Page:A handbook of the Cornish language; Chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature.djvu/94

 CHAPTER IV

THE NOUN

§ 1.

Nouns are either primitive or derived. Primitive nouns have no special terminations to distinguish them from other words. Derived nouns, chiefly abstract, are formed from adjectives, verbs, or other nouns. There are also verbal nouns which have the form of the infinitive of verbs.

1. Nouns are derived from adjectives and occasion- ally from nouns and verbs, by adding der or ter. Thus:—


 * dader, goodness, from da, good.
 * gwîrder, truth, from gwîr, true.
 * gwander, weakness, from gwan or gwadn, weak.
 * golowder, brightness, from golow, light.
 * tekter, beauty, from teg, beautiful.
 * whekter, sweetness, from wheg, sweet.
 * ithekter, horror, from îthek, horrible.
 * melder, sweetness (to taste), from mel, honey.
 * yender, coldness, from yên or yein, cold.
 * splander, brightness, splendour, from splan, bright.
 * tewlder, darkness, from tewal, dark.
 * tewder, thickness, from tew, thick.
 * tanowder, thinness, from tanow, thin.
 * powsder, heaviness, from pows, heavy.
 * scavder, lightness (of weight), from scav, light.
 * medhalder, softness, from medhal, soft.
 * glanithder, cleanness, from glanith, clean.