A PROPOSED STANDARD WRITTEN FORM OF CORNISH This document is a draft which is submitted as part of the Cornish Language Partnership Process This document is Revision 16 14 November 2007 and is as of this date being made available to the Cornish Language Partnership’s Cornish Language Commission for scrutiny and discussion Comments may be made to the editors via the “Kernowak” 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 veth a’n publicyans-ma naneyl bos copies, senjys aberth in system daskefyans na treuscorrys in furv veth oll na dre vayn veth oll, poken electronek, mechanyk, drè fotocopians, drè recordyth bò fordh veth 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 in Baskerville. ii Revision 16, 14 November 2007 A PROPOSED STANDARD WRITTEN FORM OF CORNISH CONTENTS 0. Preamble. vii 0.1. Introduction . vii 0.2. Guiding principles. vii 0.3. Compromise. ix 0.4. Paradigms . x 0.5. Aims and aspirations . xi 0.6. Signatories . xiii 1. Pronunciation and spelling . 1 1.1. Word stress . 1 1.2. Vowel length . 2 1.3. Rules for vowel length. 3 1.4. Simple vowels . 7 1.5. Diphthongs . 19 1.6. Consonants . 22 1.7. Punctuation. 33 1.8. IPA chart . 35 2. Initial Mutations. 37 2.1. Synopsis. 37 2.2. General observations . 38 2.3. Notes . 39 3. Nouns . 42 3.1. Nouns in -en and -es . 42 3.2. Duals . 42 4. Pronouns . 45 4.1. Personal pronouns. 45 4.2. Prepositional pronouns . 49 5. Verbs . 55 5.0. General remarks . 55 5.1. Bos, bonas ‘be’. 55 5.2. Y’m beus and the idiomatic possessive . 60 5.3. Mednas, mennas ‘will, wish’ . 62 5.4. Gwyl, gul, gwethyl ‘make, do’. 63 Revision 16, 14 November 2007 iii A PROPOSED STANDARD WRITTEN FORM OF CORNISH 5.5. Dos, donas ‘come’ . 65 5.6. Godhvas ‘know’ . 67 5.7. Gallos ‘be able’. 68 5.8. Gasa, gara ‘leave, let’ . 70 5.9. Mos, monas ‘go’. 70 5.10. Cara ‘love’ . 71 5.11. Cafos, cawas, gawas ‘get, find’ . 72 5.12. Clowas ‘hear’ . 72 5.13. Cowsal, cows, cowsa ‘speak’ . 73 5.14. Debry ‘eat’ . 73 5.15. Don, degy ‘carry’. 74 5.16. Esedha, sedha ‘sit’ . 74 5.17. Gelwal ‘call’ . 75 5.18. Glanhe ‘clean’ . 75 5.19. Gortheby, gorreby ‘reply, answer’ . 76 5.20. Gwelas ‘see’ . 76 5.21. Kemeras ‘take’ . 77 5.22. Leveral, lavaral, laul ‘say’ . 77 5.23. Pesy, pejy ‘pray, ask’. 78 5.24. Ry ‘give’ . 78 5.25. Seval ‘stand, rise’ . 79 5.26. Dry ‘bring’ . 79 6. Syntax. 80 6.1. Nag, nag for ny, nynj . 80 6.2. Verbal usage . 80 6.3. The periphrastic present. 81 6.4. The periphrastic future with mednas . 83 6.5. The future of bos ‘be’ . 85 6.6. Gwyl ‘do’ as the future auxiliary . 85 6.7. Gwyl ‘do’ as a preterite auxiliary. 86 6.8. Gasa, gara ‘leave, let’ and the imperative. 89 6.9. Conditional sentences . 91 6.10. Indirect statement . 95 7. Texts . 97 7.1. From The Creation of the World . 97 7.2. From Bewnans Meryasek . 101 iv Revision 16, 14 November 2007 A PROPOSED STANDARD WRITTEN FORM OF CORNISH 7.3. The Charter Fragment . 100 7.4. Nebas Geryow adro dha Kernowak . 102 7.5. The American Declaration of Independence . 106 7.6. Genesis 3 by William Rowe . 108 7.7. Bro goth agan Tasow by Henry Jenner . 111 7.8. Cân Nadelak by Henry Jenner . 112 7.9. Gwaynten in Kernow by Henry Jenner . 114 7.10. Sapientes (An Dus Doth) by A. S. D. Smith (Caradar) . 116 7.11. Pride and Prejudice (Chapter 1) by Jane Austen . 119 7.12. From Rebellyans by Myghal Palmer . 122 7.13. Den Bohojak a’n Poscas and a poem by Neil Kennedy . 124 7.14. Pedn bloodh Olly Orsyk by Veronika Marék . 126 7.15. From Origo Mundi . 128 8. Sentences from the traditional texts . 136 8.1. Greetings and miscellaneous expressions . 136 8.2. Kings and Queens . 139 8.3. Insults and imprecations . 140 8.4. Men, women, and marriage . 142 8.5. Babies and children. 145 8.6. Relatives . 146 8.7. Hygiene. 147 8.8. Food and drink . 147 8.9. Clothing . 150 8.10. Money . 151 8.11. Fishes, birds, and animals . 152 8.12. The weather . 154 8.13. Calendar . 156 8.14. The countryside, flowers, and trees . ..