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Cornish language

For the Cornish dialect and accent of English, see Cornish dialect.

Cornish
Kernewek
Kernowek
Pronunciation
Native toUnited Kingdom
RegionCornwall
EthnicityCornish
ExtinctEnd of 18th century[1][2][3][4]
Revival20th century (563 L2 users as of the 2021 Census:[5] 557 in 2011)[6]
Standard forms
Standard Written Form
Latin alphabet
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated byCornish Language Partnership
Language codes
ISO 639-1kw
ISO 639-2cor
ISO 639-3Variously:
cor – Modern Cornish
cnx – Middle Cornish
oco – Old Cornish
cnx Middle Cornish
 oco Old Cornish
Glottologcorn1251
ELPCornish
Linguasphere50-ABB-a
Cornish is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010)[7]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
A Cornish speaker

Cornish (Standard Written Form: Kernewek or Kernowek,[8] pronounced [kəɾˈnuːək]) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh and Breton, Cornish is descended from the Common Brittonic language spoken throughout much of Great Britain before the English language came to dominate. For centuries, until it was pushed westwards by English, it was the main language of Cornwall, maintaining close links with its sister language Breton, with which it was mutually intelligible, perhaps even as long as Cornish continued to be spoken as a vernacular.[9][10] Cornish continued to function as a common community language in parts of Cornwall until the mid 18th century, and there is some evidence for traditional speakers of the language persisting into the 19th century.[11]

Cornish became extinct as a living community language in Cornwall by the end of the 18th century, although knowledge of Cornish, including speaking ability to a certain extent, persisted within some families and individuals.[12] A revival started in the early 20th century, and in 2010 UNESCO reclassified the language as critically endangered, stating that its former classification of the language as extinct was no longer accurate.[13] The language has a growing number of second-language speakers,[14] and a very small number of families now raise children to speak revived Cornish as a first language.[15][16]

Cornish is currently recognised under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages,[17] and the language is often described as an important part of Cornish identity, culture and heritage.[18][19] Since the revival of the language, some Cornish textbooks and works of literature have been published, and an increasing number of people are studying the language.[14] Recent developments include Cornish music,[20] independent films,[21] and children's books. A small number of people in Cornwall have been brought up to be bilingual native speakers,[22][23] and the language is taught in schools and appears on street nameplates.[24][25][26] The first Cornish-language day care opened in 2010.[27]

  1. ^ Spriggs, Matthew (2003). Payton, Philip (ed.). "Where Cornish was Spoken and When: A Provisional Synthesis". Cornish Studies. Second Series. 11. Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter Press: 228–269. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023 – via ResearchGate.
  2. ^ Ó Riagáin, Dónall (13 January 2015). "Cracks in the foundation of a language empire – the resurgence of autochthonous lesser used languages in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland". In Stolz, Christel (ed.). Language Empires in Comparative Perspective. Berlin / München / Boston: De Gruyter. pp. 77–88. doi:10.1515/9783110408362.77. ISBN 9783110408362. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  3. ^ MacAulay, Donald (1992). The Celtic languages. Cambridge University Press. p. 346. ISBN 0521231272. OCLC 24541026.
  4. ^ Ball, Martin J.; Müller, Nicole, eds. (2009). The Celtic Languages (2nd ed.). Hoboken: Taylor & Francis. p. 491. ISBN 9780203882481. OCLC 438705548.
  5. ^ "Main language (detailed) - Office for National Statistics". ONS.gov.uk. Office for National Statistics. 29 November 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Number of Welsh, Gaelic, Irish and Cornish speakers from the 2011 Census". ONS.gov.uk. Office for National Statistics. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  7. ^ Moseley, Christopher; Nicolas, Alexander, eds. (2010). Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (PDF) (3rd ed.). Paris: UNESCO. ISBN 978-92-3-104096-2. Archived from the original on 23 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Gerlyver Kernewek". CornishDictionary.org.uk (in Cornish). Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  9. ^ Jackson, Kenneth Hurlstone (1953). Language and History in Early Britain: A Chronological Survey of the Brittonic Languages, 1st to 12th Century a.D. Edinburgh University Press. p. 12. ISBN 085224116X. OCLC 217631525.
  10. ^ Pool, P. A. S. (1975). William Bodinar's letter, 1776. Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. OCLC 927038181. [In 1746] Captain Samuel Barrington, in the course of naval duties, took a sailor from Mount's Bay who spoke Cornish well enough to make himself understood to Bretons
  11. ^ Berresford Ellis, Peter (1990). The Story of the Cornish Language. Tor Mark Press. pp. 19–25. ISBN 0850253713. Of John Davey of Zenmor who died in 1891, it was claimed that he was the last surviving native speaker of the language. His stone memorial reads 'John Davey 1812-1891 of Boswednack in this parish ... who was the last to possess any traditional considerable knowledge of the Cornish Language.'
  12. ^ Mackinnon, Ken. "Cornish at Its Millennium: An Independent Study of the Language". Cornish Studies. 10.
  13. ^ "Cornish language no longer extinct, says UN". BBC News Online. 7 December 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  14. ^ a b O'Neill, Diarmuid (2005). Rebuilding the Celtic Languages: Reversing Language Shift in the Celtic Countries. Y Lolfa. p. 240. ISBN 0862437237.
  15. ^ Linguistic minorities in countries belonging to the European community: summary report. Commission of the European Communities. 1986. p. 195.
  16. ^ Deacon, Bernard; Tregidga, Garry; Cole, Richard (2003). Mebyon Kernow and Cornish Nationalism. Welsh Academic Press. p. 132.
  17. ^ "Cornish gains official recognition". BBC News. 6 November 2002. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  18. ^ "Funding boost to safeguard Cornish language announced". gov.uk. 13 March 2015.
  19. ^ "Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek wins Heritage Lottery Fund support". 19 August 2014. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016.
  20. ^ "Music". MagaKernow.org.uk. Cornish Language Partnership. Archived from the original on 25 December 2008.
  21. ^ "Film clips: Here you can watch clips from films made in Cornish". MagaKernow.org.uk. Cornish Language Partnership. Archived from the original on 25 December 2008.
  22. ^ MacKinnon, Ken. "Cornish Language Study 2000". MagaKernow.org.uk. Cornish Language Partnership. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013.
  23. ^ Cornish at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  24. ^ "Cornish language – is it dead?". This is The West Country. 21 February 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  25. ^ "Street name plates - Cornwall Council". www.cornwall.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  26. ^ "Milestone reached as 1,000th Cornish language street sign is installed". Falmouth Packet. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  27. ^ Woolcock, Nicola (15 January 2010). "Have a good dy: Cornish language is taught in nursery". The Times. Archived from the original on 4 June 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2012.

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