Post by Jonathan on Sept 22, 2004 11:01:47 GMT 1
Isn’t Cornish a dead language?
No, the revival began 100 years ago with the publication of a ‘Handbook of the Cornish Language’ in 1904. This was more of a resurrection that a revival as research has since discovered that there were people around with a traditional knowledge of Cornish at the end of the late 19th Century. As somebody once said Cornish never died, it just wasn’t very well. There has never been a time throughout Cornwall’s long history when nobody knew the language. The language is more alive now than at any time in the last 250 yrs. Just go to the Eden Project where you will find a welcoming sign in several languages with Cornish first and English second!
But surely nobody still speaks it?
Yes, they do. A few hundred fluently and several thousand are able to speak it to some level or other. There are a few people who have it as a Mother Tongue. Just a quick glance at the internet will show numerous websites, many books, yahoo groups, music and even a full-length film all in Cornish or about Cornish. If nobody still speaks Cornish how come a Government report has just been written in Cornish?
What publications are available in Cornish?
The New Testament, various novels, magazines, CD ROMs, music CD’s and other s available, see our Sales page.
Which form of Cornish is the most widely used and which is the best?
A difficult one to answer. UCR has the most extensive dictionary, although currently it is only English-Cornish, with the Cornish – English version in preparation. A recent opinion poll on this site showed UCR as overall favourite, however for several months Kemmyn was the firm favourite. Basically it comes down to a matter of preference, UCR is more traditional with a spelling based on old manuscripts.
CD-Roms
Teach Me! Cornish has now been re-released in an updated an improved version. It is a complete software package with an audio CD and a Book of Simple Stories. There are 40 levels of Cornish Grammar, 28 levels of Vocabulary and has its’ own built in dictionary. Please note that this is a vast improvement on the earlier version, and is easier to use. One major difference is that the new version is Kemmyn only, the decision having been made to drop the UCR version. The earlier version is still available from spyrys a gernow.