Page:A handbook of the Cornish language; Chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature.djvu/144

 THE AUXILIARY VERBS 125 (b). emons is only used when the pronoun they is the subject. When a noun is the subject, whether singular or plural, a singular verb is used. Emons y en ow chy, they are in my house. Ema 'n levrow en ow chy, the books are in my house. (c). es, esy, ejy, are chiefly used with relatives or interrogatively in the sense of "is there," "is there not." An levar es en ow chy, the book which is in my house (in this case es = a es, which is). 'Es levar en ow chy ? Is there a book in my house ? Nag es levar en ow chy ? Is there not a book in my house ? In the first of these two interrogations the interro- gative particle a coalesces with es, in the second nag=ni ag, ag being the same interrogative particle, with a g added before a vowel. The ordinary interrogative of this tense is merely the form 'oma, 'osta, 'yua, 'on ny, 'ough why, 'ens y (pron. enjj>), which should be preceded by an apostrophe to show that the interrogative particle a is elided. The negative interrogative is the same preceded by nag. The difference between the use of ema, yu, and es is not quite so distinct in Cornish as between the corresponding y mae,yw, and oes in Welsh, but if there is any difference in meaning between ema and yu, it is that ema has more often the sense of there is, it is, and yu more commonly that of is only ; also yu can be used interrogatively and negatively, while ema, except after pie, where, should not be used interrogatively, and is never used negatively at all. Its negative and interroga- tive equivalent is es.