Chapter 7

§ 1. The definite article _the_ is _an_, for all numbers and genders. When the noun that follows is _feminine_ and _singular_, or _masculine_ and _plural_, its initial, if mutable, is in the second state. If it is _masculine_ and _singular_, or _feminine_ and _plural_, the initial is in the first state. {73}

When the article _an_ is preceded by a preposition or conjunction, and sometimes by other words, ending in a vowel, the article loses its vowel and is written ’_n_. Thus:—

_Dên_, man, masc. sing.; _an dên_, the man. _dhô’n dên_, to the man.

_Benen_, woman, fem. sing.; _an venen_, the woman. _dhô’n venen_, to the woman.

_Tassow_, fathers, masc. plur.; _an dassow_, the fathers. _dhô’n dassow_, to the fathers.

_Benenes_, women, fem. plur.; _an benenes_, the women. _dhô’n benenes_, to the women.

The apostrophe is not written for the elided _a_ of _an_ in the MSS., but the preposition and article appear as one word, _dhôn_, _dren_, _han_, etc., for _to the_, _by the_, _and the_, etc. But it is better to write it, to avoid confusion, especially between _a’n_, from the, and the simple article, _an_. There are certain cases of contraction which have been accepted as single words, and in these the apostrophe is not used. Thus _pandra_ (=_pa an dra_, “what (is) the thing?” _i.e._ “what is it?”) is used for the interrogative “what?” but is never written _pa’n dra_. There are occasional further compounds of _pandra_, e.g. _pandrus_ (or _pendrus_)=_pa an dra es_, or _pandryu_=_pa an dra yu_, both meaning “what thing is?” _pandrama_=_pa an dra a wrama_, “what shall I do?” _pandrellen_=_pa an dra a wrellen_, “what should I do?”

As in the other Celtic languages, when a noun is followed by another noun in the possessive appositional genitive, the first noun has no definite article. Thus _chŷ an dên_, the house of the man, not _an chŷ an dên_. The same rule applies to a similar appositional genitive in Hebrew—a curious coincidence between two quite unconnected languages.

§ 2. The Indefinite Article.

As a rule a singular noun without any article expressed, except in the case of a noun followed by the appositional genitive, is considered to be in the indefinite state, and would be translated into English by a noun preceded by the indefinite article _a_ or _an_. But partly as a corrupt following of English or French, and partly for emphasis, denoting _a single one_ (like _yr un_ in Welsh), the word _a_ or _an_ is sometimes represented by _idn_ (earlier _un_), one. This is rare, especially in late Cornish. A similar indefinite article is common in Breton. Occasionally _idn_ or _un_ was used, as in Breton, with a verbal noun (or infinitive), to form what in English would be a present participle. _Yn un scolchye_, skulking, lit. in a skulking (_Passion_, 74, 2), _yn un garme_, shouting, crying out, lit. in a shouting (_Passion_, 168, 1), _yn un fystyne_, hastening, lit. in a hastening (_Passion_, 178, 1; 241, 4), but this construction is not found in late Cornish.