Page:A handbook of the Cornish language; Chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature.djvu/101

82 *chŷ benen, the house of a woman.
 * chŷ an venen, the house of the woman.
 * But not an chŷ an dên or an chŷ an venen.

If there is a succession of genitives, only the last noun can have a article. Thus:—


 * darras chŷ gour an venen, the door of the house of the husband of the woman.

2. The inflected genitive. This, which only exists, and that doubtfully, in the case of a few words, is formed by the modification of the root vowel. It is one of the common genitives of the Gaelic dialects, and as such is important, for it is not recognised in Welsh or Breton. Lhuyd gives five instances of it— margh, a horse, gen. mergh; mergh, a daughter, gen. myrgh; pen, a head, gen. pyn (used only in the quasi-preposition erbyn, against); whêl, work, gen. wheyl; crês, midst, gen. creys, but even these were very seldom used, and only probably in a few expressions. It would seem that the initial of the genitive word should in this case be in the second state. Thus:—


 * ren vergh, a horse's mane.

3. The genitive of attribution, quality, origin, or quantity, denoted in English by the preposition of, but not expressible also by the possessive in 's, though in many cases an adjective might be substituted for it, is expressed in Cornish by the preposition a, which puts the initial in the second state. Thus:—

a. Quality. Arledh a 'ras, Lord of grace; an Matern a wordhyans, the King of glory.

b. Origin, an Tâs an Nêv, the Father of Heaven (cf. Pater de cælis Deus, translated in the English