Cornish grammar (original) (raw)

Grammar of the Cornish language

Cornish grammar is the grammar of the Cornish language (_Kernewek or _Kernowek[1]), an insular Celtic language closely related to Breton and Welsh and, to a lesser extent, to Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic. It was the main medium of communication of the Cornish people for much of their history until the 17th century, when a language shift occurred in favour of English. A revival, however, started in 1904, with the publication of A Handbook of the Cornish Language, by Henry Jenner, and since then there has been a growing interest in the language.

Initial consonant mutation

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Initial mutation is a feature shared by all the modern Celtic languages, in which the initial consonant of a word may change under some circumstances. In Cornish these changes take place when a word starts with one of the consonants shown in the table below; other initial consonants remain unchanged. The most common mutation occurs after the definite article an, when followed by a feminine singular noun or masculine plural noun.

Consonant Mutation in Cornish

1. ^ Before unrounded vowels (i, y, e, a), l, and r + unrounded vowel.
2. ^ Before rounded vowels (o, u), and r + rounded vowel.

Cornish nouns, like those of other Celtic languages, possess two grammatical genders, meaning that they belong to one of two groups: masculine or feminine. Sometimes the gender of a noun can be inferred from the class of words it belongs to, for example, nouns referring to males, such as _gour “man, husband” or _tarow “bull”, or verbal nouns, such as _kerdhes “walking” and _bos “being”, are masculine whereas nouns referring to females, such as _hwor “sister” and _yar “hen”, are feminine. Nevertheless, it is often impossible to determine the gender of a noun from its form, although certain nominal suffixes have gender:

• Masculine suffixes: _-adow, _-der/_-ter, _-di/_-ji/-ti, _-ik, _-la, _-(n)eth (mostly), _-our, _-(y)ans, _-yas, _-ydh, _-(y)er, _-yn, _-(y)or
• Feminine suffixes: _-a, _-ek, _-el, _-en, _-es, _-(on)ieth

There is a very small number of nouns which may be either gender, such as _nev “heaven” and _tonn “grassland”, and is similar to its sister language Breton in that the noun _tra “thing” takes masculine numerals above one and masculine referring pronouns but has the mutations of a feminine noun after _an “the”, _unn “one” and on accompanying adjectives.[2]

Singular and plural

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Most nouns have a singular and plural form, the latter deriving from the former in a number of ways. Plural forms may add an ending to a singular, such as _treth “beach” to _trethow, _pompyon “pumpkin” to _pompyons and _lader “thief” to _ladron. Adding an ending may be accompanied by a vowel change, as in the case of _gwreg “wife” to _gwragedh and _hwor “sister” to _hwerydh, or may involve a vowel change alone, for example _korn “horn” to _kern and _men “stone” to _meyn.[1][2]

A small number of nouns display relics of a dual system. These are formed by prefixing masculine _dew or feminine _diw, both “two”, to the respective noun. Dual nouns are often parts of the body and indicate the pair of them taken together, for instance, _lagas “eye” to _dewlagas “(pair of) eyes” and _bregh “arm” to _diwvregh “(pair of) arm”. These carry a different meaning to the regular plural forms, such as _lagasow or _lagajow “eyes” and _breghow “arms”, which do not indicate a matching pair.[1][2][3]

Collective and singulative

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A distinctive and unusual feature of Brythonic languages is that of collective and singulative number. The base form of some Cornish nouns denotes a class or group, often natural objects, such as _sab “pine trees”, _kelyon “flies” and _niwl “fog”. A singulative is formed by adding the feminine ending _-en to denote a single individual of the group, hence _saben “a pine tree”, _kelyonen “a fly” and _niwlen “a patch of fog”. Singulatives can themselves have plural forms in _-ow, denoting a number of individuals of the group, so for instance, _kelyonen gives _kelyonennow “(a number of) flies (individually)”.[1][2]

Cornish lacks an indefinite article (although _unn “one” is sometimes used to mean ”a certain...” e.g. _unn ki “a certain dog”), but has a definite article, _an, which precedes the noun, for example _an Kernow “the Cornishman” and _an Kernowesow “the Cornishwomen”. The article causes a soft mutation on feminine singular nouns, such as _Kernowes “Cornishwoman” to _an Gernowes “the Cornishwoman”, and on masculine plural nouns denoting persons, as _Kernowyon “Cornishmen” to _an Gernowyon “the Cornishmen”, although exceptions to the latter include _an tasow “the fathers” and clear English borrowings such as _an doktours “the doctors”. Also the masculine plural nouns _meyn ”stones” and _mergh ”horses” are exceptions, which are lenited to _an veyn ”the stones” and _an vergh ”the horses”, respectively.[4][5] _An is shortened to _'n after certain function words that end in a vowel, meaning _a “of”, _dhe “to” and _ha “and” become _a'n “of the”, _dhe'n “to the” and _ha'n “and the”, and in addition, _yn “in” becomes identically pronounced _y'n “in the”.[1][2]

Demonstrative determiners

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The definite article and a noun followed by the clitics _ma and _na to produce the demonstratives “this/these” and “that/those” respectively, for example _an lyver ma “this book” and _an lyvrow na “those books”.[2]

Possessive determiners

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The possessive determiners are as follows. Notice their similarity to the more reduced forms of the personal pronouns.[2]

| | singular | plural | | | | ----------- | --------- | ------ | ----- | | 1st person | ow | agan | | | 2nd person | dha | agas | | | 3rd person | masculine | y | aga | | feminine | hy | | |

Personal pronouns in Cornish can be arranged as follows.[2]

| | Independent | Reduced | Suffixed | | | | | | -------------- | ---------- | ------------ | ------------ | ---------- | -------- | -------- | | Single | Double | Reduced | | | | | | singular | 1st person | my | ’m | -vy | -evy | -(m)a | | 2nd person | ty | ’th | -jy | -tejy | -(t)a | | | 3rdperson | masculine | ev | ’y | -e(v) | -eev | -(v)a | | feminine | hi | ’s | -hi | -hyhi | N/a | | | plural | 1st person | ni | ’gan, ’n | -ni | -nyni | N/a | | 2nd person | hwi | ’gas, ’s | -hwi | -hwyhwi | N/a | | | 3rd person | i | ’s | -i | -ynsi | N/a | |

Independent personal pronouns are used as the subject of a nominal sentence, for example _My a grys “I believe”, or can stand before the verb in a verbal sentence to draw attention to the subject implied by the verb, for example Ni ny yllyn mos “_We cannot go”. Certain other constructions employ independent pronouns, such as those based on verbal nouns, like _ev dhe dhos omma “(that) he came here”, and those that follow conjunctions, such as _hag i ow kortos “as they are/were waiting”.

Suffixed pronouns are attached to nouns in possessive constructions, to inflected verbs and to pronouns and are used to reinforce a pronoun previously expressed by a verbal or personal ending, for example _Ple eth hi? “Where did she go?”.

Reduced pronouns are used between a verbal particle and a verb, such as in _mar ny’th welav “if I don't see you”.

Demonstrative pronouns

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Demonstrative pronouns display two degrees of proximity as well as gender and number.

| | Singular | Plural | | | | ----------------- | -------- | ------- | ---------- | | masculine | feminine | common | | | Near the speaker | hemma | homma | an re ma | | Near the listener | henna | honna | an re na |

These pronouns lose their final _a before _yw “is” and _o “was”, for example _Homm yw ow keniterow “This is my (female) cousin”.

Cornish adjectives usually come after the noun they modify although a few may come before or after, such as _drog “bad” and _leun “full”, and a small number always precede the noun, such as _lies “many” and _hen “old, long-standing”. There are simple and derived adjectives. The former comprise adjectives that are not derived of any other word, whereas the latter are formed by adding suffixes such as _-ek to the end of a noun (including verbal nouns).[1][2] Adjectives are lenited when they are preceded by a feminine singular noun, or a masculine plural noun referring to persons, e.g. _benen goth 'an old woman', _mebyon vyghan 'small sons'.[6]

Adjectives are inflected with _-a to give a comparative/superlative form. This suffix causes provection of the adjective stem, for example _glyb “wet” to _glyppa and _krev “stong” to _kreffa. A number of adjectives are irregular and have separate comparative and superlative forms.[2]

1. ^ a b Used in place names.

Adverbials in Cornish may be a single word or a more complex phrases, for example _ena “then” and _y’n eur ma “now”, literally “in this hour”. Many are formed from the combination of a preposition and a noun or pronoun, such as _war-woles “downwards” from _war “on” and _goles “bottom” and _a-ji (or _a-jei) “within” from _a “from, at” and _chi (or _chei) “house”. Adverbs can be formed from adjectives by means of the particle _yn, such as in the case of _krev “strong” to _yn krev “strongly” and _da “good” to _yn ta “well”.[2]

Regular conjugation

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Cornish verbs are highly regular and are conjugated to show distinctions of person, number, mood, tense and aspect in various combinations.

example conjugation of prena "buy"[7]

| | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | Impersonal[a] | | | | | | | ----------------------------------- | --------------- | ------------- | ----------------------------------- | --------------- | ------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | ------------- | | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | | | | | Indicative | Present/ Future | prenav | prenyn | prenydh | prenowgh | pren[b] | prenons | prenir | | Preterite | prenis | prensyn | prensys | prensowgh | prenas[c] | prensons | prenas[c] | | | Imperfect[d] | prenen | prenen | prenes | prenewgh | prena | prenens | prenys | | | Pluperfect | prensen | prensen | prenses | prensewgh | prensa | prensens | prensys | | | Subjunctive[e] | Present/ Future | prenniv | prennyn | prenni | prennowgh | prenno | prennons | prenner | | Imperfect | prennen | prennen | prennes | prennewgh | prenna | prennens | prennys | | | Imperative | N/a | prenyn | pren[b] | prenewgh | prenes | prenens | N/a | |

Certain points should be observed about the above:[2][7]

1. ^ The impersonal form is equivalent to the use of the English pronoun one and can be used in a similar way to the English passive, for example, Prenas an boos “One bought the food; The food was bought”.
2. ^ a b The third person singular indicative present/future and the second person imperative utilise the verbal stem with no ending.
3. ^ a b In the third person singular and impersonal preterite, some verbs take the alternative ending -is, for example tevi “grow” to tevis and gelwel “call” to gelwis.
4. ^ Certain verbs take slightly different endings in the indicative imperfect. Instead of -en, -es and -a, they take -yn, -ys and -i respectively, for example, hwerthin “laugh” to hwerthyn “I/we were laughing”, hwerthys “you [singular] were laughing”, hwerthi “he/she/it was laughing”.
5. ^ The final consonant of a verb stem is modified before subjunctive endings. Consonants are usually lengthened, shortening the previous vowel, and voiced stops and fricatives are devoiced and lengthened, for example, igeri “open” to igerriv, kregi “hang” to krekkiv and hwedhla “tell tales” to hwetthliv.
6. ^ The infinitive form is considered to be a verbal noun in Cornish grammars, meaning an example like prena can function as both verbal “to buy” and nominal “(the act of) buying”. A number of different verbal noun endings exist.

It should also be noted that vowel affection occurs in the stem of some verbs before certain endings, especially those with close front vowels, though not exclusively.

affection with tava "touch"[7]

| | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | Impersonal5 | | | | | | | ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------ | | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | | | | | Indicative | Present/ Future | tavav | tevyn | tevydh | tevowgh | tav2 | tavons4 | tevir | | Preterite | tevis | tevsyn | tevsys | tevsowgh | tavas3 | tavsons | tavas3 | | | Imperfect | taven1 | taven1 | taves1 | tavewgh4 | tava1 | tavens4 | tevys | | | Pluperfect | tavsen | tavsen | tavses | tavsewgh | tavsa | tavsens | tevsys | | | Subjunctive | Present/ Future | tyffiv | tyffyn | tyffi | tyffowgh | taffo | taffons | taffer4 | | Imperfect | taffen | taffen | taffes | taffewgh | taffa | taffens | tyffys | | | Imperative | N/a | tevyn | tav2 | tevyn | taves4 | tavens4 | N/a | |

Note:[2]

**^1**The alternative indicative imperfect endings -yn, -ys and -i cause vowel affection.

**^2**Amongst the endingless forms, the present/future third person singular and the second person singular imperative, the former may include vowel affection while the latter does not, for example, seni “sound” to sen “he/she/it sounds” and son “sound!” and gelwel “call” to gelow “he/she/it calls” and galw “call!”.

**^3**The alternative third person singular and impersonal preterite ending -is causes vowel affection.

**^4**These endings also cause affection with some verbs.

**^5**Certain verbal noun endings cause vowel affection, again especially those with close front vowels.

Irregular conjugation

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A handful of irregular verbs exist, alongside their English equivalents when translated; the most common of which are detailed here.

The most irregular verb of all is bos “be”, which is often used as an auxiliary and can be conjugated to show a number of additional distinctions not present in other verbs.

bos "be"

| | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | Impersonal | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ---------- | ---------- | ---------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | -------- | ----- | ---- | | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | | | | | | Indicative | Present1 | short form | ov | on | os | owgh | yw | yns | or | | long form | esov | eson | esos | esowgh | yma, usi, eus2 | ymons, esons2 | eder | | | | Future | bydhav | bydhons | bydhydh | bydhowgh | bydh | bydhons | bydher | | | | Preterite | beuv | beun | beus | bewgh | beu | bons | beus | | | | Imperfect1 | short form | en | en | es | ewgh | o | ens | os | | | long form | esen | esen | eses | esewgh | esa | esens | eses | | | | habitual | bedhen | bedhen | bedhes | bedhewgh | bedha | bedhens | bedhes | | | | Pluperfect | bien | bien | bies | biewgh | bia | biens | bies | | | | Subjunctive | Present/ Future | biv | byn | bi | bowgh | bo | bons | ber | | | Imperfect | ben | ben | bes | bewgh | be | bens | bes | | | | Imperative | N/a | bedhen | bydh | bedhewgh | bedhes | bedhens | N/a | | |

Some peculiarities of bos to be noted as follows:[2]

**^1**The present tense has separate short and long forms. The short forms are used when a subject complement is a noun or adjective whereas the long forms are used with adverbial and participle complements.[3] In addition, the imperfect has a habitual form.

^2Yma and ymons are used in affirmitive declarative independent clauses whereas usi, eus and esons are used elsewhere, such as negative, interrogative and dependent clauses. Usi is used with definite subjects whereas eus is used with indefinite subjects.

**^3**The form *bedhys is not found independently but rather in its mutated form vedhys as part of compound words, such as godhvedhys “known” and piwvedhys “owned”.

Y'm beus is a combination of a reduced pronoun with dative meaning and the third person singular forms of bos, meaning literally “there is to [me]”, or more idiomatically “[I] have”.[2] A similar construction is present in Breton. The presence of the pronoun means there are separate masculine and feminine third person singular forms but no impersonal forms, verbal noun or participles.

| | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | | | | | | | | ------------- | --------------- | ------------- | ------------ | ------------- | ------------ | ------------- | ------------- | ------------- | | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | | | | | masculine | feminine | | | | | | | | | Indicative | Present | y'm beus | y'gan beus | y'th eus | y'gas beus | y'n jeves | y’s teves | y’s teves | | Future | y'm byth | y'gan byth | y'fydh | y'gas byth | y'n jevydh | y’s tevydh | y’s tevydh | | | Preterite | y'm beu | y'gan beu | y'th o | y'gas beu | y'n jevo | y’s tevo | y’s tevo | | | Imperfect | simple | y'm bo | y'gan bo | y'fedha | y'gas bo | y'n jevedha | y’s tevedha | y’s tevedha | | habitual | y'm bedha | y'gan bedha | y'feu | y'gas bedha | y'n jeva | y’s teva | y’s teva | | | Pluperfect | y'm beu | y'gan beu | y'fia | y'gas beu | y'n jevia | y’s tevia | y’s tevia | | | Subjunctive | Present/ Future | y'm bo | y'gan bo | y'fo | y'gas bo | y'n jeffo | y’s teffo | y’s teffo | | Imperfect | y'm be | y'gan be | y'fe | y'gas be | y'n jeffa | y’s teffa | y’s teffa | |

The irregular verb godhvos (or goffos[1]) “know, can (know how to)” is based upon bos although does not utilise a habitual imperfect.[2][3][7]

godhvos (or goffos[1]) "know, can (know how to)"

| | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | Impersonal | | | | | | | ------------- | --------------- | ------------ | ------------- | -------------- | ------------ | ------------- | ------------ | -------- | | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | | | | | Indicative | Present | gonn | godhon | godhes | godhowgh | gor | godhons | deer | | Future | godhvydhav | godhvydhyn | godhvydhydh | godhvydhowgh | godhvydh | godhvydhons | godhvydher | | | Preterite | godhvev | godhven | godhves | godhvewgh | godhva | godhvons | godhves | | | Imperfect | godhyen | godhyen | godhyes | godhyewgh | godhya | godhyens | godhves | | | Pluperfect | godhvien | godhvien | godhvies | godhviewgh | godhvia | godhviens | godhvies | | | Subjunctive | Present/ Future | godhviv | godhvyn | godhvi | godhvyn | godhvo | godhvons | godher | | Imperfect | godhven | godhven | godhves | godhvewgh | godhve | godhvens | godhves | | | Imperative | N/a | godhvydhyn | godhvydh | godhvydhewgh | godhvydhes | godhvydhens | N/a | |

Another extremely common irregular verb also used as an auxiliary is gul “do, make”.[7]

gul "do, make"

| | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | Impersonal | | | | | | | ------------- | --------------- | ---------- | ---------- | ------------ | ------------ | ----------- | ----------- | ---------- | | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | | | | | Indicative | Present/ Future | gwrav | gwren | gwredh | gwrewgh | gwra | gwrons | gwrer | | Preterite | gwrug | gwrussyn | gwrussys | gwrussowgh | gwrug | gwrussons | gwrug | | | Imperfect | gwren | gwren | gwres | gwrewgh | gwre | gwrens | gwres | | | Pluperfect | gwrussen | gwrussen | gwrusses | gwrussewgh | gwrussa | gwrussens | gwrussys | | | Subjunctive | Present/ Future | gwrylliv | gwryllyn | gwrylli | gwryllowgh | gwrello | gwrellons | gwreller | | Imperfect | gwrellen | gwrellen | gwrelles | gwrellewgh | gwrella | gwrellens | gwrellys | | | Imperative | N/a | gwrem | gwra | gwrewgh | gwres | gwrens | N/a | |

The verb mos “go, become” is irregular and has separate forms for the present perfect.[7]

mos "go, become"

| | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | Impersonal5 | | | | | | | -------------- | --------------- | ---------- | ------------------------------- | ------------- | --------- | --------- | -------- | ------- | | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | | | | | Indicative | Present/ Future | av | en | edh | ewgh | a | ons | er | | Preterite | yth | ethen | ythys | ethewgh | eth | ethons | es, os | | | Imperfect | en | en | es | ewgh | e | ens | es | | | Presentperfect | galsov | galson | galsos | galsowgh | gallas | galsons | N/a | | | Pluperfect | gylsen | gylsen | gylses | gylsewgh | galsa | gylsens | N/a | | | Subjunctive | Present/ Future | ylliv | yllyn | ylli | yllowgh | ello | ellons | eller | | Imperfect | ellen | ellen | elles | ellewgh | ella | gellens | ellss | | | Imperative | N/a | deun | ke, a | keugh, eugh | es | ens | N/a | |

Similarly, dos “come, arrive” is irregular and has present perfect forms.[7]

dos "come, arrive"

| | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | Impersonal | | | | | | | -------------- | --------------- | ---------- | ----------- | ----------- | ---------- | ---------- | --------- | -------- | | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | | | | | Indicative | Present/ Future | dov | deun | deudh | dewgh | deu | dons | deer | | Preterite | deuth | deuthen | deuthys | deuthewgh | deuth | deuthons | es, os | | | Imperfect | den | den | des | dewgh | de | dens | des | | | Presentperfect | deuvev | deuven | deuves | deuvewgh | deuva | deuvons | deuves | | | Pluperfect | dothyen | dothyen | dothyes | dothyewgh | dothya | dothyens | dothyes | | | Subjunctive | Present/ Future | dyffiv | dyffyn | dyffi | dyffowgh | deffo | dyffons | deffer | | Imperfect | deffen | deffen | deffes | deffewgh | deffa | deffens | deffes | | | Imperative | N/a | deun | deus, des | dewgh | des | dens | N/a | |

The irregular verbs ri “give” and dri “bring” (alternatively, rei and drei[1]) have similar conjugations. This table give the forms of ri from which the dri forms can be composed by adding an initial d, for example rov “I give” to drov “I bring”. The only exceptions to this are that the second person singular imperatives of dri are dro, doro and doroy and that, as usual, the ow of the present participle cause provection of the d to t to give ow tri.[2][7]

ri "give"

| | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | Impersonal | | | | | | | ------------- | --------------- | ---------- | ---------- | ---------- | ---------- | --------- | --------- | -------- | | singular | plural | singular | plural | singular | plural | | | | | Indicative | Present/ Future | rov | ren | redh | rowgh | re | rons | rer | | Preterite | res | resen | resys | resowgh | ros | rosons | ros | | | Imperfect | ren | ren | res | rewgh | ri | rens | res | | | Pluperfect | rosen | rosen | roses | rosewgh | rosa | rosens | rosys | | | Subjunctive | Present/ Future | rylliv | ryllyn | rylli | ryllowgh | rollo | rollons | roller | | Imperfect | rollen | rollen | rolles | rollewgh | rolla | rollens | rollys | | | Imperative | N/a | ren | ro, roy | rewgh | res | rens | N/a | |

Certain conjunctions have an additional form used when followed by a vowel, such as _ha “and” becoming hag and _na “than” becoming nag.[2]

As in other Celtic languages, Cornish prepositions are simple or complex and may inflect to show person, number and gender. Historically, inflected prepositions derive from the contraction between a preposition and a personal pronoun.

Simple prepositions that inflect belong to one of three groups characterised by their use of the vowel a, o or i. Third person prepositional stems are sometimes slightly different from those of the first and second persons and affection sometimes occurs in the third person singular feminine. Dhe “to” and gans “with” are irregular.[2]

| | _war_“on” | _rag_“for” | _orth_“at” | _dhe_“to” | _gans_“with” | | | | ------------ | ---------------------- | ---------------------- | ---------------------- | ------------------- | ------------------- | ----------------- | | singular | 1st person | _warnav_“on me” | _ragov_“for me” | _orthiv_“at me” | _dhymm_“to me” | _genev_“with me” | | 2nd person | _warnas_“on you” | _ragos_“for you” | _orthis_“at you” | _dhys_“to you” | _genes_“with you” | | | 3rdperson | masculine | _warno_“on him” | _ragdho_“for him” | _orto_“at him” | _dhodho_“to him” | _ganso_“with him” | | feminine | _warni_“on her” | _rygdhi_“for her” | _orti_“at her” | _dhedhi_“to her” | _gensi_“with her” | | | plural | 1st person | _warnan_“on us” | _ragon_“for us” | _orthyn_“at us” | _dhyn_“to us” | _genen_“with us” | | 2nd person | _warnowgh_“on you” | _ragowgh_“for you” | _orthowgh_“at you” | _dhywgh_“to you” | _genowgh_“with you” | | | 3rd person | _warna_“on them” | _ragdha_“for them” | _orta_“at them” | _dhedha_“to them” | _gansa_“with them” | |

Complex prepositions inflect by means of interfixes, whereby the nominal second element is preceded by a pronominal form. This is similar to how instead can become in my stead in archaic English. Mutations may be triggered following the various pronominal forms as seen in the following table.[2]

| | _erbynn_“against” | _yn kever_“about” | _a-govis_“for the sake of” | | | | -------------------- | --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | | singular | 1st person | _er ow fynn_“against me” | yn ow kever, _y’m kever_“about me” | _a’m govis_“for my sake” | | 2nd person | _er dha bynn_“against you” | yn dha gever, _y’th kever_“about you” | _a’th kovis_“for your sake” | | | 3rdperson | masculine | _er y bynn_“against him” | _yn y gever_“about him” | _a’y wovis_“for his sake” | | feminine | _er hy fynn_“against her” | _yn hy kever_“about her” | _a’y govis_“for her sake” | | | plural | 1st person | _er agan pynn_“against us” | yn agan kever, _y’gan kever_“about us” | _a’gan govis_“for our sake” | | 2nd person | _er agas pynn_“against you” | yn agas kever, _y’gas kever_“about you” | _a’gas govis_“for your sake” | | | 3rd person | _er aga fynn_“against them” | yn aga hever, _y’ga hever_“about them” | _a’ga govis_“for their sake” | |

Similar to other Celtic languages, Cornish has an underlying vigesimal counting system. “Two”, “three” and “four” and derivative numbers have separate masculine (m.) and feminine (f.) forms.[2]

The numbers 21 to 39 employ the connective _warn “on the” to join the smaller number to the larger, for example _onan warn ugens “21”, _naw warn ugens “29” and _unnek warn ugens “31”. From 41 onwards, the connecting word is _ha “and”, as in _onan ha dew-ugens “41”, _pymthek ha dew-ugens “55” and _nownsek ha peswar-ugens “99”.

Cardinal numbers used to form larger numbers include:

Beyond 100, it is still possible to use multiples of ugens, such as _hwegh-ugens “120”. _Kans “100”, _mil “1,000” and _milvil “1,000,000” are all masculine numbers, for example _tri mil “3,000”.

Ordinal numbers and their abbreviations are shown below. The majority of numbers employ the ordinal suffix -ves.[2]

| | | 10ves | degves | | | | | ------ | ----------------- | -------- | --------------- | ------- | ------------------------ | | 1a | kynsa | 11ves | unnegves | | | | 2a | nessa | 12ves | dewdhegves | 20ves | ugensves | | 3a | tressa, tryja | 13ves | tredhegves | 30ves | degves warn ugens | | 4a | peswara | 14ves | peswardhegves | 40ves | dew-ugensves | | 5es | pympes | 15ves | pymtegves | 50ves | hanterkansves | | 6ves | hweghves | 16ves | hwetegves | 60ves | tri-ugensves | | 7ves | seythves | 17ves | seytegves | 70ves | degves ha tri-ugens | | 8ves | ethves | 18ves | etegves | 80ves | peswar-ugensves | | 9ves | nawves | 19ves | nownsegves | 90ves | degves ha peswar-ugens |

Larger numbers also employ the suffix -ves.

In multi-word numbers, the initial smaller number joined with the connector takes the ordinal form, for example _kynsa warn ugens “21st” and _nownsegves ha peswar-ugens “99th” (not *onan warn ugensves or *nownsek ha peswar-ugensves). In multiword numbers that are not joined by connecting words, the final number takes the ordinal form, for example _dew-ugensves “40th”, _hwegh-ugenves “120th”, _tri milves “3,000th”.

Word order and focus

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The default Cornish word order is verb–subject–object, although like most Celtic languages this is somewhat fluid. Cornish has a system of fronting constituents, in which parts of a sentence can be moved to the front for focus, rather than stressing them in situ as English does. This system has influenced the Anglo-Cornish dialect, heard in the distinctive questioning of dialect speakers such as “Goin’ in’ town are’ee?” and “’S bleddy ’tis”.

In description sentences of the verb bos ‘to be’, the complement is typically fronted:

Merryn ov vy.

Merryn am I

I'm Merryn.

Lowen es jy.

Happy were you

You were happy.

Other existence sentences of bos front the verb:

Yma hi ow kortos y’n gegin.

There.is she at wait.VN in.the kitchen

She's waiting in the kitchen.

Yth esa lyver war an estyllen.

VPART there.was book on the shelf

There was a book on the shelf. / A book was on the shelf.

Since Cornish prefers to use a ‘there is’ existence form of bos with indefinite objects (when not fronted for emphasis, that is), an object being definite or indefinite can result in different parts being fronted:

Y fydh ebost danvenys yn-mes ynno an kedhlow a vri.

VPART will.be email sent out in.it the information of relevance

An email will be sent out containing the relevant information. (lit. There’ll be an email sent out.)

An ebost a vydh danvenys yn-mes a-vorow.

the email SPART will.be sent out tomorrow

The email will be sent out tomorrow.

Y feu kath gwelys y’n lowarth.

VPART was cat seen in.the garden

A cat was seen in the garden. (lit. There was a cat seen.)

An gath a veu gwelys y’n lowarth.

the cat SPART was seen in.the garden

The cat was seen in the garden.

With other verbs, subject-fronted is the default unmarked word order. This still follows the default verb–subject–object order, since sentences of this kind were in origin relative clauses emphasising the subject:

My a ros lyver da dhe das Jowan de.

me RPART gave book good to father Jowan yesterday

I gave a good book to Jowan's father yesterday. (lit. It is me who gave a good book.)

When the sentence's object is a pronoun, it appears before the verb and after the particle a, although it can also appear after the verb for emphasis: My a’s gwel ‘I see her’, or My a’s gwel hi “I see _her_”. When auxiliary verbs are used, a possessive pronoun is used with the verbal noun: My a wra hy gweles ‘I see her’ (literally “I do her seeing”), or when stressed, My a wra hy gweles hi “I see _her_”. In both instances, colloquial spoken Cornish may drop all but the suffixed pronouns, to give My a wel hi and My a wra gweles hi, although this is rarely written.

In questions and negative sentences, an interrogative particle and negative particle are used, respectively. These are generally fronted in neutral situations:

A wruss’ta ri an lyver dhodho de?

IPART you.did’you VN.give the book to.him yesterday

Did you give him the book yesterday?

Ny wrug vy ri an lyver dhodho.

NPART I.did I VN.give the book to.him

I didn't give him the book.

Subject pronouns can be placed before a negative particle for emphasis: My ny vynnav kewsel Sowsnek ’I will not speak English’ or ’As for me, I will not speak English’ (said to be Dolly Pentreath's last words).

Fronting for emphasis

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Besides the “neutral” structures given above, elements of Cornish sentences can be fronted to give emphasis, or when responding to a question with requested information. Fronting involves moving the element to the beginning of the sentence. English typically achieves this by modifying tone or intonation.

There are two particles involved in fronting. The particle a is actually a relative particle used when the subject or direct object of a sentence is fronted. If anything else is fronted, usually adverbials or information headed by prepositions, the particle used is y (yth before a vowel).

Determiners precede the noun they modify, while adjectives generally follow it. A modifier that precedes its head noun often causes a mutation, and adjectives following a feminine noun are lenited. Thus:

• _benyn (”a woman”)
• _an venyn (”the woman”; _benyn is lenited because it is feminine)
• _tebel venyn (”a wicked woman”; _benyn is lenited because _tebel “wicked” precedes it)
• _benyn gonnyk (”a smart woman”; _konnyk is lenited because it follows a feminine noun)

Genitive relationships are expressed by apposition. The genitive in Cornish is formed by putting two noun phrases next to each other, the possessor coming second. So English “The cat's mother”, or “mother of the cat”, corresponds to Cornish mamm an gath – literally, “mother the cat”; “the project manager's telephone number” is niver pellgowser menystrer an towl – literally, “number telephone manager the project”. Only the last noun in a genitive sequence can take the definite article.

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Gerlyver Kernewek". Archived from the original on 9 September 2013.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Brown, Wella (2001). A Grammar of Modern Cornish. Kesva an Taves Kernewek. ISBN 978-1-902917-00-9.
3. ^ a b c "Kernewek Dre Lyther". Kesva an Taves Kernewek. Archived from the original on 18 February 2010.
4. ^ Williams, Nicholas (1997). Clappya Kernowek : an introduction to Unified Cornish Revised. Agan Tavas, the Society for the Promotion of the Cornish Language. p. 18. ISBN 1-901409-01-5. OCLC 38886149.
5. ^ Toorians, Lauran. "02 Mutations – De Fakkel". Retrieved 11 September 2021.
6. ^ Williams 1997, p. 20.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Edwards, Ray (1995). Verbow Kernewek. Kesva an Taves Kernewek. ISBN 978-0-907064-48-0.

• Williams, N. Desky Kernowek (Evertype, 2012)