[Spellyans] A new book by Ann Jenkin

[Owen Cook]

For materials, you can use nouns adjectively, as in 'an dre bredn'. So
it could be a synthetic puppy manufactured from Cornishmen. (Bit
macabre for a children's story, however.)

~~Owen

2008/12/18 nicholas williams <njawilliams at gmail.com>:
> I see from the Maga
> website http://www.magakernow.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=47008
> that a new book for children has been published bearing the title
> Steren an Kolyn Kernow.
> One assumes that this was intended to mean "Steren, the Cornish Puppy"
> Unfortunately the title, as it stands, cannot possibly mean that.
> *Steren an Kolyn Kernow is ungrammatical and means nothing.
> Steren Kolyn Kernow would mean "The Star of the Puppy of Cornwall"
> Steren an Kolyn Kernow is meaningless and I cannot see how to parse it.
> There are two problems. In the first place Steren is both a proper name
> (as intended here) and a common noun "star". In the second place
> whoever did the translation made the mistake, almost universal among
> revivalists,
> of ignoring the essential rules of Celtic syntax when using definite nouns.
> Kernow "Cornwall" is definite. Gorseth Kernow means "THE Gorseth of
> Cornwall" and
> Kolyn Kernow means "THE puppy of Cornwall". An Kolyn Kernow is a soloecism
> and means nothing. The use of the article is wrong and can be allowed only
> when Kernow is deprived of its definite status by the use of a. An Kolyn a
> Gernow means
> "The Puppy of Cornwall". An Kolyn Kernow is not Cornish.
> Steren an Kolyn Kernow is even less meaningful, because there is no
> indication
> that Steren and an Kolyn are in apposition. Indeed the natural way to take
> Steren an Kolyn is as "the Puppy's Star", which is how I understood the
> title—though
> Kernow cannot then bear any meaning at all.
> If one wanted to translate "Steren the Cornish Puppy" into Cornish one would
> naturally write:
> Kolyn a Gernow, Steren y Hanow or Kolyn Kernewek Henwys Steren
> or An Kolyn a Gernow, Steren y Hanow or possibly Steren — an Kolyn a Gernow.
> What a shame that a book intended for children should
> have an ungrammatical and indeed nonsensical title.
> Nicholas
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