Topic: A Question of Style
Laghyades
avatar
Posts: 218

Posted:
23.Jul 2007 - 03:26

I was asked recently to translate the Celtic Benediction into Cornish for one of my cousin’s kids in the Emerald City (Sydney, that is. Get it ? The biggest city in Oz). Googling isn’t very helpful for this.

The normal way you do a benediction in Sowsnek is along the lines of “May peace be with you”. But the one time I ever saw it written in Cornish some years ago, I remember it had the word ‘dhywgh’ in it, hence “Peace to you’. Based on this, I translated the benediction as :

“An kres an vordonn resyek dhywgh”.
ie, “The peace of the running wave to you”. (and so on.)

I'd like to discuss this style with any Cornish power-users present. My question is in two parts, making the eight-ball in the corner pocket (as an American friend used to say) :

Firstly, how would you render the following English construction exactly into Cornish :
“May the peace of the running wave be with you” ?

Secondly, is this construction, in fact, desirable ? Is there any evidence in mediaeval texts, perhaps the Passion plays, etc, of benedictions being put this way ? Or were they rather constructed as above, namely : “The peace of the running wave to you.”

Oh, and since this is a discussion of grammar, I’ll share with you a verse the said cousin emailed me last year during a previous Cornish grammar chat. (“Long Bay” is apparently a Sydney gaol).

A cunning old crim from Long Bay
Studied grammar by night and by day
Then changed all the functions
Of verbs and conjunctions
And shortened his sentence that way






edited by: Laghyades, Jul 23, 2007 - 07:04 AM

Laghyades

R-E-V-R-O-N-S,
Find out what it means to us.
FlammNew
avatar
Posts: 1814

Posted:
23.Jul 2007 - 08:57

Laghyades“An kres an vordonn resyek dhywgh”.
ie, “The peace of the running wave to you”. (and so on.)

I'd like to discuss this style with any Cornish power-users present. My question is in two parts, making the eight-ball in the corner pocket (as an American friend used to say) :

Firstly, how would you render the following English construction exactly into Cornish :
“May the peace of the running wave be with you” ?


"Re bo kres an vordonn resek genowgh."

QuoteSecondly, is this construction, in fact, desirable ? Is there any evidence in mediaeval texts, perhaps the Passion plays, etc, of benedictions being put this way ?


Yes. And yes.




dukkha-samudaya-nirodha-magga