READY-REFERENCE GUIDE
HOW TO ASK SIMPLE QUESTIONS
CLOSED ‘YES / NO’ QUESTIONS
A closed question expects a straightforward yes or no. These questions begin with particle A2.
OPEN QUESTIONS
An open question asks for new information: who, what, where, when, why, how etc. In Cornish the question word / phrase comes first, as in English.
SUBJECT OR OBJECT
The question word / phrase is followed by particle A2 when it is the grammatical subject or grammatical object.
NOT SUBJECT OR OBJECT
In principle it is followed by particle Y5 when it is not the grammatical subject or object. But Y5 can be replaced by A2 in colloquial usage; and only A2 is used if the question phrase begins PAN or PANA.
OMISSION OF PARTICLE A2
Idiomatically you may clip particle A2 off the start of a sentence. But leave the mutation! Particle A2 is always omitted before parts of bos and mos beginning with a vowel.
QUESTION WORDS / PHRASES WITH THEIR OWN MUTATION INSTEAD OF PARTICLE
PANDRA2 ‘what’, FATELL2 ‘how’, PLE5 ‘where’, PEUR5 ‘when’ do not take any particle. They themselves cause mutation of the verb. Particle a2 is often dropped after PANA DERMYN ‘when’,
PREPOSITIONS
You cannot use a preposition in a question phrase. The preposition comes later in the sentence or sometimes immediately after the question word, and in either case must appear in a personal form. There are three exceptions: DHE BYW ‘to whom’, GANS PYW ‘with whom’ or ‘by whom’, A BLE5 ‘from where’.
ECHOING POSSESSIVE PRONOUN WHEN QUESTION WORD IS THE OBJECT
If the question word is the grammatical object and you are using BOS + OW4 / OWTH + verb-noun, you should change OW4 / OWTH to ORTH Y2 (masculine) or ORTH HY3 (feminine) or ORTH AGA3 (plural).
If you are using GALLOS ‘be able to’ or GODHVOS ‘know how to’ or MYDNAS with its original force of ‘wish to / be willing to’, you should insert Y2 (masculine) or HY3 (feminine) or AGA3 (plural) before the following verb-noun.
In very formal style you can do the same when using GWIL and MYDNAS as auxiliaries to make tenses of other verbs. In practice this usage is confined to poetical literature.
EXAMPLES
A wrussys ùnderstondya? (or clipped Wrussys ùnderstondya?)
Did you understand? Answer: Gwrug or Eâ ‘yes’ / Na wrug or Nâ ‘no’
Esta ow convedhes?
Do you understand? Answer: Esof or Eâ ‘yes’ / Nag esof or Nâ ‘no’
A nyns yw spladn?
Isn’t it splendid? Answer: Yw or Eâ ‘yes’ / Nag yw or Nâ ‘no’
Pyw a vydn gwary Scrabble® haneth?
Who’s going to play Scrabble this evening?
Pyw a wrusta gweles ena?
Who did you see there?
Eseth pyw yw hobma?
Who’s sitting here? (literally Whose seat is this?)
Pëth a wrussys leverel dhedhy?
What did you tell her?
Py coref a wrusta kemeres?
Which beer did you choose?
Prag y whrussys desky Kernowek?
Why did you learn Cornish?
Pana bellder eses ow cortos?
How long were you waiting?
Pyw a vëdh agan ost?
Who will be our host?
Pandra vynta debry?
What would you like to eat? (literally What will you eat?)
Fatell wosta?
How do you know?
Pana dermyn [a] wren ny omvetya?
When shall we meet?
Ple whrussys prena hedna?
Where did you buy that?
Peur whreta dyberth?
When are you leaving? (literally When will you separate?)
Py boosty y whrusta debry ino?
In which restaurant did you eat? (or Celtic-in-English What restaurant did you eat in?)
Pana barty esta orth y scodhya?
What party do you support?
Py tavosow erel a wosta aga hôwsel?
What other languages do you (literally know how to) speak?