Hi,
having started work at the Geevor Tin Mine in 1965, I can assure you
that at that time, there were people there & in the W. Cornwall area who
certainly could speak the Cornish language. Some I suspect could neither
read nor write English leave alone Cornish; since when the " academics" have
got hold of the language to revive it, but as you say are not sure as to how
words should be pronounced ( which I feel would have varied from village to
village just as the dialect does).
Bob Orchard.
----- Original Message -----
From: "William Mulligan Jr." <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2006 11:54 AM
Subject: Re: Cornish/Breton/Welsh
I am a little confused by all this. Cornish was extinct as a spoken
language by the middle of the 19th century, at least that's what the
literature and the experts all seem to say. It was revived, however, before
the end of that same century and, as I understand it, there is no consensus
today on how words are pronounced. I am not aware of any significant common
or specialized use of the language since the middle of the nineteenth
century. Many Cornish words were used in mining.
From Wikipedia:
The Cornish language (in Cornish: Kernowek, Kernewek, Curnoack) is one of
the Brythonic group of Celtic languages that includes Welsh, Breton, the
extinct Cumbric and perhaps the hypothetical Ivernic. The Celtic languages
of Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Manx are part of the separate Goidelic group.
Cornish shares about 80% basic vocabulary with Breton, 75% with Welsh, 35%
with Irish, and 35% with Scottish Gaelic. By comparison, Welsh shares about
70% with Breton. Cornish ceased to function as a community language in the
late 18th century, but was revived early in the 20th century. It has been
estimated that currently around 3,500 speak Cornish to a basic
conversational level, and 300-400 fluently. Perhaps a score or more children
and young adults should be considered native speakers of Revived Cornish.
William H. Mulligan, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor of History
Murray State University
Murray KY 42071-3341 USA
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