***bric Grammar
Contents
1. Gender of Nouns
2. Plural of Nouns
3. The Definite Article
4. The Indefinite Article
5. The Genitive
6. Mutations
7. Soft Mutation
8. Aspirate Mutation
8. Sharp Mutation
10. Personal Pronouns
11. Possessive Pronouns
12. Pronoun Objects
13. Demonstrative Pronouns
14. Demonstrative Adjectives
15. Demonstrative Adjectives without a Qualifying Noun
16, The Adverbial Particle
17. Relative Pronouns
18. Inflected Prepositional Pronouns
19. The Syntax of Adjectives
20. The Syntax of Pronouns
The Equative
The Comparative
The Superlative
Adjectives of Comparison and Superlativity
Declension of Adjectives
Adjectival Suffixes
Abstract Nouns
Adjectival Nouns
Numerals
Ordinal Numbers
The Syntax of the ***bric Verb
The Present-Future Tense
The Past Continuous
The Preterite Tense
The Pluperfect Tense
The Subjunctive Tense
The Imperative
The Passive Tense
The Present Tense of the Verb To Be
The Present Habitual Tense of the Verb To Be
The Verb To Be With Reference to Time and Place
The Verb To Be After the Interrogative Who
The Verb To Be Used as an Auxiliary in the Present Continuous tense
The Imperfect Tense of the Verb To Be
The Verb To Be as an Auxiliary in the Imperfect Tense
The Preterite Tense of the Verb To Be
The Past Habitual Tense of the Verb To Be
The Pluperfect Tense of the Verb To Be
The Future Tense of the Verb To Be
The Subjunctive Tense of the Verb To Be
The Imperfect Subjunctive of the Verb To Be
Other Pluperfect Tenses
The Conditional Tense of the Verb To Be
The Interrogative
The Negative Particle
The Negative Relative Pronoun
The Affirmative and Negative responses
Irregular Verbs
The Infinitive of the Verb To Go
The Present-Future Tense of the Verb To Go
The Imperfect Tense of the Verb To Go
The Perfect Tense of the Verb ToGo
The Subjunctive Tense of the Verb To Go
The Pluperfect Tense of the Verb ToGo
The Verb To Do
The Preterite Tense of the Verb To Do
The Imperfect Tense of the Verb To Do
The Verb To Come
The Preterite Tense of the Verb To Come
The Imperfect Tense of the Verb To Come
Other Irregular Verbs Declined Like the Verb To Be
Verbs That Are Irregular in the Third Person Singular
Prepositional Idioms
The Gerund of the Verb
Re****ted Speech
Adverbial Clauses
The Verb To Have
The Imperfect Tense of the Verb To Have
The Perfect Tense of the Verb To Have
The Present-Future Tense of the Verb To Have
The Imperfect Subjunctive of the Verb To Have
Requests and the Verb To Have
Prefixes
Suffixes
Vowel Sandhi
***bric Grammar
1. The Gender of Nouns
Nouns and adjectives in modern P-Celtic languages are not declined. All
that
remains of the original Prythonic declensions is gender. There were
originally three genders, masculine, feminine, and neuter. Nouns belonging
to the neuter gender passed into either the masculine or feminine genders
according to the similarity of neuter genders. In consequence a word may
be
feminine in Cornish and masculine in Welsh. The general rule in
Reconstructed ***bric is to follow Welsh usage.
2. The Plurals of Nouns
***bric plurals are formed in three ways.
i. By the addition of plural suffixes. Two ***bric plural suffixes have
survived. These are -ow as in Blencogo, which corresponds to Welsh -au,
and
ydd as in Werneth and Warren Burn (Warnet c.1157), which corresponds to
Welsh -ydd.
ii. By vowel mutation. An example of a plural formed by vowel mutation
exists in the place-name Tranent, earlier Trev er Nent, meaning the Villa
of
the Narrow Valleys, the ***bric of which is *tref yr neint.
iii. By the existence of aggregate plurals from which singulars are
formed
by the addition of diminutive suffixes. A good example of this is
Ketton in Rutland, which means a tree. This in ***bric is caithen, meaning
a
tree,from caith meaning a wood.
N.B., Some Welsh plurals are formed by vowel mutation and the addition of
plural suffixes. A good example of this is neintydd, the plural of nant,
which means a stream. It can be seen from the example of Trev er Nent that
the additional of plural suffixes after vowel mutations was dispensed with
in ***bric.
3. The Definite Article
There are three ***bric definite articles.
i. The definite article y as in Blencogo (Blen e Cogou c.1256), the
***bric of which is *blain y cogow.
ii. The definite article yr as in Tranent (earlier Trev er Nent), the
***bric of which is *tref yr neint, and Terregles (earler Trev er Egles),
the ***bric of which is *tref yr egles.
iii. The definite article yn as in Liscard (Lhis en Cark c.1256), the
***bric of which is *lys yn cark, and Tallentire, the ***bric of which is
*tal yn tir.
Although no grammatical rules governing the definite article can be found
it
is to be presumed that grammatical rules would have been invented if Old
***bric had become a written language. The present grammatical rules
therefore apply.
Welsh
Cornish
Breton
***bric
y before consonants
an in
ar before consonants
y before consonants
yr before vowels
all cases
an before vowels
yr before vowels and H
and H
an before T,D H
yn before T,D
al before L
4. The Indefinite Article
No indefinite article exists in Welsh, but Breton has three indefinite
articles, UR, UN, and UL, which are governed by the same rule that governs
the definite article. Cornish has a definite article that is occasionally
used to emphasise the noun. ***bric follows Cornish because of the
Northcountry indefinite articles yan and yin, from ***bric un.
5. The Genitive
i. Adjectival genitives are formed in Welsh, Cornish, Breton, and
***bric
by placing two indefinite nouns together, thus the ***bric place-name
Blencarn means (The) Cairn's Summit. Whole genitive sentences can be
formed,
such as the Welsh sentence: Sail ty mab brenin Lloegr, meaning, 'The
foundation of the house of the son of the king of England,' the ***bric of
which is *Sail ty map brenin Lhaigr.
ii. The definite article can be used in place of the English 'of ' to
form a genitive by being placed between two or more nouns, such as the
Welsh
sentence: Y sail y ty y mab y brenin y Lloegr, hence the ***bric
place-name
Blencogo from *blain y cogow.
6. Mutations
Under certain cir***stances the first consonants of Celtic words can
change.
This is called mutation. There is some evidence that ***bric, in common
with
Cornish and Breton, possessed sharp mutation, which is absent in Welsh
Welsh
Cornish
Breton
***bric
Soft Mutation
C - G
C, K - G
K - G, C'h
C - G (Penyghent)
T - D
T - D
T - D
T- D (Landican)
P - B
P -B
P - B
P - B (Larbet)
G -silent
G - silent
G - C'h
G - silent (Prenlas)
Gw - W
Gw - W
Gw - W
Gw - W (Carwin)
B - F
B - V
B - V
B - F (Carfrae)
D- DD
D - DH
D - Z
D - DD
M - F
M - V
M - V
M - F (Ruthven)
Aspirate Mutation
C - CH
C, K - H, Wh
K - C'h
C - CH (Penhurrock)
T - TH
T- TH
T - Z
T - TH (Carnetly)
P - PH
P - F
P - F
P - F (Dalfibble)
Sharp Mutation
B - P
B - P
B - P (Plenmellior)
D - T
D - T
D - T
G - C,K
G - K
G - C
GW - QU
GW - KW
GW - QU (***quencath)
7. Soft Mutation in ***bric
C - G
GW - W
T - D
B - F
P - B
D - DD
G - silent
M - F
In Welsh there are twenty-one grammatical rules governing soft mutation.
It
is obvious from place-name evidence that ***bric deteriorate both in
vocabulary and grammar, so the general method is to accept a Welsh
lenition
if at least one example can be found in a ***bric place-name, and to
accept
a Welsh lenition in the absence of a ***bric place-name if at least in one
other example of the same lenition can be found in another P-Celtic
language. Some lenitions that appear only in Welsh can be accepted.
Rule 1
Feminine singular nouns undergo soft mutation after the definite article.
Example
Penyghent and Pennigant
Rule 2
Both masculine and feminine nouns adopt soft mutation after adjectives
such
as hen (old) and cul (narrow).
Example
Culgaith
Rule 3
Nouns adopt soft mutation after the prepositions am (at, about), ar
(upon),
at (towards), dros (over), drwy (through), dan (under), i (to), wrth
(with,
by), o (of), hyd (to, till), heb (without), gan (with).
Example
Yan-ar-bumpit, Shepherd's notation for sixteen.
Rule 4.
Nouns adopt lenition after the possessive pronouns thy and his in Welsh,
Cornish, Breton, and therefore in ***bric also. (Welsh dy and ei, Cornish
dha and y, Breton da and e: Welsh 'th after a vowel, Cornish 'th after a
vowel, Breton 'az after a vowel.)
Rule 5
Nouns adopt lenition after two in Welsh, Cornish, Breton, and ***bric.
Example
Dotheck, Shepherd's notation for nineteen.
Rule 6
In Welsh and Cornish, and therefore in ***bric also, two adopts lenition
after the definite article.
Rule 7
In Welsh and Breton, and therefore in ***bric also, feminine nouns adopt
lenition after the numeral one. In Cornish masculine nouns adopt lenition
after one and the indefinite article.
Rule 8
Nouns in Welsh, Cornish, and Breton, and therefore in ***bric also, adopt
lenition after the adjective what.
Rule 9
Two nouns or an adjective and a noun can be joined together in ***bric to
form a single word.
Example
Ogilvie (*ochilfa or highplace), Mellor (*mailvre or baldhill).
Rule 10
Nouns and verbs adopt lenition after most prefixes in Welsh, Cornish,
Breton, and therefore in ***bric also.
Example
Larbet, earlier lethberth (*leddberth semi-bush).
Rule 11
Adjectives in Welsh, Cornish, and Breton, and therefore in ***bric also,
adopt lenition after feminine singular nouns.
Example
Ecclefechan (*ecles fechan, littlechurch), Drumburgh, earlier Dromboc
(*drum
bach, small ridge)
Rule 12
In medieval Welsh verbs after the pronoun e meaning it adopt lenition.
This
same rule applies in ***bric despite the fact that this rule does not
occur
in any other P-Celtic language. This rule has been adopted from Welsh for
grammatical reasons.
Rule 13
Welsh and Cornish verbs, and therefore in ***bric also, adopt lenition
after
the interrogative particle A.
Rule 14
Welsh and Cornish verbs, and therefore in ***bric also, adopt lenition
after
the relative pronouns a and na.
Rule 15
Welsh and Cornish verbs, and therefore in ***bric also, adopt lenition
after
the conjunction when.
Rule 16
Verbs in Cornish and Breton adopt lenition after the negative particle,
but
in Welsh all verbs adopt lenition except verbs that begin with C, P, T.
***bric follows Welsh usage on the presumption that ***bric is closer to
Welsh that to Cornish and Breton.
Rule 17
Welsh verbs adopt lenition after the infinite particle yn. It is presumed
that because of the ease with which the ***bric poems of Taliesin and
Aneirin were translated into Welsh that the same rule applies in ***bric.
8. Aspirate Mutation in ***bric.
C
CH
P
F
T
TH
Rule 1
In Cornish and Breton words following the first singular possessive
pronouns
adopt aspirate mutation, but in Welsh they adopt nasal mutation. No
example
of nasal mutation exists in ***bric but examples of aspirate foundation
exist in ***bric place-names, therefore ***bric follows Cornish and Breton
usage.
Rule 2
Words following the feminine third possessive pronoun singular adopt
aspirate mutation in Welsh and Cornish, and therefore in ***bric also,
adopt
aspirate mutation.
Rule 3
Welsh and Cornish nouns and therefore ***bric nouns also, adopt aspirate
mutation after the comparative particle NA, which is used with adjectives
of
comparison.
Rule 4
Welsh and Cornish words and therefore ***bric words also, following three
adopt aspirate mutation. Welsh words following six, adopt aspirate
mutation
but there is no need to adopt this usage in ***bric.
9. Sharp Mutation
B
P
D
T
G
C
GW
CW
Rule 1
Cornish and Breton words that follow if (mar, ma), and ***bric words also,
adopt sharp mutation. Welsh words following if (mar) adopt lenition.
10. Personal Pronouns
English
Welsh
Cornish
Breton
***bric
I
fi, i
my, fy
me
mi, i
thou, thee
ti
ti, sy
te
ti
he, him
ef
ef
en
ef
she, her
hi
hy, y
hi
hi
we, us
ni
ny
ni
ni
you, ye
chwi
why
c'hwi
chwi
they, them
hwy
y
int
hwi
11. Possessive Pronouns
English
Welsh
Cornish
Breton
***bric
my
fy,'m
ow(m)
ma
my, 'm
thy, thine
dy, 'th
dha, 'th
da, 'az
dy, 'th
his
ei, 'i, 'w
y
e
ai, 'i, 'w
her, hers
ei, 'i, 'w
y
e
ai, 'i, 'w
our, ours
ein, 'n
agan
ma
ain, 'n
your, yours
eich, 'ch
agas
ho
aich. 'ch
their, theirs
eu, 'u, 'w
aga
e
ai, 'w
As in Welsh the ***bric possessive pronouns become 'm, 'th, 'i, 'n, 'ch,
and
'u after a (and), and o (from), and ai become 'w after i (to). My and dy
are
followed by soft mutation in ***bric
..
12. Pronoun Objects
When the pronoun is the object of the verb particles are employed.
hi a-walth ef
she sees him
ef e-gwalth hi
him, sees she
ef a-walth hi
he sees her
hi e-gwalth ef
her, sees he
13. Demonstrative Pronouns
English
Welsh
Cornish
Breton
***bric
this (m)
hwn
hemma
hemman
hon
this (f)
hon
hemma
homan
hon
these
hyn
hyn
that (m)
hwnnw
henna
hennezh
honno
that (f)
honno
henna
hennezh
honno
those
hynny
hynny
14. Demonstrative Adjectives
The definite article precedes the noun. In Cornish and Breton
demonstrative
adverb follows the noun.
English
Welsh
Cornish
Breton
***bric
this man
y dyn hwn
an den-ma
al den-man
yn dyn hon
this woman
yr wraig hon
an wrek-ma
an wreg-man
yr wraic hon
these people
y dynion hyn
an tus-ma
an tud-man
yn tudd hon
that man
y dyn hwnnw
an den-na
al den-se
yn dyn honno
that woman
yr wraig honno
an wrek-na
an wreg-se
yr wraic honno
those people
y dynion hynny
an tus-na
an tud-se
yn tudd hon
15. Demonstrative Adjectives without a Qualifying Noun
Demonstrative adjectives without a qualifying noun are made in the same
way
by using an indefinite article.
English
Welsh
Cornish
***bric
these (m)
y rhai hwn
an re-ma
y ra-ma
these (f)
y rhai yma
an re-ma
y ra-ma
those (m)
y rhai hyna
an re-na
y ra-na
those (f)
y rhai yna
an re-na
y ra-na
N.B. In Cornish and ***bric the levelling of the diphthong AI to E in the
case of Cornish and A in the case of ***bric occasions the disappearance
of
the preceding consonant. A levelling of y rhai hwn in Welsh to y ra-ma in
***bric follows the same linguistic rule that is responsible for the
Cornish
y re-ma.
16. The Demonstrative Adverb
English
Welsh
Cornish
Breton
***bric
here
yma
omma
eman
yma
there
yna
ena
eno (azo)
yna
The demonstrative adverb can also serve to answer to the English phrases,
"here is a.here are" and "there is a.there are." If the definite article
is
used ***bric, like Medieval Welsh and Cornish, uses the vocative, "Lo the
man" as in Medieval Welsh, "Wel y dyn", and in Cornish "Ot an den."
Because
of the mutation of short E to short A in ***bric the ***bric equivalent
is,
"Wal y dyn."
17. The Adverbial Particle
In Welsh, Cornish, and ***bric the adverbial particle yn is placed before
adjectives in order to turn them into adverbs, thus in Welsh drwg (bad)
and
da (good) become yn ddrwg and yn dda, Cornish drok and da become yn-trok
and
yn-ta, and so in ***bric drwc and da become yn ddrwc and yn dda.
18. Relative Pronouns
Welsh, Cornish, and ***bric translations into Welsh possess relative
pronouns that correspond to the English relative "that" and "which". In
positive sentences this relative pronoun is A before vowels and
consonants.
In negative sentences is NA before consonants but NAD in Welsh and NANS in
Cornish before vowels. The corresponding ***bric is NADD.
When a preposition or the genitive "whose" is used the relative
pronoun
Y is substituted for A in Welsh and the preposition is placed at the end
of
the sentence, thus on Welsh, "Dyma'r llyfr y darllenais y stori ynddo"
(Here
is the book which I read the story in it). Welsh "dyma" is a variant of
"yma," which means here or here is, and which corresponds to the Breton
"eman". this rule appears in Taliesin, for example;"Trist yd gwyn pob
colledig" or ""Sadly does every condemned one complain"; therefore it
appears in ***bric, hence, "Yma'r lyfr y darlenais y saga ynddo."
English
Welsh
***bric
the one
yr hwn
yr hon
that which
y neb
y nep
such ones
r rhai
y rai
either
y naill
y nail
who
pwy
pwy
what
pa
pa
which one
pa un
pa un
which ones
pa rhai
pa rai
how many
pa sol
pa sol
what place, where
why
pa le, ple
py
pa le, p'le
pa am. p'am
how are you
pa sut sydd
pa sut sydd, pa su'dd
In Welsh the relative pronoun pwy is followed by a special form of the
verb
to be, which is sydd, or sy for short. It is not necessary to use the
phrase
"pwy sydd" since "sydd" alone implies the interrogative pronoun "pwy".
Note
that in Welsh relative pronouns occasion the lenition of G, B, D and M,
and
the aspirate mutation of C, P. T. No example of aspirate lenition has been
discovered in ***bric place-names with the result that only the lenition
of
G,B, and D occurs after relative pronouns.
19. Reflexive Pronouns
20. Inflected Prepositional Pronouns
In Welsh the following prepositions are inflected by adopting the personal
pronoun, am (about), ar (upon), at ( towards), er (for), heb (without),
hyd
(until), i (to), idd (into), han (from), can (with), o (from), odd (from),
tan (under), tros (over), trwy (through), oddiar (from upon), odditan
(from
beneath), rhag (before), rhwng (among), wrth (by), and yn (in). ***bric
follows Old Welsh, Cornish, and Breton usage. The Old Welsh inflection
found
in the third person plural appears in Taliesin, "Deuddeg meib Israel a
thair
mam iddu onaddu y doeth rhad a geisidydd mad." (The twelve sons of Israel
and three mothers to thee from them there came a blessing."
English
Welsh
Old Welsh
Cornish
Breton
***bric
in me
ynddof
ynof
ynnof
ennon
ynof
in thee
ynddot
ynot
ynnes
ennout
ynoth
in him
ynddo
yno
ynno
ennan
yno
in her
ynddi
yni
ynny
enni
yni
in us
ynddem
ynem
ynnon
ennomp
ynem
in you
ynddoch
ynoch
ynnough
enno'ch
ynoch
in them
ynddynt
ynu
ynna
enno
ynu
The Old Welsh inflection
English
Welsh
Old Welsh
Cornish
Breton
***bric
to me
imi
imi
dhem (mo)
din
imi
to thee
iti
iti
dhes (so)
dit
iti
to him
iddo
iddo
dhodhno
dezhan
iddo
to her
iddi
iddi
dhedhy
dezhi
iddi
to us
ini
ini
dhen
deomp
ini
to you
ichwi
ichwi
dheugh
deoc'h
ichwi
to them
iddynt
iddynt
dhedha
dezho
iddynt
English
Welsh
Old Welsh
Cornish
Breton
***bric
upon me
arnaf
arnaf
warnaf
warnon
arnaf
upon thee
arnat
arnat
warned
warnout
arnath
upon him
arno
arno
warnodhe
warnan
arno
upon her
arni
arni
warnedhy
warni
arni
upon us
arnom
arnom
warnan
warnomp
arnom
upon you
arnoch
arnoch
warnough
warnoc'h
arnoch
upon them
arnynt
arnu
warnedha
warno
arnu
English
Welsh
Old Welsh
Cornish
Breton
***bric
with me
gennyf
gennyf
genen
ganin
gennyf
with thee
gennyt
gennyt
genes
ganit
gennyt
with him
ganddo
ganddo
ganso
gantan
ganddo
with her
ganddi
ganddi
gansy
ganti
ganddi
with us
gennym
gennym
genen
ganeomp
gennym
with you
gennych
gennych
genough
ganeoc'h
gennych
with them
ganddynt
ganddu
gansa
ganto
gandu
Am, such as in amdanaf for about me, adopts the preposition tan when
inflected. Some prepositions, such as uch or above are not inflected at
all.
English
Welsh
Old Welsh
Cornish
Breton
***bric
above me
uch i
uch i
uch i
above thee
uch ti
uch ti
uch ti
above him
uch ef
uch ef
uch ef
above her
uch hi
uch hi
uch hi
above us
uch ni
uch ni
uch ni
above you
above them
uch chwy
uch hwy
uch chwy
uch hwy
uch chwy
uch hwy
21. The Syntax of Adjectives
In Prythonic adjectives preceded the noun, as in some early ***bric
place-names, but adjectives later began to follow the noun in all P-Celtic
languages. In Welsh there are a few exceptions, such as hen (old) and
uchel
(high). With regard to uchel, this is confirmed in ***bric by the ***bric
place-name Ochilv
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