At Home With Cornish 36

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 casek gen ebol.

There is a mare with a foal.

 

Ma'n gasek gen ebol.

The mare is with a foal.

 

Ma gwenenen reb cawel.

There is a bee by a hive.

 

Ma'n wenenen reb cawel.

The bee is by a hive.

Ma diwros war resegva.

There is a bicycle on a track.


Ma'n dhiwros war an resegva.

The bicycle is on the track.

Ma mos ow towlel pellen ergh.

A girl is throwing a snowball.


Ma'n vos ow towlel an bellen ergh.

The girl is throwing the snowball.

Ma goodh ow kerdhes en ergh.

A goose is walking in snow.


Ma'n woodh ow kerdhes e'n ergh.

The goose is walking in the snow.

Ma bûgh gen leugh.

There is a cow with a calf.


Ma'n vûgh gen leugh.

The cow is with a calf.

Ma gaver ow tebry gora.

A goat is eating hay.


Ma'n aver ow tebry an gora.

The goat is eating the hay.

Ma qwilkiores ow tebry.

A wasp is eating.


Ma'n gwilkiores ow tebry.

The wasp is eating.


 

Did you spot the new ones?

<b> changes to <v> (e.g. bûgh > vûgh)

<go> changes to <wo> (e.g. goodh > woodh)

<p> changes to <b> (e.g. pellen > bellen)

<qw> changes to <gw> (e.g. qwilkiores > gwilkiores)

<g> sometimes disappears to < > (e.g. gaver > aver)

The word resegva is feminine, but it is not a shape changer because it begins with the letter <r>, which is not on the list.

 

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