Page:A handbook of the Cornish language; Chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature.djvu/76

Rh 3. e, short, as e in men, pen, etc.

4. ê, long, as ai in main, ay in say.

5. i, short, as i in in, pin, etc.

6. î, long, as ee in seen, etc.

7. o, short, as o in on.

8. ô long, as aw in dawn, not as o in bone.

9. ŏ, obscure, as o in London, ton, etc.

10. u, short, as u in full.

11. û, long, as oo in fool.

12. ŭ, obscure, as u in until.

13. ŷ, long, as i in mine.

14. y, short, as y in carry, marry, etc. This is used chiefly as an unaccented final in a word of more than one syllable.

In the case of the letter y, there is a variation of sound in such monosyllables as nŷ, whŷ, jŷ, hŷ under certain circumstances. In this system of spelling the circumflex is omitted when these words are enclitic.

B. Compound vowels.

Of these, aw, ai, ei, ay, ey, ou, are only repetitions of the simple vowels ô, û and ŷ. The other four have sounds not otherwise represented.

1. aw has the same sound as ô. It is very rarely used.

2. ai, ay, ei, ey, have nearly the same sound as ŷ, rather more diphthongalised.

3. eu, ew have the sound of ew in the English word dew, the usual English long u. This sound is also represented in Cornish by y consonant followed by u, as in the word yu, is, which has exactly the sound of the English personal pronoun you.

4. oi, oy have the sound of oy in boy.