A playlet for use with Skeul an Tavas Lesson 4
© 2019 Ray Chubb and Ian Jackson
2nd edition 2020
TAMSYN
Dëdh dâ, pyw osta?
WELLA
Wella ov vy, ha pyw osta jy?
TAMSYN
Tamsyn ov vy. Drog yw an gewer hedhyw.
WELLA
Yw, mès nyns yw yêyn. Fatla genes, Tamsyn?
TAMSYN
Ô, dâ lowr ov vy, mès cales yw an ober scol.
WELLA
Pëth yw ober an scol?
TAMSYN
Dew bractys yw, gans lînednor ha pluven blobm.
WELLA
Nyns yw hedna cales, Tamsyn.
TAMSYN
Yw, mès dëdh frank vëdh an jëdh avorow, ha me a vëdh lowen avorow i’n park gans peder cowethes ha deg fardellyk cresygow.
WELLA
Me o lowen de i’n cynema. Dâ o an secùnd fylm. Fylm adro dhe wragh o.
You can write osta jy as os tejy if you prefer – it makes no difference to the pronunciation. The first spelling is more common.
Note that Tamsyn opens with Pyw osta? rather than Pyw owgh why? even though in this playlet Wella is a stranger. Younger people typically use familiar forms with others of their own age, whether they know them well or not. Some older people do the same. But in your own conversations you should be careful not to upset those who like things to be more formal. In adult company you should generally start with pyw owgh why? or colloquial pyw o’why? rather than pyw osta?
New vocabulary
jy you (singular, familiar) used after verb or ‘prepositional pronoun’, not as emphatic as tejy
cales hard (literally); also difficult
ober work
scol school
gans with
frank free
cowethes female companion / friend
fardellyk packet
cresygow crisps
adro dhe about
Footnote
This playlet first appeared on page 20 of the coursebook Skeul an Tavas © 2010 Ray Chubb. Wella and Tamsyn are ‘everyman’ names in Cornish, like John and Jane in English. In the first coursebook of Skeul an Tavas characters with these names also appear on pages 14, 37, 50. You will quickly see they cannot all be the same persons.