A PROPOSED STANDARD WRITTEN FORM OF CORNISH This document is a draft proposal which when mature will be submitted to the Cornish Language Commission as part of the Cornish Language Partnership Process This document is Revision 11 26 March 2007 and is as of this date being made available to the Cornish Language Partnership’s Linguistic Working Group and to the general public for scrutiny and discussion Comments may be made to the editors via the “Profyans” discussion list. Subscription details can be found at kernowak.com A PROPOSED STANDARD WRITTEN FORM OF CORNISH © 2007 The Authors / An Auctours. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the authors. Pùb gwyr gwethys. Ny yll radn vìth a’n publysyans-ma naneyl bos copies, senjys aberth yn system daskefyans na truescorrys yn furf vìth oll na dre vayn vìth oll, poken electronek, mechanyk, dre fotocopians, dre recordyth bò fordh vìth aral, heb cawas kybmyas dherag dorn dheworth an auctours. Typesetting and design by Michael Everson, Evertype, Westport, Co. Mayo, Ireland. Set in Baskerville. Olsettyans ha desynyeth gen Michael Everson, Evertype, Westport, Co. Mayo, Wordhen. Olsettys yn Baskerville. ii Revision 11, 26 March 2007 A PROPOSED STANDARD WRITTEN FORM OF CORNISH CONTENTS 0. Preamble. vii 0.1. Introduction . vii 0.2. Guiding principles. vii 0.3. Paradigms. ix 0.4. Aims and aspirations. x 0.5. Signatories . xi 1. Pronunciation and spelling . 1 1.1. Word stress . 1 1.2. Vowel length . 2 1.3. Rules for vowel length. 2 1.4. Simple vowels . 6 1.5. Diphthongs . 14 1.6. Consonants . 17 1.7. Punctuation. 26 1.8. IPA chart . 28 2. Initial Mutations. 29 2.1. Synopsis. 29 2.2. General observations . 30 2.3. Notes . 32 3. Nouns . 34 3.1. Nouns in -en and -es . 34 3.2. Duals . 35 4. Pronouns . 37 4.1. Personal pronouns. 37 4.2. Prepositional pronouns . 40 5. Verbs . 46 5.0. General remarks . 46 5.1. Bos, bonas ‘be’. 46 5.2. Y’m bues and the idiomatic possessive . 51 5.3. Mennas ‘will, wish’ . 53 5.4. Gwyl, gul ‘make, do’. 54 Revision 11, 26 March 2007 iii A PROPOSED STANDARD WRITTEN FORM OF CORNISH 5.5. Dos, donas ‘come’ . 56 5.6. Godhvas ‘know’ . 58 5.7. Gallos ‘be able’. 59 5.8. Gasa, gara ‘leave, let’ . 61 5.9. Mos, monas ‘go’. 61 5.10. Cara ‘love’ . 62 5.11. Cafos, cawas, gawas ‘get, find’ . 63 5.12. Clowas ‘hear’ . 63 5.13. Cowsal, cows, cowsa ‘speak’ . 64 5.14. Debry ‘eat’ . 64 5.15. Don, degy ‘carry’. 65 5.16. Esedha, sedha ‘sit’ . 65 5.17. Gelwal ‘call’ . 66 5.18. Glanhe ‘clean’ . 66 5.19. Gortheby, gorreby ‘reply, answer’ . 67 5.20. Gwelas ‘see’ . 67 5.21. Kemeras ‘take’ . 68 5.22. Leveral, lavaral, laul ‘say’. 68 5.23. Pesy, pejy ‘pray, ask’. 69 5.24. Ry ‘give’ . 60 5.25. Seval ‘stand, rise’ . 70 5.26. Dry ‘bring’ . 70 6. Syntax. 71 6.1. Nag, nag for ny, nynj . 71 6.2. Verbal usage . 71 6.3. The periphrastic present. 72 6.4. The periphrastic future with mennas . 74 6.5. The future of bos ‘be’ . 76 6.6. Gwyl ‘do’ as the future auxiliary . 76 6.7. Gwyl ‘do’ as a preterite auxiliary. 77 6.8. Gasa, gara ‘leave, let’ and the imperative. 80 6.9. Conditional sentences . 82 6.10. Indirect statement . 86 7. Texts . 90 7.1. From The Creation of the World . 90 7.2. From the Charter Fragment . 92 iv Revision 11, 26 March 2007 A PROPOSED STANDARD WRITTEN FORM OF CORNISH 7.3. From Bêwnans Meriasek. 94 7.4. Nebas Geryow adro dha Kernowak . 97 7.5. Genesis 3 by William Rowe . 101 7.6. Cân Nadelak by Henry Jenner . 104 7.7. Gwaynten yn Kernow by Henry Jenner. 105 7.8. Bro goth agan Tasow by Henry Jenner . 106 7.9. Sapientes (An Dus Doth) by A. S. D. Smith (Caradar) . 107 7.10. From Rebellyans by Myghal Palmer . 109 7.11. Den Bohojak a’n Poscas and a poem by Neil Kennedy . 110 7.12. The American Declaration of Independence . 112 7.13. Pride and Prejudice (Chapter 1) by Jane Austen . 114 7.14. Pedn bloudh Olly Orsyk by Veronika Marék . 117 8. Sentences from the traditional texts . 119 8.1. Greetings and miscellaneous expressions . 119 8.2. Kings and Queens . 122 8.3. Insults and imprecations . 123 8.4. Men, women, and marriage . 125 8.5. Babies and children. 128 8.6. Relatives . 129 8.7. Hygiene. 130 8.8. Food and drink . 130 8.9. Clothing . 133 8.10. Money . 134 8.11. Fishes, birds, and animals . 135 8.12. The weather . 137 8.13. Calendar . 139 8.14. The countryside, flowers, and trees . 140 8.15. Agricultural labour . 141 8.16. The blacksmith . ..