§ 4 The Relative Pronoun
1. A simple relative, who or which, whether in the nominative or accusative, is represented most frequently by the particle a, governing the second state of the verb. Thus:—
An Tâs a wrîg Nêv, the Father who made heaven.
An Nêv a wrîg an Tâs e, the Heaven which the Father made.
If the verb following the relative begins with a vowel, a is often omitted. Thus:—
Ow thîs es genev, my people who are with me.
If the relative sentence is negative, ni, not, coalesces with a, producing na. Thus:—
En le na vê dên bisqweth, in a place in which man never was.
When the relative is the object of the verb, or is preceded in English by a preposition, a redundant personal pronoun is added after the verb, with or without a combined preposition, but a preposition is never placed before the relative particle a itself. Thus:—
An dên a dhanvonas Dew e, the man whom God sent (lit. whom God sent him).
An dên a vê an gêr cowses ganso, the man by whom the word was spoken (lit. whom the word was spoken by him).
2. Neb (earlier nep, and in late Cornish sometimes leb) is also used as a relative, with similar construction to that of a in the objective or prepositional condition. Properly it includes the antecedent, and should mean he who, those who, that which, those whom, etc., but it is commonly used as a simple relative, especially in late Cornish. Thus:—
Agan Tâs ny neb es en Nêv, Our Father who art in heaven, in one of the many extant versions of the Lord’s Prayer.
Another version is Agan Tâs ny leb es en Nêv.
Dhe [tî] nep yu ioy ow holon, thou who art the joy of my heart (Res. Dom., 456).
An dên neb na’n gwrîg, the man who did not do it.
Neb yu moyha, he who is greatest.
An dên neb Dew a wrîg e dhanvon, the man whom God did send.
An dên neb an gêr a rê cowses ganso, the man by whom the word was spoken.
Neb mî e wrîg ragdho, for whom I did it (lit. whom I did it for him).
But, unlike a, neb can have a preposition before it on occasions, with or without the redundant pronoun. Thus:—
Chŷ en neb na vê dên vîth (enno), a house in which no man was.