Pronouns 3
In
English <you> can be either
singular or plural, familiar or formal. It is a long time since we used “thee”
and “thou” to our nearest and dearest. In Cornish two registers still exist.
The familiar singular <che> is widely used in Middle
Cornish but in Late Cornish it is much more restricted. Late Cornish makes much
greater use of the formal form <whei[1]>
for both singular and plural <you>.
For the moment we will confine ourselves to the formal form (equivalent to
“vous” in French). e.g.
e.g.
Descriptive form:
Teg o whei . You are lovely.
O whei Jory? Are you George?
Tho whei hager. You are
ugly.
Nag o whei Kettern.
You are not
Kate.
Thew an kei whei. It is your dog.
e.g.
Locative form:
Thero whei e’n
gegin.
You are in the kitchen.
Nag ero whei en
gwedhen.
You are not in a tree.
Ero whei ena? Are
you there?
Thero whei o perna. You
are buying.
Nag ero whei o
kelly. You
are not losing.
Ero whei o moas? Are you going?
[1] Vowel
pronounced as in English [fight]. In SWF/M this is <hwi>.
Pronunciation of the vowel may be as in English [feet] or [fight].
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