CHAPTER VII—THE PRONOUNS

§ 1. The Personal Pronouns.

There are four forms of the Personal pronouns. These forms are used under various circumstances, but they are mostly reducible to a single letter with or without its vowel for each person, the variations depending upon (_a_) the _state_ of that letter, and (_b_) whether the vowel is placed before or after it. The vowel is elided in some cases, and coalesces with another vowel in others.

1. As the subject of a verb and preceding it.

2. As the subject or object of a verb and following it. This is for some pronouns the same as the first form, for others the first form with its initial in the second state.

3. As the object of a verb, but placed between a particle ending in a vowel and the verb. This form is used also for possessive pronouns of the first and second persons singular when they are preceded by the conjunction _ha_, and, or by a preposition ending in a vowel, or by _en_, in.

4. In composition with a preposition, and for forming the persons of an inflected tense of a verb.

In the first and second the consonant is followed by a vowel. In the third and fourth the consonant ends the word.

1. The First Person Singular. English, _I_ or _me_. Letter _M_ (_V_).

1st form. _mî_. _mî a vedn_, I will.

2nd form. _vî_. _gwith vî_, keep me.

3rd form. ’_m_. _neb a’m gwrîg_, he who made me.

4th form. ’_m_ or ’_v_. _genev_, with me; _dhem_, to me; _carav_, I love.

The compounds of pronoun and preposition are written as one word, without an apostrophe, as the form of the preposition also is often affected by the composition. A list of these will be found later on, as they present some irregularities.

2. The Second Person Singular. English, _thou_ or _thee_. Letter _T_ (_D_).

1st form. _tî_ (pronounced nearly _tî a vedn_, thou wilt. _chee_, and sometimes so written).

2nd form. _dî_ (often written _sy_ or _menjes dî_, thou _gy_ in the older MSS., and wouldst. pronounced _jee_, nearly).

3rd form. ’_th_ (often ’_d_ in the _mî a’th bes_, I pray older MSS.). This is thee, _re’th tynerchys_, followed by the second state hath greeted thee of the initial, or in the (_Passion_, 115, 2). case of _d_ by the fourth.

4th form. ’_s_. _genes_, with thee.

3. The Third Person Singular, masculine. English, _he_ or _him_. Letter _V_ or _N_, or a vowel.

1st form. _ev_ (with the _v_ _ev a vedn_, he will. very lightly sounded, and often silent. The older form is _ef_).

2nd form. _ev_ or _e_. _menja ev_, he would.

3rd form. ’_n_. _mî a’n pes_, I pray him.

This form is commonly used in the earlier MSS. It represents an accusative _en_ or _hen_ which still exists in Breton. In more recent Cornish, with the frequent use of the auxiliary form of the verb, where the pronominal object precedes the infinitive in its possessive form, this construction became unusual.

4th form. ’_o_. _enno_, in him, _ganso_, with him. In this form several words have an inserted _dh_ between the preposition and the pronoun. _Ragdho_, for him, _dhôdho_, to him, not _rago_, _dhôo_. A similar euphonic _dh_ occurs in the case of the third persons feminine and plural.

4. Third Person Singular, feminine. English, _she_, _her_. Letter _H_, _S_, or a vowel.

1st form. _hŷ_. _hŷ a vedn_, she will.

2nd form. _hŷ_. _a medh hŷ_, said she.

3rd form. ’_s_. _mî a’s henow_, I name her. This form is rarely found in the later MSS. Either the possessive _î_ or the form _hŷ_ (the latter often put after the verb) was used, in the rare cases of this construction.

4th form. ’_î_. _gensî_, with her; _dhedhî_, to her.

5. First Person Plural. English, _we_, _us_. Letter _N_.

1st form. _nŷ_. _nŷ a vedn_, we will.

2nd form. _nŷ_. _na_, _blamyough nŷ_, do not blame us.

3rd form. ’_n_. _ev a’n doro_, he will bring us. This form, perhaps owing to its being the same as the 3rd form of the third person singular, is rare even in the older MSS. The possessive ’_gan_ (for _agan_) is generally used instead of it, _ev a_ ’_gan doro_.

4th form. ’_n_, preceded by _ragon_, for us; _genen_, almost any vowel. with us; _dhen_, to us; _warnan_, on us.

6. Second Person Singular. English, _you_. Letter, _Wh_, _Gh_, or _S_.

1st form. _whŷ_. _whŷ a vedn_, you will.

2nd form. _whŷ_. _nî wreugh whŷ_, you do not.

3rd form. ’_s_. _ev a’s doro_, he will bring you. This form is very rare even in the older MSS. The possessive ’_gas_ (for _agas_) is generally used instead.

4th form: ’_ugh_. _genough_, with you; _dheugh_, to you.

7. Third Person Plural. English, _they_, _them_.

1st form. _ŷ_, _jŷ_, _an _ŷ a vedn_, _jŷ a vedn_, jŷ_. or _an jŷ a vedn_, they This last is the regular will. form in the latest Cornish. In the earlier MSS. _y_ only is used for _they_; later _an gy_ or _an dzhei_ (as Lhuyd writes it) became usual. It is only found in the MSS. of the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century, and probably originated in a wrong division of words. The third person plural of most inflected tenses of verbs ends in _ons_, _ans_, _ens_. If the pronoun were added, this would take the form of _ons ŷ_, etc., as in _carons ŷ_ (_amant illi_), they love, and the usual pronunciation of _s_ would soon bring this combination to _caronjy_, which is easily divided into _car onjy_. The compound preposition form in later Cornish often ended in _ans_, followed or not followed by the 1st or 2nd form of the pronoun. Thus in Jordan’s _Creation_ (1611) we find _anodhans y_ (from them) for an older _anodhe_. This would give an additional reason for the confusion.

2nd form. _ŷ_. _medhons ŷ_ (often written _medh an jy_), said they.

3rd form. ’_s_. _mî a’s agor_, I will open them.

4th form. ’_ns_, _e_. _dhodhans_, to them; _gensans_ or _genjans_, with them.

The form in _e_ is older (_dhethe_, _ganse_, etc.), but became obsolete by the middle of the seventeenth century. It will have been seen:—

1. That the first and second persons singular are the only ones which possess the four separate forms complete.

2. That the second form of all but these two persons is usually the same as the first form.

3. That the third form is not much used in later Cornish except for the same two persons.

It may also be noted that though the full and emphatic pronunciation of _hŷ_, _nŷ_, _whŷ_, and _jŷ_ is that of the English words _high_, _nigh_, _why_, and the first syllable of _jibe_, when, as is often the case, there is no emphasis of any sort on them, the same thing happens to them as commonly happens in rapid speech in English to the word _my_, and the _y_ ceases to have the sound of _î_ English, but has the sound of a short (not obscure) _e_ English. Thus in the common Cornish “Thank you,” _mêr_ ’_ras dhô whŷ_, which is sounded as one word, _merásdhawhy_, the _y_ has the short sound which the same letter usually has at the end of a word. But it might happen otherwise. Thus the following sentences are within the experience of most of us at the end of some simple commercial transaction:—

Customer (carelessly, having received the article and paid the money), “Thánk you.”

Shopkeeper (in a half-reproving tone), “Thank _you_, sir.”

In Cornish the customer would say “_Merásdkawhy_,” in the ordinary tone, but the shopkeeper might answer “_Merasdha whý_, _sira_,” and would sound the pronoun like the English word _why_, unless, being a good Cornish speaker, he preferred to say “_Mêr_ ’_ras dhô_ ’_gas honan_” (Thanks to yourself).

The same principle applies to _hŷ_, _nŷ_, and _an jŷ_, but less with the last, which is generally treated as a dissyllable with the accent on the last syllable.

§ 2. The Possessive Pronouns.

1. First Person Singular. English, _my_.

_ow_, governing the third state.

When the initial of the noun has no third state, _ow_ governs the first state:—

_ow thâs_, my father; _ow gwlas_, my country.

After a preposition ending in a vowel, after _en_, in, changed to _e_, or after the conjunction _ha_, and, _my_ is generally represented by ’_m_, which governs the first state:—

_dhô’m tâs_, to my father; _ha’m tâs_, and my father.

_e’m corf_, in my body.

Sometimes in these cases the preposition or conjunction is combined with _ow_. This is especially common in Jordan’s play of _The Creation_. The initial, if possible, is then in the third state:—

_me haw mab_, I and my son; _thow thas_, to my father.

2. Second Person Singular. English, _thy_.

_dha_ (older form _dhe_, _dhy_), governing the second state:—

_dha dâs_, thy father.

After a preposition ending in a vowel, after _en_, or after _ha_, _thy_ is represented by ’_th_, generally governing the second state, but sometimes, when the initial following it is _d_, the fourth.

_dhô’th dâs_, to thy father; _ha_ ’_th dâs_, and thy father.

_e_ ’_th gorf_, in thy body; _a_ ’_th trôk_ (_R_._D_., 1730), from thy evil.

Very often these mutations were not written in the Dramas. In later Cornish this form was not always used, but one often finds _dhô dha_, _ha dha_, _en dha_, etc. instead.

3. Third Person Singular, masculine. English, _his_.

_e_ (older form _y_), governing the second state.

This, altered to _y_, coalesces with a preposition ending in a vowel, forming a diphthong, which is written with an apostrophe between the two vowels. It still governs the second state:—

_e dâs_, his father; _dhô’y_ (pron. _dhoy_) _dâs_, to his father; _ha’y dâs_, and his father.

4. Third Person Singular, feminine; English, _her_.

_î_, governing the third state, or when there is no third state, the first. It coalesces with prepositions ending in a vowel and with _ha_ in the same way as the masculine:—

_î thâs_, her father; _î gwlas_, her country; _ha’i thâs_, and her father.

In the earlier MSS. both these possessive pronouns were written _y_, the only distinction being in the initial mutation which followed. In the later MSS. _î_ is often written _e_.

5. First Person Plural. English, _our_.

_agan_, governing the first state:—

_agan tâs_, our father.

6. Second Person Plural. English, _your_.

_agas_, governing the first state:—

_agas tâs_, your father.

7. Third Person Plural. English, _their_.

_aga_, governing the third, or failing that, the first state:—

_aga thâs_, their father; _aga gwlas_, their country.

When preceded by a preposition ending in a vowel or by _ha_, the three plural possessive pronouns lose their initial _a_:—

_dhô_ ’_gas_, _ha_ ’_gan_, etc.

The _a_ of the last syllable of _agan_, _agas_, _aga_ is obscure, and is often found represented by _e_, _o_, or _u_ in the MSS. Even when not preceded by a vowel these words are often found as _gan_, _gas_, _ga_ (_gun_, _gen_, _gon_, _gus_, _guz_, _ges_, _go_).

When a pronoun is the object of a verb in the infinitive or of a verb formed with the auxiliary verbs _gwîl_, to do, _menny_, to will, etc. and an infinitive, the pronoun-object is represented by the possessive pronoun preceding and governing (as to initial mutation) this infinitive:—

_ev a wrîg ow tholla_, he did deceive me.

_mî a vedn e grejy_, I will believe it.

_mî a wrîg agas danvon_, I did send you.

The reason of this is that in Cornish, as in the other Celtic languages, the infinitive is counted as a verbal noun, signifying _the act of doing_. This conception of the infinitive explains many Celtic constructions. The literal force of the above examples would be “he did (or made) the deceiving of me,” “I will the believing of it,” “I did the sending of you.” Similarly, when the object is a noun, it really follows the infinitive as an appositional genitive.

Frequently the second form of the corresponding personal pronoun follows a noun preceded by a possessive pronoun. This ought to be for emphasis, and, when it is so, the sound of the personal pronoun would be its full sound; but it is frequently merely redundant, and then it is enclitic, forming as it were an unaccented additional syllable tacked on to the noun:—

_agan Tâs ny_, Our Father (nearly ’_gun Tázny_).

_dhô_ ’_m brodar vî_, to my brother.

_agas levar why_, your book.

_herlya yu_ ’_gan gwary ny_, hurling is our sport.

The last sentence is a good example of possible pronunciations. If it is an independent statement, the phrase emphasis being on _hurling_ and _sport_, it would be accented _hérlya yugan guaryny_. If, however, we wish to say that hurling is _our_ sport but football is _yours_ (_herlya yu_ ’_gan gwary nŷ_, _mes pella-drôs yu_ ’_gas gwary whŷ_), the second phrase-emphasis would be on _nŷ_ and _whŷ_, and they would be sounded as the English words _nigh_ and _why_.

Sometimes the personal pronoun as a genitive following the noun, with or without the preposition _a_, of, was used instead of a possessive pronoun, but in this case it was probably not enclitic. Thus in a letter in verse by John Boson, in the Gwavas MS., dated 1710, we find:—

_Ma goz screfa compaz_, _den fir o_ (for _a_) _vî_, your writing is correct, my wise man, or, wise man of me.

And in a song by John Tonkin of St. Just in the same MS., the probable date of which is about 1700, we find:—

_An Prounter ni ez en Plew East_, our parson who is in the parish of St. Just.

Or perhaps more correctly in a copy of one verse of this song in the Borlase MS.:—

_Prounter nei (ez_) _en pleu Est_,

for the article _an_ before a noun followed by an appositional genitive seems incorrect, though one finds in the earliest known version of the Lord’s Prayer, given in John Davies’s Welsh translation of Robert Parsons’ _Booke of Christian Exercise_ (1632), _An Tas ni_, though this may be a mistake for _agan_. In the song quoted above one finds also:—

_Dewe reffa sowia an eglez ni_, _Ha an prounterian da eze et an gy_, God save our churches and the good parsons that are in them. And in Boson’s version of the Commandments we find _gwitha gerrio ve_ for “keep my commandments.”

§ 3. Pronominal Prepositions.

The prepositional form of the pronouns may be applied to almost any preposition, but there are a certain number of common cases in which the prepositions are modified by the composition, vowels being altered or letters being inserted between the preposition and this fragmentary pronoun, either for euphony or as survivals of archaic forms of the preposition or pronoun. The most usual of these modified forms occur in the composition of the prepositions _a_, of or from, _dre_, through, _gans_, with, _dhŏrt_ (earlier _dheworth_ and _adheworth_, Welsh _oddiwrth_), from, _orth_ (or _worth_), at, to, _rag_, for, _dhô_, to, _war_, upon, _en_ or _idn_, in.

_ahanav_, from me. _dredhov_, through me.

_ahanas_, from thee. _dredhos_, through thee.

_anodho_, from him. _dredho_, through him.

_anedhi_, from her. _dredhi_, through her.

_ahanan_, from us. _dredhon_, through us.

_ahanough_, from you. _dredhough_, through you.

_anodhans_, from them. _dredhans_, through them.

Other instances are:—

_genev_, _dhortam_, _orthev_, _ragov_, _dhem_, _warnav_.

_genes_, _dhortas_, _orthes_, _ragos_, _dhes_, _warnas_.

_ganso_, _dhorto_, _orto_, _ragdho_, _dhôdho_, _warnodho_.

_gensi_, _dhorti_, _orti_, _ragdhi_, _dhedhi_, _warnedhi_.

_genen_, _dhorten_, _orthen_, _ragon_, _dhen_, _warnan_.

_genough_, _dhortough_, _orthough_, _ragough_, _dheugh_, _warnough_.

_gensans_, _dhortans_, _ortans_, _ragdhans_, _dhodhans_, _warnodhans_.

and—

_ennov_ or _idnov_ or _ettov_.

_ennos_ or _idnos_ or _ettos_.

_enno_ or _idno_ or _etto_.

_enni_ or _idni_ or _etti_.

_ennon_ or _idnon_ or _etton_.

_ennough_ or _idnough_ or _ettough_.

_ennans_ or _idnans_ or _ettans_.

There are many various spellings of these words in the manuscripts, and especially there is great uncertainty as to the vowel which precedes the pronominal suffix. As the accent is always on the preposition, the vowel of the pronoun is usually obscure, and there is not so very much difference of sound in the last syllables of _dredhov_, _genev_, and _warnav_, but still there is a slight difference, and there must have been even more in early days.

The older form of the third person plural ended in _e_ or _a_, _anedha_, _dredha_, _ganse_, _orte_, _ragdha_, _dhedhe_, _warnedhe_, _ynna_; but this form became obsolete by the middle of the seventeenth century, and these pronominal prepositions were assimilated to the third person plural of verbs. In this the Cornish began by resembling Breton and ended by approaching more nearly to Welsh.

The pronominal preposition form of _dhô_ has variants for the first and second persons singular and first person plural, _dhemmo_, to me, _dheso_, _dheso dî_, to thee, and _dhenny_, to us. These are formed by the addition of the personal pronoun in a fuller form. In the cases of the other prepositions it is not uncommon to add the personal pronouns at the end of the pronominal compound, forming thereby a single word with the accent on the last syllable. Thus:—

_genev vî_, with me, pronounced _genavî_.

_genough whŷ_, with you, pronounced _genowhŷ_.

_ragon nŷ_, for us, pronounced _ragonŷ_.

In later Cornish these pronominal prepositions compounds were often neglected, and the prepositions were often used with the second form of the personal pronoun, but this was only a corrupt following of English, not to be imitated.

§ 4. The Relative Pronoun.

1. A simple relative, who or which, whether in the nominative or accusative, is represented most frequently by the particle _a_, governing the second state of the verb. Thus:—

_An Tâs a wrîg Nêv_, the Father who made heaven.

_An Nêv a wrîg an Tâs e_, the Heaven which the Father made.

If the verb following the relative begins with a vowel, _a_ is often omitted. Thus:—

_Ow thîs es genev_, my people who are with me.

If the relative sentence is negative, _ni_, not, coalesces with _a_, producing _na_. Thus:—

_En le na vê dên bisqweth_, in a place in which man never was.

When the relative is the object of the verb, or is preceded in English by a preposition, a redundant personal pronoun is added after the verb, with or without a combined preposition, but a preposition is never placed before the relative particle _a_ itself. Thus:—

_An dên a dhanvonas Dew e_, the man whom God sent (lit. whom God sent him).

_An dên a vê an gêr cowses ganso_, the man by whom the word was spoken (lit. whom the word was spoken by him).

2. _Neb_ (earlier _nep_, and in late Cornish sometimes _leb_) is also used as a relative, with similar construction to that of _a_ in the objective or prepositional condition. Properly it includes the antecedent, and should mean _he who_, _those who_, _that which_, _those whom_, etc., but it is commonly used as a simple relative, especially in late Cornish. Thus:—

_Agan Tâs ny neb es en Nêv_, Our Father who art in heaven, in one of the many extant versions of the Lord’s Prayer.

Another version is _Agan Tâs ny leb es en Nêv_.

_Dhe_ [_tî_] _nep yu ioy ow holon_, thou who art the joy of my heart (_Res. Dom._, 456).

_An dên neb na’n gwrîg_, the man who did not do it.

_Neb yu moyha_, he who is greatest.

_An dên neb Dew a wrîg e dhanvon_, the man whom God did send.

_An dên neb an gêr a rê cowses ganso_, the man by whom the word was spoken.

_Neb mî e wrîg ragdho_, for whom I did it (lit. whom I did it for him).

But, unlike _a_, _neb_ can have a preposition before it on occasions, with or without the redundant pronoun. Thus:—

_Chŷ en neb na vê dên vîth_ (_enno_), a house in which no man was.

§ 5. The Demonstrative Pronouns.

1. Absolute. _Hem_, _hebma_ (orig. _hemma_), this, masculine; _hom_, _hobma_ (_homma_), feminine.

_Hen_, _hedna_ (ong. _henna_), that, masculine; _hon_, _hodna_ (_honna_), feminine.

_An remma_ (=_an re-ma_) is used also for the plural _these_, _an renna_ for _those_.

2. In agreement. _An_—_ma_, this, these, e.g. _an bês-ma_, this world.

_An_—_na_, that, those, e.g. _an dên-na_, that man.

The noun is placed between _an_ and _ma_ or _na_, the latter being joined to it by a hyphen. In some cases when the noun ends in a vowel the _m_ of _ma_ is doubled, and the noun and demonstrative are written as one word:—

_an dremma_, this town (for _an dre-ma_); _an chymma_, this house (for _an chŷ-ma_); _alemma_, hence (for _a le-ma_), from this place.

The same applies to the _n_ of _na_.

When the noun is preceded by a preposition, _an_ is omitted: _war venedh-ma_, on this mountain, not _war an menedh-ma_.

For emphasis, _keth_ (same) is added after _an_: _an keth dên-ma_, this very man, this same man.

In very late Cornish, _hebma_, _hobma_, _hedna_, _hodna_ were often corrupted into _hebba_, _hobba_, _hedda_, _hodda_.

In the _Life of St_._ Meriasek_, _helma_ and _holma_ are used for _this_, and it is easy to imagine _helna_ and _holna_ for _that_. The explanation suggested in Dr. Whitley Stokes’s note is “_helma_=_hen lemma_, this in this place.” Cf. “this here” and “that there” of vulgar English.

§ 6. The Interrogative Pronouns.

_Pyu_ or _pyua_ (written also _pu_, _piwa_, _pew_), who? A contraction of _pe yu_, who is? or, _pe yu a_, who is it who?

_Pa_, what?

_Pandra_ (i.e. _pa an dra_, what the thing), what? e g. _pandra vednough why gwîl_, what will you do?

_Panin_ (i.e. _pa an in_, which the one), whether of them?

_Penîl_ (i.e. _pa nîl_, which of the two), which one?

§ 7. The Indefinite Pronouns.

_Nep_, _neb_, some or any.

_Neppeth_, somewhat (_neb peth_, some thing), anything.

_Nebin_ (_neb idn_), some one.

_Nebas_, somewhat, a little, a few; also used to signify little, few, or hardly any.

_Pyupennak_ (sometimes _bennak_), whoever.

_Pa_ (or _pandra_) _pennak_, whatever.

_Papennak ŏl_, whatsoever.

_Ketep_, every.

_Kenifer_, each; _kenifer ŏl_, every one, as many as there are. Lhuyd gives a very emphatic form, _pebs kenifer ŏnen_, which would mean “every single one.”

_Pŭb_ or _peb_, all, every. Placed before the noun. _Pŭb dên_, every man.

_Ŏl_ (or _ŭl_), all. Placed before or after the noun. When placed before the noun the latter is preceded by _an_: _ŏl an dîs_, all the people.

_Bîth_ or _vîth_, any; _travîth_, anything; _dên vîth_, any man. With negatives it signifies _at all_; _ni wôr dên vîth_, no man at all knoweth; _nynsyw travîth_, there is nothing at all.

_Mens_ (earlier _myns_), all, whatever; _ŏl mens o_, all that there was; _cowsens dên mens a vedn_, let a man say all that he will. It is generally used as a relative combined with the antecedent “all,” but is also used without an expressed verb to follow it, though in such case probably the verb substantive is understood.

_Kemmes_, _kebmes_, as many as, whosoever; _kemmes a wrîg bodh ow Thas_, as many as have done the will of my Father.

_Nîl_ or _an nîl_ and _e gîla_ (formerly _nyl_ and _y gyle_) signify “the one” and “the other.” _Nîl_, originally _an ail_, the second, a word which, except in this case, has dropped out of Cornish in favour of _secund_ and _nessa_ (=the next), though it remains in Welsh and Breton, signifies “one of two”; _e gîla_ (once _y gyle_ or _y gele_) literally signifies “his fellow,” from _e_, his, and _kîla_ (formerly _kyle_), fellow, companion. Thus:—

_Voz_ [_bes_] _an Frenkock feen parrez tho_ [_dhó_] _cummeraz telhar wara niel_ [_war an nîl_] _ha an sousenack nobla war e gilla_, for the fine French seems to take place upon the one [_i_._e_. on Breton] and the nobler English on the other [_i_._e_. Cornish] (from _Nebbaz Gerriau dro tho Carnoack_, by John Boson, _circ_. 1700).

The same expression occurs in the early Dramas, e.g. _an nyl a delle pymp cans_, _ha hanter cans y gyle_, the one owed five hundred and half a hundred the other.

_Aral_, other, plural _erel_, is sometimes used for _e gîla_. It is the usual word for _other_ or _another_: _dên aral_, another man.

Another form occasionally used in Cornish for either gender, though in Breton it is only used for the regular feminine of _e gîla_ (_e gile_) is _eben_, older form _yben_:—

_Heys Crist a gemeras a’n neyll lêf bys yn yben_ (_Poem of Passion_, 178), the length of Christ they took from one hand to the other.

_Ken_ is also used for _another_:—

_Dhe ken pow_, to another country; _yn ken lyu_, in another colour.

_Nanîl_, neither one, neither of two; it is _nîl_ with the negative, and is sometimes written _noniel_. Boson uses it in a peculiar way:—

_Nanagu_ [_na nag yu_] _an pobel coth tho bose skoothez_, _war noniel_, nor are the old people to be depended upon neither.

_Panîl_, “which of two” (see above), is compounded with _pa_, which, and _nîl_.

_Lîas_, many, is used, like a numeral, with a substantive in the singular: _lîas dôrn_, many hands.

_Re_, some (see § 5), “ones,” “things,” is used also as a noun: _an re marow_, the dead; _an re bîan_, the little ones; _ma re a lavar_, there are some who say. Cf. Welsh _rhai_; Breton _re_.

_Radn_ or _ran_, part, is also used in the sense of “some.”

_Honan_, self, is used with possessive pronouns as in English: _ow honan_, myself; _dha honan_, thyself, &c.