Page:A handbook of the Cornish language; Chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature.djvu/105

86 jectives and also some nouns end in ek or ak. It is also the regular plural of words ending in or denoting an agent.

3. In y. This termination is more common in Cornish than in Welsh or Breton, though it is not uncommon in those languages also. It is often written / in the MSS.

lj limb, esely. mowes, girl, mowesy. Gwidhel, Irishman, Gwidhely, castell, castle, cas telly. legast, lobster, legesty (with a change of vowel). porhel, pig, porhelly. bigel, shepherd, bigely. profes, prophet, profesy or profejy. servis, servant, servisy or servijy. gwithes, guardian, gwithesy. arledh, lord, arledhy. trahes, cutter, trahesy (e.g. trahesy meyn, stone cutters).

This plural is mostly used for words ending in / and s, though not exclusively, and it occurs occasionally with other words. When a word ends in s preceded by a thin vowel, that letter is sometimes written j in the plural.

4. In es or edh. This is the equivalent of the Welsh edd, ydd, or oedd, and the Breton ed t though it is not necessarily used for the same words. Sometimes the vowel is modified. Thus :

mergh, daughter, merhes. 1 benen, woman, benenes. flogh, child, flehes. col, coal, coles.

1 Note that when a syllable is added to a word ending in gh, the g is omitted.