The Cornish Language - An Tavas Kernewek

The Cornish language in decline

'Deth da, Da yu genef dha weles'....The ancient Celtic language of Cornwall was reportedly last spoken by Dolly Pentreath of Mousehole who died in 1777. There is also however, a tombstone at Zennor churchyard to John Davey of Boswednack (1812-1891), 'the last to possess any traditional considerable knowledge of the Cornish Language'. He sang traditional songs and could converse quite fluently. Why did it die out? While Cornwall remained largely untouched by the outside world the language remained intact. Some historians point to the failed 'Cornish Rebellion of 1497' - led by Michael Joseph 'An Gof' (the Smith) and Thomas Flamank - and the 'Prayer Book Rebellion' of 1549 as two major turning point in the demise of Cornish. The first rebellion was caused by excessive taxes being levied on Cornwall to finance King Henry VII's war with Scotland. The second rebellion is centred on the refusal to allow church services to be spoken in Cornish by the powers in London. There has however been quite a resurgence in interest since 1900 and some say that the language never actually died.

Roots of the Cornish language

Modern routes to the Cornish Language can be found at Blas Kernewek - A Taste of Cornish from BBC Cornwall and Agan Tavas. The word structure is quite different to that of English. When English superceded Cornish as the principal language some time in the 16th century, the people spoke the new language as foreigners. English words were used but in a Cornish framework: similar to the word order encountered in German. Cornish folk are more likely to say "Going Truro Are 'ee ?" rather than "Are you going to Truro ?". Un-informed people might think that this is 'bad' English grammar, it is in fact 'good' Cornish grammar! For a better sense of the language see The Lord's Prayer in Cornish.

Cornish language survives today

Other relics include the adding of 'do' before the verb, as in "They do go" and "I did walk" especially around the Lizard, and the use of 'weem' and 'youm' - in Mid Cornwall, although the entymology of these words are uncertain. For the visitor, place-names and some surnames give an insight into the ancient language very quickly. For instance:

Hayle - Hayl- Estuary;
Carnkie - Carn-Ky - Dog Hill;
Mevagissey - (St.)Meva hag(St.)Issey - from (St.) Meva and (St.) Issey;
Marazion - Marghas Yow (Thursday Market);
Camborne - Kamm-Bron - Crooked Hill;
Redruth - Ryd Ruth - River Red;
Pednandrea (Redruth)- Pedn-an-Drea - Head of the town;
Pedn-men-an-mere - Pedn-mên-an-mere - Rocky headland by the sea;
Trenoweth - Tre-noweth - New Homestead;
Penzance - Pen-Sans - Holy Headland;
Porthpean - Porth Byghan - Little Cove;
Port Quin - Porth Gwyn - White Cove;
Polglase - Pol-Glas - Blue Pool;
Chegwin - Chy Gwin - White House;
Poldhu - Pol-Du - Black Pool;
Maenporth - Mên Porth - Rocky Cove;
(The) Manacles - Mên Eglos - (The) Church Rocks, and
Kynance - Ky Nans - Dog Valley?

Of course the very many places named after the Celtic Saints of Ireland, Wales and Brittany such as:

• St. Ives (Porth Ia) after St.Ia;
• St. Day (Ste. Dé);
• Gwithian (Ste. Gwithyen);
• Zennor (St. Senara);
• Kea (St. Ké);
• St. Austell (Ste. Austol);
• St. Mawgan;
• Paul (Ste. Pol de Leon);
• Lelant (Lan-Anta); and
• Gunwalloe after Ste. Winwalloe.

Saxon influence in certain areas confuses matters as they added the suffix -ton to the towns and villages, but a little research normally unearths the former name: Helston is Hellys+ton and Launceston is Lan-stefan+ton.

Links to the Breton and Gaelic languages

Some Keywords in the Cornish Language, with their Breton Equivalents - kindly supplied by Loic POVY and Gildas CHATAL or Gaelic Equivalents - kindly supplied by Cecil Ward of the Isle of Skye.

More Keywords in the Cornish Language