yagh.
(3rd person, nag and ew can be combined)

Nagew hei fettu.
SWF: Nag yw hei fettow.

Nag o nei lûan.
SWF: Nag o’nei lowen.

Nag o hwei hagar.
SWF: Nag o’whei hager.

Nagenz trawedhak.
SWF: Nag ens truedhek.

For a negative question, start the negative statement with "Der",
e.g. Aren’t they sad? Der nagenz trawedhak?

If you want to say "Aren’t they? Isn’t it? etc. after a positive or negative statement use "anan"? (Equivalent of French n’est ce pas?)
e.g. She is nice, isn’t she? Thew hei whêg, anan?

However if you use a noun or name with is or are always use EW (even for plural),
e.g.:
Skîth ew Jûan. John is tired.
SWF: Skith ew Jowan.
An flehaz ew skîth. The children are tired.
SWF: An flehes yw skith.

A few sentences to try, using the descriptive form of the verb "to be" – which is the odd one out?:
(You should find all the vocabulary and grammar rules you need in this on previous postings.)

1 The children are hot.
2 Are they tired as well? (awêdh/ SWF: y’wedh), as well, also, too
3 I am a mother. (dâma/ SWF: dama), a mother
4 Are you a father? (sîra/ SWF: sira), a father
5 The children are sad. (flehaz/ SWF: flehes)
6 They are not happy.
7 Is John sad?
8 We are kind. (whêg/ SWF: wheg), kind, nice, sweet, dear
9 He is ugly.
10 He is a man. (dên/ SWF: den), a man
11 Is he old? (côth/ SWF: coth), old
12 Where do you live? (peleh/ SWF: ple), where;(trigaz/ SWF: trigys), lived/living
13 She is pretty and kind.
14 John is not tired.
15 Are we cold?
16 Is it nice?
17 It is not small. (bîan/ SWF: bian), small, little
18 She is hot and tired.
19 Am I not a man?
20 You are old and ugly!
21 Isn’t she pretty?
22 Aren’t we clever? (cudnik/kydnik)
23 Isn’t the child small?
24 Isn’t John an ugly man?
25 Mary is a nice mother, isn’t she?