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496 THE BRYTHONIC LANGUAGES
<ʒ>, whereas <th> is more common in the Ordinalia. The English convention is espe-
cially apparent in the spelling of Middle English loanwords.
Table 11.4 The orthography of Middle Cornish
Phonemes Commonest grapheme (others in brackets)
Straightforward cases
/
I; ɛ; a/ y (i, e, ey); e; a (ay)
/ɔ; œ; y/ o (oy); u (ue, eu, e); u
/ɛj; aj; ɔj/ ey (y); ay (ey); oy
/iw; Iw; εw/ yw (ew); ew (yw); ew (eu, ev)
/aw; ɔw; yw/ aw (au, av); ow (ou, ov); ew (ev, u)
/j; w/ y; w
/jI/ ij in past participles
/p; t; b; d/ p; t; b; d
/kw; hw/ qu (qw); wh (w)
/f, θ, h/ f; th; h
/ð; x; tʃ/ th (ʒ); gh (h); ch
/m; n; l; r/ m; n; l; r
Seventeenth- century Late Cornish orthography (Table 11.5) looks very different. This is
principally because the Late Cornish writers (apart from Lhuyd, Keigwin and Tonkin)
were unfamiliar with the Middle Cornish texts, and so were uninfl uenced by them. Again,
they wrote using the English spelling conventions of the time, but after Lhuyd came to
Cornwall, they were sometimes infl uenced by his system, and wrote, for instance, Tîr
‘land’ rather than Teere, and diuadh ‘end’ instead of duath.
Cases which vary according to what follows
/k/ c (k) before a, o, u, l, r; k before e, i, y
/dʒ/ i (j) before a, o, u; g before e, i, y
/z/ s (as /dʒ/ before high front vowels)
Cases which vary according to stress
/o/ o (oy) stressed, u (o) unstressed
/u/ ou (ov) stressed, ou (o, u) unstressed
Cases which vary according to position
/i/ y (i) initially and medially, y fi nally
/g/ g initially and medially, k fi nally
/pp; tt; kk/ pp (p); tt (t); ck (k, kk) medially: p (pp); t (tt); k (ck) fi nally
/v/ v initially: v (f, u) medially: f (ff) fi nally
/ʃ/ sch (sh, s) initially: sc (s, ss, sch, sh) medially: sch fi nally
/mm; nn; ll; rr/ mm (m); nn; ll; rr medially: m; n; ll (l); r fi nally
CORNISH 497
Table 11.5 Correspondences between phonemes and graphemes in Late Cornish
Phonemes Lhuyd’s spelling Vernacular spelling
/iː eː aː ɔː uː/ î ê â ô û i, ee, ee- e e, ea, e- e a, a- e o, oa u, oo
/i e a ɔ u/ i e a
ɐ
u i e a o u
/ǝ/ y~ various, often u
/ej aj ɔj/ ei ai oi ey, i, i- e, y- e ay, ai oy, y
/iw εw aw ɔw/ iu¢¢ eu¢¢ au¢¢ ou¢ ew ew aw ow
/j w/ i u¢¢ y, i u, w
/p t k/ p t k p t c before a, o, u, l, r; k before e, i, y
/b d g/ b d g b d g, - k when unstressed
/f θ x s ss/ f th χ s ss f th h s ss
/v ð h z/ v dh h z v dh, th h z
/ʃ tʃ dʒ/ sh tsh dzh sh ch g, gg, j, dg
/m n l r/ m n l r m, mm n, nn l, ll r, rr
An idea of the differences between them is afforded by Figure 11.2, but these differences
refl ect more than just orthography. The versions in revived Cornish, and the Middle Cor-
nish orthography on which they are based, refl ect also an earlier phonology and syntax.
Because there were four historical orthographies, and none of them was fi xed (apart
from Lhuyd’s), some scholars have found it diffi cult to choose which spelling to use for
examples of individual words. In this chapter, examples from Middle Cornish are usually
given using the commonest spelling found in the Ordinalia, and those from Late Cornish
are often given in Lhuyd’s system. Also used, mainly in the sections on syntax and lexis,
is the system currently in widespread use in revived Cornish (Kernewek Kemmyn), dis-
tinguished by bold italic type.
Figure 11.2 Examples of Cornish orthography
(a) Middle Cornish (regularized)
yn termyn us passijs yth ese trygys yn S. Leven
den ha benen yn tyller crijs chy an horth
han whel a gothas scant hag yn meth an den then wrek
my a vyn mos the whylas whel the wul
ha why a yl dendyl agas bewnans omma
(b) Late Cornish (as written by Edward Lhuyd, 1707)
En termen ez passiez τera trigaz en St. Levan,
dên ha bennen en teller kreiez Tshei an hwr.
Ha an hu¢¢el a kỳδaz skent: Ha meδ an dên δ
ɐ
e u¢¢rêg:
me a vedn m
ɐ
z δ
ɐ
hu¢illaz hu¢¢el δ
ɐ
îl;
ha hu¢¢ei el dendel ‘gu¢z bounaz u¢¢bma.
(c) Late Cornish (as re- written from Lhuyd’s version by Boson)
En termen ez passiez thera Trigaz en St. Levan;
Dean ha Bennen en Tellar creiez chei a Horr.
Ha an Weale a Kothaz scant: ha meth a Dean da an wreag;
498 THE BRYTHONIC LANGUAGES
mee a ved’n moze Da whelaz weale da weele;
ha whi el dendel gose bounans obba.
(d) Revived Cornish (Unifi ed orthography of R. M. Nance, 1929)
Y’n termyn us passyes, yth- esa trygys yn Synt Leven
den ha benen, yn tyller cryes Chy an Horth.
Ha’n whel a- godhas scant; hag yn- meth an den dhe’n wrek,
‘My a- vyn mos dhe whylas whel dhe wul,
ha why a- yl dyndyl agas bewnans omma’.
(e) Revived Cornish (Kernewek Kemmyn)
Y’n termyn eus passys, yth esa trigys yn Sen Leven
den ha benyn, yn tyller kriys Chi an Hordh.
Ha’n hwel a goedhas skant; hag yn- medh an den dhe’n wreg:
‘My a vynn mos dhe hwilas hwel dhe wul,
ha hwi a yll dendil agas bywnans omma’.
(f) English translation (by R. M. Nance 1929)
In the time that is past, there were dwelling in St Levan
a man and a woman, in a place called Chyannor [House of the Ram].
And the work fell scarce; and said the man to the wife:
‘I will go to seek work to do,
and you can earn your living here’.
PHONOLOGY
Overview of the phonological history of Cornish
Lewis’ (1946) description of the sounds of Middle Cornish is too superfi cial and too infl u-
enced by Welsh to be very useful. For the sounds of Old Cornish, see Haywood (1982). A
detailed study of Cornish phonology has been made by the present author (George 1984,
1986a). The major developments are summarized in Table 11.6.
Table 11.6 Major developments in the phonological history of Cornish
Phase Development Date Did this happen in
Breton? Welsh?
PrimC > OldC internal i- affection c. 700 yes yes
svarabhakti c. 850 yes spoken
merger of /ui/ and /oi/ c. 900 partially no
shift of accent c. 1050 partially yes
OldC > MidC assibilation c. 1225 no no
MidC > LateC pre- occlusion c. 1575 no no
prosodic shift c. 1600 no no
Williams (1995) presented a view of Cornish phonology in which the prosodic shift (i.e.
the reduction of three vowel- lengths to two) was dated at least three centuries earlier than
in Table 11.6; he also suggested that pre- occlusion (i.e. the sound- changes [nn] > [dn] and
CORNISH 499
[mm] > [bm]) was dialectal. These unconventional views were contested by Dunbar and
George (1997), and shown to be unfounded by Chaudhri (2007).
Development of vowels and diphthongs from Primitive to Old Cornish
The system of vowels and diphthongs in Primitive Cornish, inherited from British and
therefore practically the same in Primitive Breton and Welsh, was as follows:
Vowels i- diphthongs u- diphthongs
/i/ /y/ /u/
⏐ /ui/ ⏐ /iu/
/I/
⏐ ⏐ /iu/
/e/ /ө/
⏐/ei/ /өi/ ⏐ /eu/ /өu/
/ɛ/ /O/
⏐ /ɛi/ /Oi/ ⏐ /ɛu/ /Ou/
/ω/
⏐ /ʊi/ ⏐ /ωu/
/a/
⏐ /ai/ ⏐ /au/
The following changes took place before the date of the principal Old Cornish text (Voca-
bularium Cornicum):
Internal i- affection, c. 700
In polysyllables, the occurrence of /i/, /I/, /e/, /ɵ/ or /j/ in a following syllable caused the
following changes in vowels in the preceding syllable: /e/ > /I/, /a/ > /e/, /o/ > /ɵ/, /u/ > /ɵ/.
Similar changes occurred in diphthongs. Examples are given in Table 11.7.
Svarabhakti in fi nal syllables, c. 850
An epenthetic vowel developed in words which ended in either:
a vowel + liquid or nasal consonant + /w/, e.g. ["marw] ‘dead’; or
b vowel + consonant + liquid or nasal consonant, e.g. ["ladr] ‘thief’.
The epenthetic vowel was at fi rst [ɛ] in both cases, so that the two examples became
["marɛw] and ["ladɛr] respectively. The inserted vowel sometimes counted as a syllable
for the purposes of metre, but not for the purposes of stress. Other examples are given in
Table 11.8.
Further changes
1 a /e/, /ɵ/ and /ɛ/ merged in Old Cornish /ɛ/.
b /ei/, /ɵi/ and /ɛi/ merged in Old Cornish /ei/.
c /eu/, /ɵu/ and /ɛu/ merged in Old Cornish /ɛu/.
2 a In most cases, /u/ and /ɔ/ merged in Old Cornish /ɔ/ (but they generally remained sep-
arate in Welsh and Breton).
b /ui/ and /ɔi/ merged in Old Cornish /ui/ (but remained separate in Welsh and partially
separate in Breton).
3 a /ω/ was fronted to [œː], and became Old Cornish /œ/.
b /ωu/ > /ɛu/.
In at least two words, Old Cornish neid ‘nest’ and dreis ‘briars’, PrimC /I/ > /ei/.
500 THE BRYTHONIC LANGUAGES
Table 11.7 Examples of internal i- affection
Agent Source Primitive Cornish Example Meaning
before after
Change /ɛ/ > /I/
/i/ British *cam- sent-
iko-
/kammhɛntig/ /kammhIntig/ OldC
camhinsic
hurtful
/I/ British
*impenniones
/impɛnnjɔn/ /impInnjɔn/ OldC impinion brains
Change /a/ > /e/ > OldC /ɛ/
/i/ British *callîa /kalli/ /kelli/ OldC kelli grove
/I/ British *clamito- /klaμId/ /kleμId/ OldC clewet sickness
/e/ British *alarki- F /alerx/ /elerx/ OldC elerhc swans
/ɵ/ British *ascurni F /askɵrn/ /eskɵrn/ OldC eskern bones
/j/ British *caliâco- /kaljωg/ /keljʊg/ OldC chelioc
1
cock
Change /ɔ/ > /ɵ/ > OldC /ɛ/
/i/ British Latin
molîna
B/mɔlin/ /mɵlin/ OldC melin mill
/I/ British *monijo- B/mɔnIð//mɵnIð/ OldC menit mountain
/ɵ/ British *Cornouîa /kɔrnɵw/ /kɵrnɵw/ MidC kernov Cornwall
/j/ British *doli- enn- /dɔljɛnn/ /dɵljɛnn/ OldC delen leaf
Notes: B means that <o> is recorded in examples in Old Breton; F means that fi nal as well as internal
i- affection has taken place.
1 This word developed unusually, to MidC culyek, where *kelyek would have been expected.
Table 11.8 Examples of svarabhakti (mainly from Old Cornish)
Final consonant /- n/ /- l/ /- r/
Preceding
consonant
/- b/ pobel
discebel
‘people’
‘disciple’
keber
cober
gober
‘rafter’
‘copper’
‘reward’
/d/ or /ð/ goden ‘sole’
hethen ‘bird’
kinethel
banathel
‘nation’
‘broom’
lader
aradar
‘thief’
‘plough’
/- g- / kelegel ‘chalice’ hweger ‘mother- in- law’
/- v- / gauar
liuer
‘goat’
‘book’
/- st- / bistel
guistel
‘gall’
‘hostage’
lester
fenester
mester
‘vessel’
‘window’
‘master’
/- nt- / kenter ‘nail’
Change /u/ > /ɵ/ > OldC /ɛ/
/i/ British *gulbîno- B /gulßin/ /gɵlßin/ OldC geluin beak
/I/ British *corcio- B /kurkIð//kɵrkIð/ OldC cherhit heron
/j/ British *culion-
enn-
/kuljɔnɛnn/ /kɵljɔnɛnn/ OldC kelionen fl y
CORNISH 501
The resulting system of vowels and diphthongs in Old Cornish was:
Vowels i- diphthongs u- diphthongs
/i/ /y/ /u/
⏐ /ui/ ⏐/iu/
/I/
⏐ ⏐ /Iu/
⏐/ei/ ⏐
/ɛ/ /O/
⏐ ⏐ /ɛu/ /Ou/
/œ/
⏐ /œi/ ⏐
/a/
⏐ /ai/ ⏐ /au/
Development of vowels and diphthongs from Old to Middle Cornish
Stressed vowels
If the Old Cornish system of stressed vowels is arranged thus:
i y u
I *
ɛ œ ɔ
a
it will be seen that * marks a gap therein. This was fi lled c. 1350 by the collapse of the
diphthong /ui/, giving the Middle Cornish nine- member system:
/i/ /y/ /u/
/I/ /o/
/ɛ/ /œ/ /ɔ/
/a/
Unstressed vowels
In closed syllables, three of the nine stressed vowels had no unstressed counterparts; these
were:
a /œ/, which was reduced to [ɛ]; in the termination [- œk] in place- names, this change
occurred between 1150 and 1300, with a central date of c. 1225 (George 1992);
b historical /i/ was realized as [I]; i.e. the difference between /i/ and /I/ was neutralized;
c historical /y/ was realized as [I]; i.e. the difference between /y/ and /I/ was
neutralized.
In open syllables, there were effectively only four unstressed vowels, since /œ/ had been
reduced to [ɛ]; and /I/, /y/, /o/ and /u/ were so marginal as to be practically non- existent.
This is summarized in Table 11.9.
502 THE BRYTHONIC LANGUAGES
Table 11.9 Unstressed vowels in Middle Cornish
Historical phoneme
in stressed monosyllables in unstressed post- tonic syllables of polysyllables
Closed syllables Open syllables
/i/ > /I/ /i/
/I//I/ marginal
/ɛ//ɛ//ɛ/
/a/ /a/ /a/
/ɔ//ɔ//ɔ/
/o/ /o/ marginal
/u/ /u/ marginal
/œ/ > /ɛ/ c. 1225 > /ɛ/ c. 1225
/y/ > /I/ marginal
Diphthongs
In the i- diphthongs:
1 /ei/ remained stable.
2 Unstressed [ai] > [a] before 1100.
3 Monophthongization occurred c. 1350:
(a) /ai/ > /ɛ/, e.g. OldC trait ‘beach’ > treth.
(b) /ui/ > /o/; e.g. OldC buit ‘food’ > bos, boys.
(c) /uia/ > [ɔː], e.g. OldC hoet ‘duck’ > hos.
4 A new phoneme /ai/ was introduced in loan- words from Middle English, e.g. payn
‘pain’; this was spelled indiscriminately <ay> and <ey>.
There were thus only three i- diphthongs in Middle Cornish: /ei/, /ai/ and /ɔi/.
Rhymes in Middle Cornish show that the refl ex of the OldC triphthong /uiw/ was rec-
ognized as being separate from the w- diphthongs.
Enhanced and secondary affection
An enhanced affection /a/ > /I/ apparently occurred:
1 in the fi rst and second persons of the present subjunctive and the impersonal of the
imperfect subjunctive of verbs with infi nitives in - e and - ye; e.g. in the common
phrase del om kyrry ‘as thou mayest love me’;
2 in the third person singular of the present indicative of certain other verbs, e.g. ef a yll
‘he can’.
In a number of words, Old Cornish /ɛ/ in the sequence /- ɛLCV/ suffered secondary affec-
tion to /I/, this being caused by /i/, /I/ or /j/ in the following syllable; e.g.
with PrimC /ɛ/ termyn > tyrmyn ‘time’
with PrimC /a/ > /e/ > OldC /ɛ/ henwys > hynwys ‘named’
with PrimC /ɔ/ > /ɵ/ > OldC /ɛ/ kelmys > kylmys ‘bound’
CORNISH 503
Compared with the secondary affection in Breton, this phenomenon was more restricted
(it appears as partially text- dependent), it apparently occurred later, and its product was /I/
rather than /i/, so that the subsequent change /I/ > /e/ eliminated its effects.
Development of vowels and diphthongs from Middle to Late Cornish
Stressed vowels
1 a In stressed open monosyllables, [- iː] behaved similarly to [- iː] in English; i.e. it
became a diphthong, e.g. chy ‘house’ > chei, choy.
b Otherwise, /i/ remained stable, e.g. LateC Chreest ["kriːʃt].
2 a Finally, /I/ > [iː], e.g. my ‘I’ > mî.
b Otherwise, /I/ was lowered, and merged with the refl ex of Middle Cornish /ɛ/
c. 1650; e.g. bys ‘world > bêz.
3 /ɛ/ became closer, approximately [eː], and sometimes broke to [eǝ], e.g. LateC dêan
‘man’.
4 /a/ remained stable, e.g. tas ‘father’ > tâz.
5 a When short and stressed before liquids and nasals, /ɔ/ fell together with the refl ex of
Middle Cornish short /o/, in [ø], e.g. forthow ‘roads’ > furrow.
b Otherwise, /ɔ/ remained stable, e.g. dos ‘to come’ > doaz.
6 The realization of /o/ became closer: to [uː] when long (e.g. MidC coys ‘wood’ > kûz)
and to [ø] when short.
7 The few words containing Middle Cornish [uː] may have become diphthongized to
[aÁ].
8 /œ/ became unrounded c. 1525, thereby falling together with the refl
ex of Middle
Cornish /ɛ/, e.g. mur ‘great’ > mêr.
9 a Finally and before /x/, [yː] > [Iuː] as in English, e.g. bugh ‘cow’ > biuh.
b In other environments, /y/ became unrounded, and fell together with the refl ex of
Middle Cornish /i/; in closed monosyllables, this occurred c. 1625, e.g. tus ‘men’ > tîz.
The Late Cornish system of stressed vowels was a simple one of fi ve members, but with
the breakdown of the quantity rules c. 1625 (see below), the phonemicity passed from
the consonants (a Brittonic trait) to the vowels (as in English). There were therefore ten
vocalic phonemes in Late Cornish:
/i(ː)/ /u(ː)/
/e(ː)/ /ɔ(ː)/
/a(ː)/
Unstressed vowels
1 /i/, which occurred only in fi nal position, remained stable; e.g. pygy ‘to pray’ >
pidzhi.
2 /I/ > Late Cornish /e/ c. 1650; e.g. - ys (past ptcpl.) > - ez.
3 a When unstressed fi nally, /ɛ/ > [a] c. 1475; e.g. verbal ending - e > - a, place- name
Hendre > Hendra.
b In fi nal unstressed closed syllables, /ɛ/ > /a/ c. 1525; e.g. - ek (common adj. ending) >
- ack.
c Pre- tonically, /ɛ/ > [ǝ] c. 1600, with subsequent loss; e.g. ker
enge ‘love’ > carenga >
crenga.
4 /a/ remained stable.
504 THE BRYTHONIC LANGUAGES
5 a When unstressed fi nally, /ɔ/ > /a/ c. 1525; e.g. thotho ‘to him’ > thotha.
b In fi nal unstressed closed syllables, /ɔ/ > /a/ c. 1575; e.g. aswon ‘to know’ > adzhan.
c Pre- tonically /ɔ/ > [ǝ] > [∇];
1
e.g. bohosek ‘poor’ > broadjack.
6 In many cases, /u/ > /a/.
Diphthongs
1 /ɔi/ and /ei/ were often spelled <i>, but this probably refl ects a sound- change in Eng-
lish rather than in Cornish, after Middle English [iː] had become a diphthong.
2 /ai/ remained stable.
3 /iu/ remained stable.
4 /Iu/ > /eu/.
5 /eu/ remained stable, but was spelled <ow>.
6 /au/ > [ɔː]
7 a When stressed before a consonant, /ɔu/ remained stable.
b When stressed before a vowel, /ɔu/ > /uː/; e.g. lowen ‘glad’ > looan; or it was
smoothed, e.g. mowes ‘girl’ > mÅz.
c When unstressed fi nally, /ɔw/ > [ǝ].
Development of consonants and semi- vowels from Primitive to Old Cornish
The consonants and semi- vowels in Primitive Cornish were:
/p/ /t/ /k/ /j/ /w/ /ww/
/b/ /d/ /g/ /s/ /h/
/β/ /D/ /ɣ/ /mm/ /nn/ /ll/ /rr/
/f/ /T/ /μ/ /n/ /l/ /r/
The voiceless occlusives /p, t, k/ had two allophones: [p, t, k] initially and in consonant
groups; [pp, tt, kk] between vowels, arising from syncope of various groups. Finally, these
phonemes could occur only in groups.
1 The bilabials /ß/ and /μ/ became [v] and [v)] respectively, c. 650, and have been re-
labelled /v/ and /v)/.
2 /ɣ/ was lost almost everywhere, remaining only in the groups /lɣ/ and /rɣ/.
3 The group /ww/ was lost, becoming [gw] c. 925, and subsequently [g] in some cases.
The resulting set of consonants and semi- vowels in Old Cornish was:
/p/ /t/ /k/ /j/ /w/
/b/ /d/ /g/ /s/ /h/
/v/ /D/ /ɣ/ /mm/ /nn/ /ll/ /rr/
/f/ /θ/ /x/ /v/ /n/ /l/ /r/
Development of consonants and semi- vowels from Old to Middle Cornish
Assibilation of dental occlusives
This major change serves more than any other to separate Cornish from Breton and
Welsh.
[t] in the groups [lt] and [nt], except when followed by /VL/ or /VN/, was assibilated
c. 1275 according to place- names. Likewise, medial and fi nal [d], both by itself and in the
CORNISH 505
groups [ld], [nd] and [dw], became assibilated in similar phonetic environments, c. 1325
according to place- names. The product of the assibilation was most commonly written
<s>; this is taken to mean [z] except for <- ns> and <- ls> in absolute fi nal, when it was [s].
Before high front vowels, it was written <g> or <i> in some texts, which indicates palatal-
ization; Williams (1990) assumed that it meant [ðʒ], but it may have been [ʒ]. Examples
are given in Table 11.10.
Table 11.10 Examples of assibilation and palatalization in Cornish
Phonetic environment Cognates
OldC MidC English Breton Welsh
/d/ fi nally tas ‘father’ tad tad
medially before high front vowels pysy, pygy ‘to pray’ pediñ pedi
medially otherwise crysaf ‘I believe’ kredan credaf
/nt/ fi nally sans ‘saint’ sant sant
medially before high front vowels synsy, syngy ‘to hold’ sentiñ ——
medially otherwise kynsa ‘fi rst’ kentañ cyntaf
The effect of loan- words from Middle English
Some of the many loan- words from Middle English were accommodated to the Cornish
sound- system, but others were not. Thus some loan- words had [p, t, k] following half-
long and long vowels (e.g. duk ‘duke, leader’, pl. dukys); see the quantity rules, below:
and [t] and [d] were re- introduced after vowels in fi nal position (e.g. stout ‘bold’, led
‘leads’). New oppositions were thus set up, causing what were previously allophones to
assume phonemic status:
1 /p, t, k/ versus /pp, tt, kk/;
2 fi nally after vowels, /p, t, k/ versus /b, d, g/.
The inventory of consonantal phonemes in Middle Cornish was:
/p/ /t/ /k/ /pp/ /tt/ /kk/ /t∫/ /dʒ/ /j/ /w/
/b/ /d/ g/ /s/ /ss/ /h/ /∫/
/v/ /D/ /z/ /mm/ /nn/ /ll/ /rr/
/f/ /θ/ /x/ /ff/ /θθ/ /xx/ /m/ /n/ /l/ /r/
Development of consonants and semi- vowels from Middle to Late Cornish
Semi- vowels
1 Initially, /j- / and /w- / were in variation with zero; e.g. yethewon ~ e
ʒ
ewon ‘Jews’,
worth ~ orth ‘at’.
2 In words other than verbal nouns in - ya, [ssj] > [ʃj] > [ʃ] and [tj] > [tʃ], e.g. gwaytyas
‘to expect’ > quachas.
3 [w] was lost from [zw], e.g. aswon ‘to know’ > adzhan.
Spirant consonants
1 <v> varied with <w> in several words, e.g. MidC cafus ‘to get ~ LateC kawaz. It is
not clear whether this represents a sound- change, or an attempt to represent a sound
which was neither [v] nor [w].