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What is the Cornish
Language?
The Cornish Language (Kernewek)
is the direct descendant of the ancient
language spoken by the Celtic settlers who
inhabited Cornwall (Kernow)
and most of the British Isles long before
the Roman conquest. Cornish is a member of
the Celtic family of languages comprising
Irish, Scots and Manx Gaelic, Welsh and
Breton. Even today the similarities with
Welsh and Breton are very striking indeed.
In 1967 the Gorsedd of Cornwall (Gorsedh
Kernow) and the Federation
of Old Cornwall Societies established Kesva
an Taves Kernewek (The
Cornish Language Board) whose aim was to
promote the study and use of Cornish. In
1979 Kevsa an Taves Kernewek launched Kowethas
an Yeth Kernewek (The
Cornish Language Fellowship) to further
the development of the language and to
promote activities in Cornish for the
benefit of the ever increasing number of
people who wished to learn it and in
particular who wished to use Cornish in
everyday life. Following the successful
growth of Kowethas,
in 1985 the two bodies formally separated
but continue to work in the closest
harmony for the benefit of the Cornish
Language.
Cornish is
from the 'P' Celtic family.
The P and the Q is used to differentiate
between British (Brythonic) and Gaelic because of words like 'Penn'
in Cornish would become 'Ceann' in Gaelic.
A placename example would be Kintyre in
Scotland being essentially the same name
as Pentire in Cornwall. The other name for
the 'P' Celtic languages is British or
Brythonic. 
How
much literature is there in the Cornish
Language? The
largest amount of literature is from the Middle
Cornish period. However, there are
snatches and a vocabulary from Old
Cornish. Late Cornish is mainly made up of
oddments of poetry, letters and songs.
Luckily, these days writers are producing
a large amount of quality work in
Cornish. Where
is the Cornish Language spoken? In
the year 1200, Cornish was spoken my most
people over most of Cornwall. By 1600, it
had been pushed west to Bodmin by
Anglicisation. A hundred years later in
was not found very much east of Truro and
by 1777, when the last monoglot speaker
(Dolly Pentreath) died, it was confined to
West Penwith and areas of the Lizard
peninsula. Speakers of Cornish with native
knowledge of the tongue could still be
found up until the late nineteenth
century. Did
Cornish ever die out? There
was a keen hunt in the eighteenth century
to find the 'last' speaker. But this was
no-more than an ego-trip by some
linguists. By the time the last native
speakers were dying out, the revival had
begun. So essentially, the language never
actually died out. To
what extent is Cornish used today? The
revival of Cornish learning had progressed
enough by 1970 for people to actually
start speaking the language in everyday
situations again, with some bringing up
their children using it. By 1980 a
confident group of Cornish speakers had
emerged who improved their conversational
skills by meeting together at Cornish
Language Weekends and in pubs. By 1990,
the amount of Cornish speakers had swelled
to the hundreds, and to the thousands if
you include those who knew some
conversational aspects. Now in the 21st
century, Cornish is used in a wide range
of places with more bilingual signs
appearing all the time. For example in
town welcome signs as below or more
recently in shops like ASDA. 
How
many people speak Cornish these days? No
exact census has been taken of Cornish
speakers. It is also difficult to say an
number because it depends on the level of
fluency. Estimates put the number of
fluent speakers of Cornish at around three
or four hundred people. The number grows
if you wish to include those who can
converse in Cornish, but would not
consider themselves fluent. This figure
could be put at a couple of thousand. The
number grows even more if you wish to
include everyone who has learnt some
Cornish and would be able to give you some
phrases, or understand basic sentences. We
are now talking in excess of five
thousand, and possibly verging on ten
thousand. What
is the Cornish word for 'Cornish'? Kernewek What
is 'Cornwall' in Cornish? Kernow 
Where
can I go to hear Cornish? Kowethas
an Yeth Kernewek (The Cornish Language
Fellowship) hosts annual Cornish Language
Weekends, usually around Easter. To find
out more, contact Laurence
Rule You can also enjoy Celtic
music from across the six Celtic nations
as well as hear Cornish if you attend Lowender
Peran. Or you can visit the highlight
of the Cornish cultural year, the Cornish
Gorsedh, held every September. How
can I learn Cornish? Contact
us through this website, or you can find
more information on the English
page of the Cornish News website. Where
can I find more information about the
language? Read the
pages relating to the work of the Cornish
Language Board.
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