Page:A handbook of the Cornish language; Chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature.djvu/190

THE CONSTRUCTION OF SENTENCES 171 and the second person plural are found. But for the existence of the form as bes bues for the last, one might suppose, with Williams, that the b of am bes was only the addition of a cognate letter to the m. But cf. the addition of b to oa and oe of the same verb in Breton. II. THE FUTURE. Singular. CORNISH. BRETON. 1. [_mi] am bedh (byth, beth). [ /fl ] em ( r am ) bez. 2. ti a tJifedh (fyth}. [te] ez (or az) pez. 3. m. [ev] an jevedh (for devedh). hen en devez. 3. f. [hy] as tevedh. [he] e devez. Plural. 1. [ny] an (or agari) bedh. [/] hor bez. 2. [why] as (or agas) bedh. t?hotn ho pez. 3. [y] as tevedh. [hi o devez. It will be seen here and in the other tenses that the pronouns in Breton do not produce exactly the same mutations as in Cornish. The dh of Cornish is always written z in Breton, though that is pronounced dh in some dialects. The whole of this tense is found in the MSS. III. THE PRETERITE. Singular. CORNISH. BRETON. 1. if am be [hue], [me] em (or am) boe. 2. ti athfe. [te] ez (or az) poe. 3. m. [ev] anjeve. [/ten] en devoe. 3. f. [hy] as teve. [he] e devoe. Plural. 1 . y an (or agan) be. [tit] hor boe. 2. [why] as (or agas) be. dhoui ho poe. 3. y as teve. [hi] o aevoe. Only part of this tense is found in the MSS., but the rest is easily formed by analogy.