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At Home With Cornish 39

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Nebes gwariow cov.  Some memory games.   These are a good way of practising vocabulary you have already learnt..   My eth dhe varhas ha perna … I went to market and bought …   Each person remembers what has already been bought, then adds something extra. Just keep going until someone forgets something, then start again. It is important to LISTEN carefully to the person before you. How long is your longest shopping list? e.g. My eth dhe varhas ha perna cavach. I went to market and bought a cabbage. My eth dhe varhas ha perna cavach ha know. I went to market and bought a cabbage and some nuts. My eth dhe varhas ha perna cavach ha know ha tesen. I went to market and bought a cabbage and some nuts and a cake You can vary this by adding a description or a number rather than a new item. e.g. My eth dhe varhas ha perna cavach. I went to market and bought a cabbage. My eth dhe varhas ha pern
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At Home With Cornish 38

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Try this sentence-building game to practise some of the vocabulary you have learnt up to this point. It is rather like the game of consequences. You can think up many variations. Start with a simple verb:  Ma      There is/are Think of a subject: Ma kei.  There is a dog. Think of a colour: Ma kei gwydn. There is a white dog. Think of a number: Ma pemp kei gwydn. There are five white dogs. Think of something they might be doing: Ma pemp kei gwydn ow lebmel.     There are five white dogs jumping. or   Five white dogs are jumping. Add a definite article: Ma'n pemp kei gwydn ow lebmel.  The five white dogs are jumping. Think of somewhere they might be doing it: Ma pemp kei gwydn ow lebmel e'n lowarth. There are five white dogs jumping in the garden. or   Five white dogs are jumping in the garden. Ma'n pemp kei gwydn ow lebmel e'n lowarth.  The five white dogs are jumping in the garden. Think of an adjective to describe the place: Ma pemp kei gwydn ow lebmel e'n lowarth
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At Home With Cornish 37

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Here's some shape-shifting (mutation) practice. Let's see what we can do with two feminine words: edhen bird gwedhen tree Ma edhen en gwedhen . There's a bird in a tree. Ma 'n edhen e 'n wedhen . The bird is in the tree.   To ask "What is there …?" or "What's (there) …?" you can use Pandr'eus …? Peth eus …? Pandr'eus e'n …? What is there in the …? Peth eus e'n …? What's in the …? Pandr'eus e 'n wedhen ? What is there in the tree? Peth eus e 'n wedhen ?   What's in the tree?   Ma cath e 'n wedhen . There's a cat in the tree. Ma 'n gath e 'n wedhen . The cat is in the tree. ( Possessives cause different mutations.) Ma agan cath e'n wedhen. Our cat is in the tree. Ma ow hath e'n wedhen. My cat is in the tree. Now, let's imagine this is a rather strange tree with plenty of room! Can you choose the correct word to go in the gap?
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At Home With Cornish 36

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In the last lesson we saw that some feminine words show a change of initial letter after " an " (or 'n ) meaning " the ". < k > and < c > change to < g > < gw > changes to < w > Other changes you may have spotted before were < d > changes to < dh > < m > changes to < v > < t > changes to < d > Here are some more examples showing a soft mutation, including some extra new ones:   Ma c asek gen ebol. There is a mare with a foal.   Ma 'n g asek gen ebol. The mare is with a foal.   Ma gw enenen reb cawel. There is a bee by a hive.   Ma 'n w enenen reb cawel. The bee is by a hive. Ma d iwros war resegva. There is a bicycle on a track. Ma 'n dh iwros war an resegva. The bicycle is on the track. Ma m os ow towlel p ellen ergh. A girl is throwing a snowball. Ma 'n
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At Home With Cornish 35

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You may have noticed a difference between some pairs of sentences in the last lesson, e.g. Ma bord en kegin. There's a table in a kitchen. Ma'n bord e' n gegin. The table is in the kitchen. Ma kei reb gwedhen. There is a dog by a tree. Ma'n kei reb an wedhen . The dog is by the tree. The < k > in kegin has changed to < g > and the < gw > in gwedhen has changed to < w >. These shape shifts are called "mutations" and they happen to some words when we use < an > (the definite article, "the" in English). Cornish (like French) has nouns (naming words) that can be "masculine" or "feminine". The changes you have seen have all been in feminine words. before mutation after mutation gw edhen a tree an w edhen the tree k eg
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