Celtic Language Of Cornwall, Cornish

[emerald-eyedwanderer]

Durdatha whye! Good day to you!

In order to keep the Celtic languages together and therefore easier to find, I wanted to share information and websites I have found for the Cornish language.

Like all the other Celtic nations, the Cornish people have their own language. It is called an Kernowek, in the spelling of the modern Cornish or 'Cornish' in the English tongue. This language of Cornwall, or rather, of Kernow as Cornwall is called in Cornish, has a long history in Britain, from before the arrival of the Romans to the present day. It is an interesting history which has much in common with the histories of other Celtic languages, and it is even more important now that the language is being revived and spoken again in Cornwall.


Cornish is one of the six Celtic languages. In Celtic times it was the language of the Celtic tribes who lived in southern Britain. The language belongs to one of the two branches of the Celtic tongue in the British Isles and Brittany in northwestern France. The two branches are Goidelic, which is composed of Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx, and Brythonic, composed of Welsh, Cornish and Breton.

Tabm Kernuack : A Bit of Modern Cornish

Greetings:
Durdatha whye! Good day to you!
Deeth daa. Good day.
Metten daa. Good Morning.
Ha soce! Hello mate.
Darzona! God bless (on meeting).
Gothewhar daa. Good evening.
Lowena tha whye! or Betho whye lowenack! Happiness to you!

Enquiry:
Fatla gena whye? How are you?
Fatel era whye keele? How are you doing?

Answers:
Ma genam a ehaz. I am well.
Looan o ve. I'm happy.
Trawethack o ve. I'm sad.
Daa lowar o ve. I'm O.K.

Thanks:
Durdalada whye! or Merastawhye! or Gra'massy. Thank you.

Farewells:
Dew boz geno. God be with you.
Benatugana.God bless.
Tereba nessa.Till next time.
Anowre. Bye
Comero weeth. Take care.
Ternestatha or Noze daa tha whye. Good night to you.

For pronunciations and other phrases, there is a great site with 12 audio lessons.
Lessons of the Cornish Language

Tereba nessa. Comero weeth.

[WizardofOwls]

WOW, Em!

That is so cool! Thanks for sharing it with us! I'll have to go to that website so that I can hear what Cornish sounds like!

[Siarls]

Durdatha whye, pobble!
It seems to me that in its lack of use, Cornish has at least been preserved grammatically and lexically. Whereas Welsh and other Celtic languages as they live and develop alongside the dominance of the English language, begin to sway amidst the English influence. (Or in Breton's case: French. I think Galician is an example of this Celtic fading).

[Antwn]

Hello Siarls,

I've also read that in the attempts to revive Cornish, there's a bit of a debate about which form of Cornish to use. There's a modern form and a classic form I believe. Those aren't the proper terminologies being used I know, but it would seem that there's got to be some agreement as to which form will become standard so that a decision can be made about which to revive as well as financially support.

I've read anywhere from 200 to 1,000 speakers of Cornish exist depending on who you ask, and there have been a few schools where its taught in Cornwall. Once this question is resolved, it will still require a incredible effort to revive it. Even if you have Cornish medium schools and a requirement for all kids to study Cornish until the age of 16, the use of Cornish will have to be supported in communities. I read that the problem the Irish discovered is that even when you teach Irish in schools, if adults don't learn it and keep it alive, then it still declines because there's little community support outside the Gaeltacht. What I mean is that there's little effort for Irish to be used as a daily medium of communication outside that region. As you've suggested Siarls, this has been the difference with Welsh, and probably the primary reason for the success it now enjoys.

Years ago, we had an exchange student stay with us for a few days from Ireland. He could speak Irish fluently but seldom did at home since the medium for communication for everyone around him was English. Ultimately it will be the will of the people to adopt their Celtic language and use it which will ensure its future. Government programs and financial support can help, but sometimes as in the case of Breton, what's most needed is for the government to get out of the way. The French government has pulled funding from the Diwan (Breton medium schools) system for example and their constitution says that only the French language shall be used in the country. Education happens therefore through local community efforts. This applies not just to Breton, but to Basque, Occitan and Aquitane and the dialects of Provence. That being said, I read that the newest school to open which teaches in Breton was in Paris!

I have an online aquaintance who has a website on Druidry with many links both about and in the Celtic languages and resources for learning them. The site is mainly to promote his religious beliefs and desire for Celic revivalism, part of which entails support of the study and use of Celtic languages, but he's got a pretty good list of links which you'll see on the left hand column. Here's the site if anyone's interested:

http://groups.msn.com/CromansGrove/_whatsn...?pgmarket=en-us


Antwn

[Antwn]

Here's a link from the Croman site about the different forms of Cornish.


http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/killiney/.../982/which.html

[sonic-skunk]

There are lots of cornish language websites out there, some of them entirely written in cornish

Warlinnen is a good site, as well as the mebyon kernow site