III. THE PRETERITE.

III. THE PRETERITE.

Singular.

CORNISH. BRETON.

1. [_mî_] _am bê_ [_me_] _em_ (or _am_) _boe_. [_bue_].

2. _tî ath fê_. [_te_] _ez_ (or _az_) _poe_.

3. m. [_ev_] _an jeve_. [_hen_] _en devoe_.

3. f. [_hy_] _as teve_. [_he_] _e devoe_.

Plural.

1. [_ny_] _an_ (or _agan_) [_ni_] _hor boe_. _bê_.

2. [_why_] _as_ (or _agas_) [_c’houi_] _ho poe_. _bê_.

3. [_y_] _as teve_. [_hî_] _o aevoe_.

Only part of this tense is found in the MSS., but the rest is easily formed by analogy.

IV. THE SUBJUNCTIVE (OR OPTATIVE).

Singular.

CORNISH. BRETON.

1. [_mî_] _am bo_. _r’ am bezo_, _bo_.

2. _tî ath fo_, _fetho_. _r’ az pezo_, _po_.

3. m. [_ev_] _an jevo_ (for _devo_, _r’ en devezo_, _devo_. written _gefo_ or _geffo_).

3. f. [_hy_] _as tevo_. _r’ e devezo_, _devo_.

Plural.

1. [_ny_] _an_ (or _agan_) _bo_. _r’ hor bezo_, _bo_.

2. [_why_] _as_ (or _agas_) _bo_. _r’ ho pezo_, _po_.

3. [_y_] _as tevo_ (written _teffo_, _r’ o devezo_, _devo_. _tefo_).

In this tense the Breton does not use the nominative personal pronoun, except when it is a form of the future, but prefixes _r’_ (_ra_). In Cornish _re_ is used to make the optative and perfect, and in this case the _’th_ of the second person singular is not omitted, for _re’ th fo_ and _re ’th fê_ are the forms found.

A rather doubtful second tense (secondary present or imperfect), equivalent to the Breton _am boa_, may be conjectured in _am beua_ (_St. Mer._ 47, 1686), _am bethe_ may be the equivalent of the Breton imperfect subjunctive, _am bize_, _bije_, _befe_, and the third person singular of this may be the _an geffa_ of _St. Mer._ 20, 159. Dr. Whitley Stokes gives both these forms as secondary presents. There is also a possible pluperfect _te ny vea_, and _nyn gyfye_, found in the second and third persons singular.

One finds such forms as _am buef_, _as bethough_, _may ’stefons_, etc., as instances of pronominal inflections added to this verb, showing how completely its derivation was forgotten, and it is further confused by being perhaps mixed up with the verb _pewa_ (Welsh _piau_, Breton _piaoua_), to possess, a verb which in all three languages requires rather more disentangling than it has as yet received.

There are very full examples of this verb in Zeuss’s _Grammatica Celtica_ (ed. 1871, p. 565).

2. Besides _to have_, certain other verbs are expressed with _bos_ and the preposition _dhô_. Thus:—

_Ma cov dhem_ [pron. _ma códhem_], I remember, lit. there is remembrance to me.

_Ma whans dhem_, I want, lit. there is want to me.

_Ma whêr dhem_, I am sorry, lit. there is grief to me.

_Ma own dhem_, I fear, lit. there is fear to me.

_Ma dout dhem_, I doubt, lit. there is doubt to me.

_Ma reys dhem_, or _reys yw dhem_, I must, lit. there is need to me.

Another expression for “to remember” is _perthy cov_, to bear memory. The imperative was sometimes written _perco_ in one word. _Perthy_ is used similarly with other nouns: _na berth medh_, be not ashamed, _na berth own_, be not afraid, _na berth whêr_, be not sorry, _an vuscogyon orto a borthas avy_, the fools hated him (_Passion_, 26, 3), _na berth dout_, do not doubt. The literal meaning is to bear shame, fear, sorrow, envy, doubt, etc.

Similarly nouns and adjectives are used with _gan_, with, as in Welsh, to represent states of mind. Thus:—

_Da yu genev_, I like, lit. it is good with me.

_Drôg yu genev_, I am sorry, lit. it is bad with me.

_Gwell yu genev_, I prefer, lit. it is better with me.

_Marth yu genev_, I am astonished, lit. wonder is with me.

_Cas yu genev_, I hate, lit. hate is with me.

The verbs _dal_ and _goth_, signifying _ought_, _it behoves_, are used either impersonally or, though this is a late corruption, as ordinary verbs.

_Ni dal dhen ny_ / _Ni goth dhen ny_ } we ought not.

Or:—

_Mî a dal_ / _Mî a goth_ } I ought.

3. _Gwyn an bês_. This poetical expression is common to Cornish, Welsh, and Breton. It signifies, “fair the world,” i.e. happy, and is used with possessive pronouns and appositional genitives.

_Gwyn ow bês_, fair my world, happy I.

_Gwyn dha vês_, happy thou.

_Gwyn e vês_, happy he.

_Gwyn bês an den na wrîg cerdhes en cŏsŏl an gamhin-segyon_, blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly.

In Welsh, when the possessor of this “fair world” is expressed by a noun, there is a redundant possessive pronoun before _byd_ (_bês_). Thus Psalm i. begins _Gwyn ei fyd y gwr_, fair his world of the man. But this is not the Cornish form, which uses the simple appositional genitive in such cases. There is a contrary expression, _drôg pês_, found in the _Ordinalia_ (_Passio Christi_, 3089), _drok pys of_, unhappy am I. In this case _drôg_ seems to put the initial of _bês_ in its fourth state.

4. The following phrases are in common use, and are generally run into one or two words in pronunciation.

_Mêr ’ras dhô Dhew_ (pron. _merásthadew_). Great thanks be to God.

_Mêr ’ras dheugh why_ (pron. _merásdhawhy_). Great thanks to you.

_Dew re dala dheugh why_ (pron. _Durdladhawhy_). God repay to you.

_Dew re sona dheugh why_ (pron. _Dursónadhawhy_). God sain you.

_Bennath Dew genough why_ (pron. _Bénatew génawhy_). The blessing of God be with you.

_Dew genough why_ (pron. _Dew génawhy_). God be with you.

_Pandráma_ (i.e. _pa’n dra wrama_). What shall I do?

_Pandréllen_ (i.e. _pa’n dra wrellen_). What should I do?

_Pándres_ (i.e. _pa’n dra es_). What is there?

_Pandryu_ (i.e. _pa’n dra yu_). What is?

_Pandresses_ (i.e. _pa’n dra wresses_). What shouldst thou do?

_Fatla genough why_ (pron. _fatla génawhy_). How are you?

_Trova_ (i.e. _tre o-va_), that he was.

§ 6. Rules for Initial Mutations.

1. _The Second State_.

_a_. _A feminine singular_ or _masculine plural_ noun (or adjective used as a noun) preceded by the definite article _an_, the, or the numeral _idn_, one, has its initial in the second state.

_b_. An adjective which follows and qualifies a _feminine singular_ noun, has its initial in the second state.

_c_. A noun preceded by an adjective qualifying it, of whatever gender or number, has its initial in the second state.

_d_. If the adjective preceding and qualifying a _feminine singular_ noun follows the article _an_, the, the initial of the adjective is also in the second state.

_e_. A noun in the vocative preceded by the particle _a_, O (expressed or omitted for the sake of verse), has its initial in the second state.

_f_. The possessive pronouns _dha_, thy, and _e_, his, are followed by words, whether nouns, adjectives, or verbal nouns (infinitives) in the second state. The form _’th_, thee or thy, generally puts the word which follows in the second state, but sometimes in the fourth, or changes _b_ to _f_, not _v_.

_g_. The verbal prefix _ă_ (older _y_, _yth_), is generally followed by a verb in the second state.

_h_. The verbal particles _a_ and _re_ and the interrogative particle _a_ are followed by a verb in the second state.

_i_. The prepositions _a_, _der_ or _dre_, _dhô_, _heb_, _re_, and _war_, and compound prepositions ending in any of them, are followed by words in the second state.

_k_. The conjunctions _tre_, _tro_, that, _pan_, when, _erna_, until, _hedre_, whilst, are followed by the second state.

_l_. The adverbial particle _en_ is followed generally by an adjective in the second state.

_m_. The adverbs _pŭr_, very, _ni_, _na_, not, _fraga_, why, _fatla_, how, are followed by initials in the second state.

2. _The Third State_.

_a_. The possessive pronouns _ow_, my, _î_, her, and _aga_, their, are followed by words in the third state.

_b_. _Ma_, _may_, that, are sometimes followed by verbs in the third state, and sometimes by a variant, _g_ becoming _h_, and _gw_ becoming _wh_.

3. _The Fourth State_.

_a_. The particle _ow_, which forms the present participle, is followed by a verbal noun (or infinitive) in the fourth state.

_b_. The conjunctions _a_, _mar_, _mara_, if, are followed by verbs in the fourth state.

_c_. The adverb _maga_, as (in “as well,” etc.) is followed by an adjective in the fourth state.

_d_. Sometimes an adjective beginning with _d_, when preceded by the adverbial particle _en_, has its initial in the fourth state, and rarely a noun beginning with _d_, when it follows in the appositional genitive a word ending in _th_.

_e_. The verbal prefix _ă_ (_y_), when followed by verbs whose radical initial is _d_, often changes that initial to the fourth state, and in the case of those beginning with _gw_ to _wh_. The conjunction _ken_, though, does the same.

_f_. The third form of the second personal pronoun singular _’th_ not infrequently changes the initial of a verb beginning with _d_ to the fourth state, and that of one beginning with _g_ or _gw_ to _wh_. It also sometimes changes _b_ to _f_.

The exact usage of the mutations is not very clear, for even the older writers used them rather wildly, but the above rules are the general principles of them. There are valuable notes on their phonetic principles in Dr. Whitley Stokes’s notes to _St. Meriasek_, and in a paper of additional notes which he published later. In the latest Cornish there was a tendency to use the second state after nearly anything, especially prepositions, except the few words which govern the other two mutations.