[Spellyans] chair

[Eddie Climo]

On 19 Gor 2009, at 10:01, Michael Everson wrote:
> Your logic is assailable, Eddie.
> Are you saying that the word which Cornish speakers commonly and  
> usually used for chair (namely, "chair") has no place in Revived  
> Cornish?

Your own logic is threadbare here, Michael, or at least your powers of  
observation. Manifestly I did not say that, otherwise you would not  
have to ask, would you? To clarify, I have no objection to people  
using chayr if they choose to; I merely assert the reasons why cadar  
whould not be rejected.

> Since it is by far the most common word for the object in the texts,  
> why not use it as the most common word in the revival?

Because cadar is more commonly used nowadays, and has been over 4  
generations of the Revival.

> If Gendall restricts the use of "cadar" to a position and the person  
> who holds it, he does so because he recognizes that the usual word  
> for chair is "chair".

Perhaps he does, but many Revivalists don't agree with his restriction.

> Seems to me that this is an excellent "usage register" for "cadar".

Of course it is. However, as 4 generations of Revivalists have shown,  
it is commonly used to mean the item of furniture as well.

> I think your suggestion that "chair" is frequently attested because  
> the corpus is slanted towards medieval religious plays to be very  
> strange indeed.

I find your suggestion that 4 generations of RC usage should be  
overturned to be very strange indeed. Languages evolve, even ones in  
the situation of RC, and this is just another example of such evolution.

Or are we to leave the development of our language solely in the hands  
of academics and bureaucrats?

Now, that would be surpassingly strange indeed!

> ... And it begs the question as to why one would need to adopt  
> "cadar" into general use, because to do so doesn't fill a gap. The  
> anti-English fetishism of some Revivalists eschews "chair" on  
> principle. Should we do likewise?

You're indulging in hyperbole there, Michael; the word 'fetishism'  
smacks of primitive religions and sexual perversion. Anyway, I don't  
suggest 'adopting' anthing, since cadar has been part of RC for so  
long already. I merely recommend maintaining the status quo.


Eddie Foirbeis Climo
- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- -
Dres ethom akennow byner re bons lyeshes
Accenti non multiplicandi praeter necessitatem

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