§ 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.