Chapter X Paradigm of a Regular Verb
The following is a complete paradigm of a regular verb, showing the various forms. Most tenses have at least two forms, the simple verb, whether in the inflected or impersonal conjugation, and the compound, or verb with auxiliaries. In late Cornish the compound is by far the more usual in almost every tense. The general principal on which the different forms are used is:—
Affirmative Sentences. Simple Impersonal or Auxiliary Impersonal, generally the latter.
Negative, Interrogative, or Dependent Sentences. Inflected Simple or Inflected Auxiliary, generally the latter, but the Simple Inflected is more common in these than the Simple Impersonal is in affirmative sentences.
Root. Car, love.
Verbal Noun or Infinitive. Cara, the act of loving, to love.
Present Participle. Ow cara, loving.
Past or Passive Participle. Keres, loved.
I. Present, originally used also as future.
(a). Inflected form.
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. carav (vî), 135 I love. | 1. caron (nŷ), older keryn, we love. |
| 2. keres, or kereth (dî), thou lovest. | 2. carough (whŷ), you love. |
| 3. car (ev), he loves. | 3. carons (ŷ), or carans, they love. |
As this form, except occasionally in verse, is only used in negative, interrogative, or dependent sentences, the initial is generally changed to the second state by some preceding particle, such as a, ni, pan, etc.
(b). Impersonal form.
Mî, tî, ev, nŷ, whŷ, ŷ (late form often anjŷ or jŷ) a gar.
(c). Inflected Auxiliary.
Gwrav vî cara.
For the rest of the tense see the present of gwîl, to do.
(d). Impersonal Auxiliary.
Mî, tî, ev, nŷ, whŷ, ŷ (or anjŷ or jŷ) a wra cara.
The forms wrama, wresta are generally used for the inflected auxiliary first and second persons singular in interrogative and dependent sentences, a wrama cara, do I love? pan wresta cara, when thou dost love. The particle a of the impersonal form is not infrequently omitted, especially when the pronouns ending in vowels immediately precede it. 136
I.a. The Continuous or Habitual Present.
Thov vi ow cara, I am loving.
The rest as in the present tense of bos, to be, followed by the present participle. The negative form of this is:—
Nynsoma or nynsov ow cara, etc.
I.b. The Passive Present.
Dhov vî keres, I am loved.
The rest as the present of bos, followed by the past participle.
Or the older passive:—
Mî, tî, ev, nŷ, whŷ, ŷ (or anjŷ or jŷ) a gerer.
Or the auxiliary form of the older passive:—
Mî, tî, etc., a wrer cara.
In this case wrer is for gwrer, the passive of gwîl, to do.
II. The Imperfect, used also more or less as a Subjunctive.
(a). Inflected form.
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. caren, I was loving. | 1. caren, we were loving. |
| 2. cares, thou wert loving. | 2. careugh, you were loving. |
| 3. cara, he was loving. | 3. carens, they were loving. |
(b). Impersonal form.
Mî, tî, etc., a gara.
(c). Auxiliary form.
Therav vî ow cara.
The rest as the imperfect of bos, to be, with the present participle.
The negative form of this tense is either:—
nî garen, etc., or
nynseram ow cara, etc.
The interrogative is either:—
a garen? etc., or
’erama, etc., ow cara?
III. The Preterite or Past Tense.
(a). Inflected.
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. kerŷs, I loved. | 1. carson, or kersen, we loved. |
| 2. kerses, thou lovedst. | 2. carsough, you loved. |
| 3. caras, he loved. | 3. carsons, or carsans, they loved. |
(b). Impersonal.
Mî, tî, etc., a garas.
(c). Inflected auxiliary.
Gwrîgav vî cara.
The rest as the past tense of gwîl, to do, followed by the infinitive.
(d). Impersonal auxiliary.
Mî, tî, etc., a wrîg cara.
Sometimes re is prefixed to this tense, as:—
mî re garas, mî re wrîg cara.
This turns it into a preterperfect, “I have loved,” but in late Cornish there is usually no distinction between preterite and perfect, except that the latter is seldom expressed by anything except the auxiliary form, while either may be used for the former.
The passive of this tense is either:—
mî, tî, etc., a gares, or
mî, tî, etc., a vê keres.
The latter is the more usual.
IV. The Pluperfect, Secondary Perfect, or Conditional.
(a). Inflected.
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. carsen, I had loved, or I would love. | 1. carsen, we had loved. |
| 2. carses, thou hadst loved. | 2. carseugh, you had loved. |
| 3. carsa, he had loved. | 3. carsens, they had loved. |
Pronounced and sometimes written carjen (or cargen with soft g in MSS.), etc.
(b). Impersonal.
Mî, tî, etc., a garsa.
(c). Inflected auxiliary.
Gwressen cara, etc., or menjam cara, etc.
The rest as the pluperfect of gwîl, or of menny, to will, with the infinitive.
(d). Impersonal auxiliary.
Mî, tî, etc., a wressa cara, or a venja cara.
The passive of this tense is formed by the pluperfect of bos, to be, followed by the past participle.
V. The Subjunctive.
(a). Inflected.
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. kerev, or carev, I may love. | 1. keren, or caren, we may love. |
| 2. kery, or cary, thou mayest love. | 2. kereugh, or careugh, you may love. |
| 3. caro, he may love. | 3. carens, or carons, they may love. |
(b). Impersonal form.
Mî, tî, etc., a garo.
(c). Inflected auxiliary.
Gwrellev vî (or gwrellen) cara.
And the rest as the subjunctive or imperfect of gwîl with the infinitive.
(d). Impersonal auxiliary.
Mî, tî, etc., a wrello (or wreffa) cara.
The passive of this tense is formed by the present tense of gally, to be able, followed by the infinitive bos, to be, and the past participle of the main verb:—
Mî, tî, etc., a el bos keres, I, thou, etc., may be loved.
This tense is not necessarily used after conjunctions which in other languages (Latin, for example) govern a subjunctive, but rather when uncertainty, expectation, or contingency is signified, in fact, when in English one would use may as an auxiliary. There is a good deal of confusion between this tense and the imperfect.
Re prefixed to the inflected or inflected auxiliary form of this tense makes it an optative:—
Re wrellen cara, would that I might love, etc.
VI. The Future.
In older Cornish the present, whether in its inflected, impersonal, or auxiliary form, was commonly used to express a future, and sometimes the subjunctive was used as a future. Some verbs have an extra tense which is a specially inflected future, resembling one form of the Breton conditional, as follows:—
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. carvym, carvyv. | 1. carvon. |
| 2. carvyth. | 2. carvough. |
| 3. carvyth, carvo. | 3. carvons. |
This is more commonly found in the impersonal form, mî, tî, etc., a garvyth. It is formed, as may be clearly seen, by suffixing the future or subjunctive of bos, to be (perhaps in its sense of “to have” 140), to the root of the verb. (Cf. the suffixing of the present of avoir to an infinitive to form a future in French, je parler-ai, and its unamalgamated prototype, the future form, resurgere habent, in the very low Latin of the antepenultimate verse of the Athanasian Creed.) But in late Cornish the regular future was formed by the auxiliary verb menny, to will:—
Mednav vî cara, etc.
Mî, tî, etc., a vedn cara, etc.
The forms mednama, menta, usually in the second state of the initial, are used for interrogative and dependent sentences:—
A vednama cara? shall I love?
Mar menta cara, if thou wilt love.
The negative is either nî vednav vî cara or mî ni vednav cara.
The latter form, with the v of the termination omitted as being nearly inaudible, is used in Carew’s phrase, meea navidua cowzasawzneck, I will speak no English, for mî na vednav cowsa Sowsnak.
The passive is formed by the present of menny, the infinitive of bos, and the past participle:—
Mî, tî, etc., a vedn bos keres.
VII. The Imperative.
(a). Inflected.
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. wanting. | 1. caren, let us love. |
| 2. car, love thou. | 2. careugh, love ye. |
| 3. cares (or carens), let him love. | 3. carens, let them love. |
(b). The auxiliary.
| Singular. | Plural. |
| 1. wanting. | 1. gwren cara. |
| 2. gwra cara. | 2. gwreugh cara. |
| 3. gwrens cara or gwrens e cara. | 3. gwrens ŷ cara. |