Page:Glossary of words in use in Cornwall.djvu/17

xii 'ee ever knaw sich a g'eat maazed antic in all your born days ? " (Did you ever know such a mad fool ?) &c. " I'll gi' 'ee a click under the y-ear." (I'll give you a box on the ears.)

Verbs and pronouns are often used in the second person singular instead of the second person plural, as " Coom thee wayst in, thee great chûcklehead, or i'll gi' 'ee a scat on the chacks that 'ull maake 'ee grizzle the wrong side o' th' moueth. Thee thinkst o' nawthing but gammut. (Come in, you great stupid, or I will give you a slap in the face that shall make you laugh the other side of your mouth. You think of nothing but play.) "Beest 'ee goin' to painty to-day, Jan ? " (Are you going to paint to-day, John ?) Him and it are contracted into as n''I don't think much of 'n." G'eat takes the place of great, as " a g'eat bûfflehead " (a great fool); bra' of brave, "a bra' fine day" (a very fine day). "And between two adjectives applies the preceding one to the latter— 'bra' and wicked,' bravely or very wicked, although brave alone would be a term of commendation." — J, W. The article a is put before plural nouns, as "a trousers," "a bellers" (bellows). The preposition up is very commonly used after verbs, as "I must finish up my work," "I must do up my odds and ends;" and where in other places in would be used, as "Take up (not take in) two loaves for to-morrow." Sometimes a superfluous verb is added, as "I looked to see."

The Cornish are fond of doubling their negatives, "Never no more, says Tom Collins."

"When he died, he shut his eyes. And never saw money no more." Old Nursery Rhyme.

"I don't knaw, ant I" (I don't know, not I) ; and a favourite answer to a question is, "Not as I knaw by," or "Not as I know," all pronounced quickly as one word, "Notsino." Couldst, wouldst, and shouldst are contracted into cu'st, wu'st, and shu'st; as "How cu'st 'ee (thee) be such a big fool?" "Thou shu'snt tell such lies;" "Wu'st 'ee (thee) do et?" But to multiply examples would take too much space for an introduction, and to those especially interested in this branch of the subject, I would recommend the works of the