Blair Collection > Archaeologia Britannica, giving some account additional to what has been hitherto publish'd, of the languages, histories and customs of the original inhabitants of Great Britain

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Tit. VI. A Cornish Grammar.
Ij! the Flural.
Nom.Levrou, or— ro, books.
Gen. A'n levrou, Of the books.
Dae Dh^'n levrou, To the books.
Ace. An levrou, The books.
Voc. A levrou, O books.
Abl. Gen an \svxou,lVith the books
Nouns of the MaJcuUne Gender,
change (as above) (heir Primary Ini-
tial mutes in the Genitive Cafe
after the T article a, \^of, or of a~
but not after an [of the'] as in thafe
of the Fctninme. For they fay blew
an pen, or (as lately corrupted) an
pcdn, The hair of the Head ; <
a ben hag a thruz, Of head aud
foot. Sofom Guin, Wine; Gue-
dran a uin, \A glafs of mine'] but
a glafs of the ivine is Guedraa an
guin.
yin Initial ¥ is turndiritoh in the
Genitive Cafe, &c. after the Par
tide a'n (or as 'tis always written)
an : As Floh, A Child, A'n hloh,
Of the child; DhB'n hlo. To th.
child, &c.
They ujed formerly, and do yet in
feveral words, a "variation of the
yowel (whether the firfl or the only
one ) in the Ge?iitive Cafe, &c.
Particularly a , I find changed
into c : As Marh, A horfe ; Ren
verb, Horje mane ; Buzl verb ,
Horfe dujig ; and e into i, y, or ey :
^r Merh, A daughter; An vyrh,
Of the daughter ; Pen, A head ;
Er dha byn, Againfl thee. q. d.
On thy head; And Er agas pyn
buy, Agamft you ; Huel, IVork ;
Mein hucyl, li^ork-fiones, or flo7ies
for Building ; Krcs, The midfl ; In
kreys an dre, In the midfl of the
To-um.
Kouns o/"Matter admit of no far-
tide hi the Genitive : As Bezau
our, A ring of gold ; Forh arhans,
A fork of fiver ; Yg liorn, An iron
hook; 'Plznkysx'ib^n., Deal-boards.
The Dative Cafe is frequent ly ufed
in the Cornifli ; being gover?i'd be-
fides others, by the fame Verbs as
in the Latin, and applied 7nuch in
the fame manner : as -we find by the
follovjing Examples.
The Dative Cafe after the Verb
Sum] Yma dhyramo, I have. q. d.
verbatim Eft mihi. 'Ma marh dhy
bredar vi, My Brother has a horfe.
q. d. Eft equus fratri meo. Idzha
'n leauh dh^'n den Yynk-na ? Has
that young man the Ague ? 'Ma
'gen ehaT, nyi dhen, We have our
health. Ez konnez dhiu' .' Have
you fupp'd.
After Verbs of Bidding or Com-
manding] Deu dhymmo vi a er-
A;ys, God hath commanded me ;
Rcys yii dheuh, Tou mufi.
Of giving ] Mi a re dhyuh, I
■will give you; Ro dhedhe,'G/w
them; Ro dhym and dro e dhym-
mo, Give it 7ne ; Yftyn e dliym,
"Reach it me
Of promifing 1 Mi ai didhiuys
I dhodho, I have promifed it him ;
I Me a urontiav dbys, 1 will war-
rant thee.
Of believing] Krcz ohebm, Be-
lieve me; Rag fraga na grcfyth
dh\ m lavarou ? U-'hy dofi not be-
lieve my ■words ?
Of paying] Deu a dal dheuh?
God Jhall re^iuard you ? Ny dal
dhynny, We Jljould tiot ; Ny dal
dhodho, He ought not.
Of hearkning unto or obeying]
Ty rig golla Uorty, Thou hafi hear-
ken d unto her.
Of fpeaking] Eavar dhymmo,
Speak unto me ; Me a lever dbys,
I tell thee.
Of putting or adding] Gorra
an dra fin dhan ramenat. Add this
to the refi.
Of going ] Monez [or mynez]
dhi; dre. To go to Town.
Of becoming, &c. ] Py gotho
dhiu' brz. When it -would become
you to be.
Of lending] Rhag danyn dheuh.
To fend to you.
Of bringing ] Ev ai dyg dhym,
He brought it unto me.
Of asking] Govyn orto, Ask
him ; Govynni uorth e vredar.
Ask his Brother.
The Participles likewife govern
the fame Cafes with their Verbs, and
fame Adjeiiives alfo as in the La-
tm, require a Dative.
As Lavcrys dhebm, Spoken mito
me ; G\ theffys dhyu', Offered ufito
you ; Yma govenek dhym, I re-
member ; Yma e pyr havel dhys.
He is very like thee.
There are three Numbers in the
Cornifli J T/:?!? Singular, Dual, atid
Plural. The Dual, as in the Ar-
moric, ferves only to exprefs fome
parts of an Animal that are pairs,
and is made by prefixing di, diu,
or deau [two] to the Singular, and
uniting them : As f La, lau, and
lav, A hand; Diula <J7;i/ f diulev.
Hands; Lagaz, An eye; Deaula-
gaz, The eyes; SkoAYi, A Jhoulder ;
Diskodh, The flmulders ; Brch, An
arm ; Dibreh, The arms.
The Plural Terminations
of Subltantives.
The firfl Plural terminates i7t ou ;
^^Aluedh, A key, PI. Aluedhou
a7td alhuedhou. Keys; Arv, A
weapon, PI. Arvou j Bedh,A grave,
PI. Bedhou ; Dagar, A tear, PI.
Dagrou j Daraz, A door, darazou ;
Ro, A gift, rohou-
So that this frfi Plural j which
as i7ithe Armoric, is the moftcom-
7/ion ; may generally ffeaking , he
for7n'd by adding ou or iou, to the
lafl letter of the Si7igular, or elfe to
it's Subftitute which is always of the
fa/ne Clafs : As p for b, t for d,
d for s, &c.
Whe7i the Singular terminates in
dh, 1, or r j the Plural commonly
ends in iou ■ As Dydh, A day, PI.
Dydhiou ; Klcdb, A ditch, Kle-
dhiou ; t Guredh, A root, Gure-
dhiouj 'Msnsdh, A 7nou7itain,Mt-
nedhiou ; f Mai, A joynt, Me-
liou i ger, A word, 5erriou and
girriou.
Sometimes a Final Confonant of
the Singular, is doubled m the Plu-
ral, or elfe ( which is equivalent )
the Vowel immediatly preceding is
accented: As Fos, A-waU, PI. Eof-
Ibu orFofoui Ler, [f lor] A floor,
Lcrriou or leroy ^ ^QxiA^A wound,
Gollyou i Garget, A garter, Gar-
Jjettou.
So7ne words ■mhofe Singular ter-
m'lnat 'm 1, have ^fub'pyji'd there-
u7itointheV\ux2i\: As 'Tcui\,Dark,
PI. Tulgu, Te7iebra; Kyflyi,Co»»-
fel, PI. Kyfylgou.
A Vowel interpofed 'in the lafi
fyllable betwee7i a Mute a7zd a Li-
quid in the Singular, is f-equently
07nitted m the Plural : As Levar,
A hook, Levrou ; Dagar, A tear,
Dagrou i Tempel , A Church ,
Templys.
The Final d, tho" it he ge7ieraUy
changed into s or^L in the Smgular,
is yet fo7ncttmes retain d in the Plu
ral: As Pehaz, S'm, PI. Pehadou^
becaufe Pebaz is but a Corruption of
the old word VchSid, PeA;ad, or\.'&-
A;at. So fiom Arrbas and guor-
hemmynnias, A Command, Arba-
duu and guorhemmynadou ; So
Falladou, Frauds , failings ; and In
niadou, Repulfes or 'Denials.
This Plural in ou, is freque7ttly
pronounced at prefe7it as if it termi-
nated in o : as No^dho, News ;
Huelio, Works; Delkio, Leaves ;
Godho, Geefe; Nei:ho.,Nefls. And
fo7netimes in au ; as Keau, Hedges ;
Gucliau, Bfi/.f j Breihau, Arms;
or elfe in u ; as LuZU , Herbs ;
Ludnu, Cattle. In the Welfh this
Plural terminates in au, -which yet
is pronounced as m or e; a7ifvjer'ing
to the Nominative Plural of the
Firft Decknfion of the Latin.
The Second Plural ends in i, as
Guidhili , Ir'tfl}-7nen ; Kuitbizi ,
Guardians, keepers ; Arlydhi,Z,ori/.r ;
Meftrizi, Mafters ; Servifi and Ser-
vidzhi, Serva7its ; Trahezi mein,
Stone-cutters ; Muzi, Maids; Ka-
ftilli, Caftles; Giiellynni, "Rods -.^
Yllilli, Limbs, members:, Legefti,
Lobfters-., Porelli, Hogs, pigs. So
that this Plural agrees with the La-
tin Nominative of the Second De-
clenfion.
The Third Plural e7ids in ion ;
a7id might be called the Perfonal
Plural, in regard moft Appellations
that are perfonal are of it ; as Kri-
ftonnion [710W Kreftudnian] Chri-
ftians , Zouzon, The Englijh j f Bre-
thon. The Brita7ts j Kembrion, The
Welfl)-., Idheuon, r/^eye'ujr; Mar-
rct;ion and marroj;ion, Knights^
Skuerrion, Ejquires j Boxcsegion,
The poor j Klevion,Thefickj Kar-
douion, FwW/j Skylurion, Scho-
lars j Dyskyblion, Difciples ; Gui-
thorion, Workmen j Guefion, Mean
fellows; Gouigion, LyarS:, La-
dron. Thieves.
Some other Nouns have alfo the
fame Plural ; as Empinion, The
Brains j Govidzion , Sorrows ^
Marchc^ion,