[Spellyans] 'payment'

[Michael Everson]

On 29 Jul 2011, at 09:36, Craig Weatherhill wrote:

> I don't necessarily accept that all these English loan words can genuinely be included as Cornish just because they turn up in Cornish texts.  I believe that many were inserted (especially in Tregear) because the writer didn't know the Cornish word.

"Payment" as cited by Nicholas comes from the Passion Poem, not Tregear. Moreover "pemont" occurs several times in Beunans Meriasek (KS pêmont).

> In Keigwin's translation of King Charles's letter of thanks to Cornwall, he inserts the Hebrew word "milchamath" because he couldn't recall the Cornish word for 'battle'.  By the same token as arguments being mooted here, we should accept that word as Cornish and use it accordingly.  I won't though.

We use "batal", pl. "batalyow" which is attested in a number of the traditional texts (BM. TH, BK). 

Ken George made the choice to exclude some loanwords from English from his dictionaries. But not others. No real rationale for why he likes some and dislikes others. I don't think that practice should be emulated. In the case of milchamath, well, I'd include it in a dictionary, noting its source and rationale. (George, to be fair, does the same, though he says "Keigwin seems to have used a Hebrew word by mistake", which is implausible. Keigwin certainly wrote the word on purpose.)

I should think that the use of "milchamath" (KS milhamath) would be jocular or to make a rhyme in poetry.  

Michael Everson * http://www.evertype.com/