Cornish syntagmatic lexical relations: Collocations, colligations, and multi-word

lexemes

Dr Jon Mills Skians 2015, Cornish Language Research Network

Conference 24th September 2015

Penryn Campus

Lexical relation

Paradigmatic Syntagmatic

The paradigmatic lexical relation

Ma’n den tebri

aval

dehen-rew

kresigow

kofen

sevien

The syntagmatic lexical relation

The syntagmatic lexical relation

godhvos gras dhe nebonan

‘be grateful to someone’

"Haw dremas a wor thym grace | Tha weyll vyadge mar nobell"

'And my husband will be grateful to me for undertaking such a noble enterprise'

[Jordan 1611: 708-9]

COMBINATORIAL

Collocation: recurring combination

an tas a wruk ou formye | am offryn re woffe gras Origo Mundi: 529-30

'May the Father who created me thank me for my offering’

Gromercy agen lych da | mur gras y wothen nefra | thywy agis bolnogeth

Ton 1504: 308-10

'Many thanks, our good liege. We are always most grateful to you for your intention’

Tha Thew y whon gras

ragtha Jordan 1611: 2004

'I thank God for it.'

godhvos gras

Colligation: Grammatical patterns

Verb Noun Prep. phrase Prep. phrase

godhvos gras dhe nebonan a neppyth

Thank someone for something; be grateful to someone for something.

"an tas a wruk ou formye | am offryn re woffe gras"

'May the Father, who created me, thank me for my offering’

[Origo Mundi: 529-30] "Gromercy agen lych da | mur gras y wothen nefra | thywy agis bolnogeth"

'Many thanks, our good liege. We are always most grateful to you for your intention’

[Ton 1504: 308-10]

Collocations: verb + noun

doen sorr dhe nebonan

• be angry with somebody

"y whon gwyre dew agen tas y sor thyn y teig pur vras me an suppose'"

'I know that God our Father will be very angry with us’

[Jordan 1611: 860-2]

Collocation: verb + noun

gorra with a

• take care of; preserve

"... re worro wyth am ene"

'... preserve my soul'

[Origo Mundi: 1978]

Collocation: verb + noun

grontya kummyas dhe nebonan, dhiworth nebonan, dhe wul neppyth • allow someone something, somebody Lit: grant permission for something to someone from somebody " ... bos granntyes thynny cummyes | dywort an tas deu guella | the bales ha the wonys" '... that God allows us to dig and sow'

[Origo Mundi: 412] "cummyas grantyys thym yma | thy anclethyas yn lowen" 'Fortunately, I am allowed to bury him'

[Passio Domini: 3146]

Collocation: verb + adverb

leverel (yn) freth • speak emphatically; say emphatically "In un stevya oll y eth bys yn pylat o Iustis un eʒow ʒoʒo yn freth yndelma a leverys" ‘Hurryingly they all went to Pilate who was a justice; a Jew emphatically spoke thus to him…’

[Pascon agan Arluth: 239ab]

"Der gras Christ agen pernas, me, Modreth, a lever freth: Arthur a vyth guarthevyas hay yskerans ef a feth" ‘By the grace of Christ who redeemed us, I Modred, say emphatically: Arthur will be victorious and he will vanquish his foes’

[Bewnans Ke: 1486-89]

Collocation: verb + adverb

mynnes kyns

• prefer; would rather

Me vendzha kenz

It is better; I had rather

[Lhuyd 1707: 127a]

Collocation: verb + adjective

gwitha kompes yn-kever nebonan

• remain faithful to someone

"mal δa va prêv erra e urêg guiτa kẏmpez et i gever"

'that he might ascertain whether his wife was remaining faithful to him'

[Lhuyd 1707: Dzhuan Tshei an Hor: 39]

Collocation: verb + adjective

mynnes da dhe nebonan

• wish someone well

"dotho orth neb a vyn da"

'to him who wishes him well'

[Ton 1504: 2850]

Collocation: verb + adjective

prena da

• buy cheaply

"me a gesul bos ganse | prennys da gwon yn nep le"

'I advise that some open land somewhere is bought cheaply with them'

[Passio Domini: 1543-4]

Collocation: verb + prepositional phrase

sevel yn galloes

• lie in one's power

"ny seff henna yth galloys"

'That doesn't lie in your power.'

[Ton 1504: 2387]

Collocations: noun + adjective

fortun teg

• good luck

"rag esya an pedrennou ha rag stopya tarthennou yma thywy forten tek"

'For easing the buttocks and for stopping tertian fever you have good luck'

[Ton 1504: 1422-4]

Collocations: noun + adjective

goes nessa • close relative "my a vyn kyns es dybarth | muvye omma certan tra | rag dader hag honester | ze varyasek heb awer | ow goys nessa” 'I will before leaving | propose here a certain thing, | for goodness and decency, | to Meriasek, without grief, | my next of kin'

[Ton 1504: 259-63]

Collocation: noun + adjective

kolm re

• slip knot (Lit: free knot)

"me a vyn setye colm re | may fastyo an colm wharre | sur adro thiim bryangen | a thysempys thum tage "

'I will tie a slip knot, so that the knot may fasten around my throat to choke me immediately'

[Passio Domini: 1525-8]

Collocations: noun + noun

best arlythy

• game

"pyu a ros dywhy lescyans | rag dones in ou grond vy | the helghya best arlythy"

'who has given you permission to enter my territory, to hunt game?'

[Ton 1504: 3463-5]

Collocations: comparative adj. + noun phrase

gwella dha cher • cheer up Lit: better your cheer "eva wek guella the cher" 'Dear Eve, cheer up!'

[Origo Mundi: 166] "the das kera thy lawe | a erghys guella the cher" 'Thy most dear Father, praise Him, has bidden "Cheer up"'

[Passio Domini: 1049-50] "ow fryas gwella tha geare" 'My spouse, cheer up!'

[Jordan 1611: 1306]

Collocation: adjective + adverb

teg lowr

• easy

"y thew tege lowre the undirstondia"

'it is easy to understand'

[Tregear Homilies: 55a]

Collocation: adverb + adverb

stag omma

• right here

"mensen stak omma merwell"

'I would like to die right here'

[Ton 1504: 1368]

Collocation: noun + prepositional phrase

haval dhe fas nebonan • in appearance like someone "ny ad wra ty then a bry | haval dagan face whare" ‘Presently I shall make you, you man, from clay, in appearance like us’

[Origo Mundi: 59-60] "Me a wra ge dean a bry | Havall thagan face whare" 'Presently we shall make you, you man, from clay, in appearance like us'

[Jordan 1611: 346-7]

Restricted collocational range

mo

m. night

"jhesu an map luen a ras. sokyr ny mo ha meten an sperys sans benygas y gras genen may keffen"

'Jesus, the Son full of Grace, assist us night and day, so that we may receive the grace of the blessed Holy Ghost.'

[Ton 1504: 2737-40]

Restricted collocational range

morel

adj. black (of a horse)

"py ma thym ou margh morel"

'Where is my black horse?'

[Ton 1504: 2111]

Opaque meaning: Idioms

kows gerennow

• quibble

Lit: ‘speak words’

"na wele cous gerennou"

'Don't try to quibble!'

[Ton 1504: 2964]

war an ke

Lit: ‘on the hedge’

• unclaimed; abandoned

"pur a wylsta war an kee gesys yn bys ma enaff"

'When did you really see an unclaimed soul left upon this earth'

[Ton 1504: lines 1253-1254]

a leun kolonn Lit: ‘of a full heart’ • sincere; passionately; whole-heartedly; heartfelt "wy abys a leun golon" 'you who pray whole-heartedly' [Pascon agan Arluth: 1.2] "pyiadow a luen colon" 'whole-hearted prayer'

[Passio Domini: 25]

doen sorr dhe nebonan

Lit: ‘carry anger to someone’

• be angry with somebody

"y whon gwyre dew agen tas y sor thyn y teig pur vras me an suppose'"

'I know that God our Father will be very angry with us

[Jordan 1611: 860-2]

heb hwedha dha gorn

• without making a fuss

Lit: without blowing your horn

"dyson hep whethe the gorn | dysempys gura y thybry"

'quietly, without making a fuss, eat it immediately'

[Origo Mundi: 207-8]

mes a dhornow

• unexpectedly

Lit: ‘out of hands’

"Mee rese mos tha Loundres mes a thor[n]ow"

'I must go to London unexpectedly'

[Bilbao MS.]

taves re hir

Lit: tongue too long

• chatterbox

"Bedh dɐrn rê ver, dhɐn tavaz rê hîr"

'A fist is too short for a chatterbox'

[Lhuyd 1707: 251c]

FIXED EXPRESSIONS

IDIOMS war an ke : unclaimed; abandoned a leun kolonn : passionately; whole-heartedly heb whedha dha gorn : without making a fuss

VERY RESTRICTED mo : night morel : black (of a horse)

RECURRING COMBINATIONS godhvos gras : be grateful godhvos breus : suffer judgment

FREE COMBINATIONS

godhvos Wella : know Wella godhvos skrifa : know how to write

Cornish syntagmatic lexical relations: Collocations, colligations, and multi-word

lexemes

Dr Jon Mills, University of Kent

Skians 2015, Cornish Language Research Network Conference

24th September 2015