A playlet for use with Skeul an Tavas Lesson 5
© 2019 Ray Chubb and Ian Jackson
2nd edition July 2020
The Cornish language presentation is delayed while someone gets the IT to work! Tomas has wandered off. From chatting about the weather Jowan and Jana progress to talking about their weekend plans.
JANA
In pedn an seythen me a vydn mos dhe Woon Brèn. Me a wra marhogeth ha kerdhes.
JOWAN
Th’eso’vy ow cara an mor. Me a wra mos dhe Dewyn Plustry. Me a vydn mordardha.
JANA
Th’eso’vy ow rêvya traweythyow wàr an mor. Hag ow neyja i’n mor, mès cales yw mordhardha yn tâ.
JOWAN
Cales yw marhogeth ...
JANA
Ô, ma an presentacyon ow tallath lebmyn. Wàr an dyweth!
In pedn an seythen ‘at the weekend’. Some prefer i’n benseythen, using a compound word as in English. A Cornish expression based on an English way of saying something is called a calque. Calques are rather like Marmite – you either love ’em or you hate ’em.
Note the colloquial forms th’eso’vy for yth esof vy and ma for yma.
Extra vocabulary
Goon Brèn Bodmin Moor
Tewyn Plustry Newquay
traweythyow sometimes
presentacyon presentation
wàr an dyweth finally, at last