Page:A handbook of the Cornish language; Chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature.djvu/193

 174 GRAMMAR 3. Gwyn an bes. This poetical expression is common to Cornish, Welsh, and Breton. It signifies, "fair the world," i.e. happy, and is used with possessive pronouns and appositional genitives. Gwyn ow bes y fair my world, happy 1. Gwyn dha ves, happy thou. Gwyn e ves, happy he. Gwyn bes an den na wrig cerdhes en cosol an gamhin- segyon, blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly. In Welsh, when the possessor of this " fair world " is expressed by a noun, there is a redundant possessive pronoun before byd (bes). Thus Psalm i. begins Gwyn eifydy gwr, fair his world of the man. But this is not the Cornish form, which uses the simple appositional genitive in suchcases. There is a contrary expression, drog pes, found in the Ordinalia (Passio Christi, 3089), drok pys of, unhappy am I. In this case drog seems to put the initial of bes in its fourth state. 4. The following phrases are in common use, and are generally run into one or two words in pronunciation. Mer ' ras dho Dhew (pr o n . merdsthadew). Great thanks be to God. Mer 'ras dheugh why (pron. merdsdhawhy. Great thanks to you. Dew re dala dheugh why (pron. Durddladhawhy}. God repay to you. Dew re sona dheugh why (pron. Dursonadhawhy). God sain you. Bennath Dew genough why (pron. Benatew genawhy). The blessing of God be with you. Dew genough why (pron. Dew genawhy). God be with you. Pandrdma (i.e. pan dra wramd). What shall I do?