Page:A handbook of the Cornish language; Chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature.djvu/136

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THE VERB IN GENERAL 117 In these two sentences, wra and wrig are proclitics, unaccented syllables joined in sound to the word which follows. Mar qwressa an den cara, if the man would love. Gwra cara, love thou (do thou love) ; gwreugh why cara, love ye. Gwrens e bos, let him be. (b). Menny is used as an auxiliary of the future and conditional. In principal affirmative sentences it is usually in its impersonal form, in negative, interroga- tive, or dependent sentences always in its inflected form. Thus : Mi a vedn mos, I will go. Mi a venja mos, I would go. A vednough why mos ? will you go ? (c). Gaily is used, chiefly in the present and preterite, for "can" and "could," but also for "may" and "might." Thus: Mi a el mos, I can (or may) go. Mi a alja mos, I could (or might) go. (d). GSdhvos in the present is sometimes used for " can." Thus : Mi or mos, I can go (lit. I know [how] to go). These follow the same rule as the others with regard to the use of their impersonal and inflected forms. (e). Bo s, to be, as an auxiliary, is used, much as in English, with the present or past participle, to form the continuous present, the continuous past, and the passive. It is generally used in the inflected form in its present and imperfect in any sort of sentence, but in principal affirmative sentences it is generally used in the impersonal form for other tenses. It can also be used with gwil or menny and gaily as an auxiliary