Translations of parts of the Bible into Cornish have existed since the 17th century. The early works involved the translation of individual passages, chapters or books of the Bible. The first full translation of the Bible into the Cornish language was published in 2011. The New Testament and Psalms in another translation went online in 2014.
Two chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel survive from the hand of William Rowe (aka William Kerew) of Sancreed (fl. 1650–1690).
There are ten versions of the Lord's Prayer from the 1600s and 1700s. A translation from Latin was produced in John Davies' Llyfr y Resolusion in 1632. Another translation was published in William Scawen's 1680 Antiquities Cornu-Brittanick, and two versions were produced in John Chamberlayne's 1715 Oratio Dominica in diversas linguas versa. Also from this period, John Keigwin produced two versions, John and Thomas Boson one each, and William Gwavas also produced two. There are eight versions of the Apostles' Creed from the same period, and seven versions of the Ten Commandments.
Two translations of Genesis 1 survive from the 1700s, one by John Boson and another by John Keigwin. [1] William Kerew produced translations of Genesis 3, Matthew 2:1–20 and Matthew 4. Henry Jenner suggests that some other translations from the same period, of Proverbs 30:5–6 and of Psalms 2:11, 7:11, 35:1 and 2, were also produced by William Kerew. [2] There is also an anonymous line-for-line translation of Psalm 100 located as part of the Gwavas MS at the British Library.
In the modern period, a translation of John 5:1–14 by Henry Jenner was published in 1918, and in 1936 A. S. D. Smith produced his own translation of St. Mark's gospel, a revised edition being published by Talek (E.G. Retallack Hooper) in 1960. [1]
A translation of St Matthew's Gospel by D. R. Evans appeared in 1975, and a version of St John's Gospel was translated by John Page, published in 1984. [1] Ray Edwards published his translation of the Book of Revelation and of a number of epistles in 1986, and St Luke's Gospel appeared in 1989. [1] Furthermore, the Cornish version of the order for Evensong contains a translation of I Corinthians 13 by Robert Morton Nance.
A translation of the whole New Testament, by Nicholas Williams, was published in 2002 by Spyrys a Gernow; it used Unified Cornish Revised orthography. His complete translation of the Bible into Cornish, An Beybel Sans, was published in 2011 by Evertype. It was translated by Nicholas Williams, taking a total of 13 years to complete. [3] [4] Having completed the New Testament, Williams translated the Old Testament into Cornish from a variety of sources, including Hebrew and Greek texts, [5] starting with Leviticus, which he regarded as one of "the boring bits". [6]
This Bible contains 10 maps, which label the place names in Cornish. [5]
The Cornish Bible Project was initiated in 1997, with the aim of translating the whole Bible into Cornish from the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The Project is run under the auspices of the Cornish Language Board, and the Bishop of Truro's Ecumenical Advisory Group for Cornish Language Services. The Cornish Bible is written in the Common Cornish spelling system. It has the ecumenical support of all members of Churches Together in Cornwall. In 2004 An Testament Nowydh (The New Testament) was published by Kesva an Taves Kernewek;. [1] In July 2014 the New Testament and Psalms were posted on-line on YouVersion (Bible.com) and BibleSearch [7] by the Bible Society. [8] The Cornish Bible Project, including the Old and New Testaments, was completed in 2017, titled An Bibel Kernewek. [9]
The following is a comparison of various Cornish translations of the Lord's Prayer from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 9–13, together with the corresponding English translation from the Authorized King James Version of 1611, 1769 edition.
| Translation | Matthew 6:9–13 |
|---|---|
| Authorized Version , 1611/1769 | Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. ¹⁰Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. ¹¹Give us this day our daily bread. ¹²And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. ¹³And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. |
| Thomas Boson, 1710 | Gen Taz es en Nefe, benegaz eu de Hanou, ¹⁰grua de Guelaze dose, de both bo grues en Nore, pecare ha en Nefe, ¹¹ro do ny an journa ma gen nara journa, ¹²ha gaue do ny gen pehazo, pecare terera ny gava an pehadurrian war a gen pedne, ¹³ha na raze gen Leua do droage, buz gen guetha ny deurt droge, rag an Geulaze te beaue, ha ul an Nearth, ha worriance, rag nevera-venitho, An delna rebo. [10] |
| Nicholas Williams, 2002 | Agan Tas ny usy y’n nef, benegys re bo dha hanow. ¹⁰Re dheffa dha wlascor. Re bo gwres dha volunjeth y’n nor kepar hag y’n nef. ¹¹Ro dhynny hedhyw agan bara puptedh oll. ¹²Ha gaf dhyn agan camweyth, kepar del aven nyny dhe’n re na usy ow camwul er agan pyn ny. ¹³Ha na wra agan gorra yn temptacyon, mes delyrf ny dheworth drog. Rag dhyso jy yma an wlascor, ha’n gallus, ha’n gordhyans, bys vyken ha benary. Amen. [11] |
| Cornish Bible Project, 2004 | Agan Tas ni usi y’n nevow, sanshes re bo dha hanow. ¹⁰Re dheffo dha wlaskor. dha vodh re bo gwrys, yn nor kepar hag y’n nev. ¹¹Ro dhyn ni hedhyw agan bara pub-dydhyek; ¹²ha gav dhyn agan kendonow, kepar dell evyn ni ynwedh dh'agan kendonoryon. ¹³Ha na wra agan dri yn temptyans, mes delirf ni dhiworth drog. Rag dhiso jy yw an wlaskor, ha’n galloes, ha’n gordhyans, bys vykken ha bynary. Amen. [12] |
| Nicholas Williams, 2011 | Agan Tas ny usy i’n nev, benegys re bo dha hanow. ¹⁰Re dheffo dha wlascor. Re bo gwrës dha volùnjeth, i’n nor kepar hag i’n nev. ¹¹Ro dhyn ny hedhyw agan bara pùb dëdh oll. ¹²Ha gav dhyn agan cabmweyth, kepar dell eson ny ow cava dhe’n re-na usy ow cabmwul wàr agan pydn ny. ¹³Ha na wra agan gorra in temptacyon, saw delyrf ny dhyworth drog. Rag dhyso jy yma an wlascor, ha’n gallos, ha’n gordhyans, bys vycken ha bys venary. Amen. [13] |
Cornish is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh and Breton, Cornish is descended from the Common Brittonic language spoken throughout much of Great Britain before the English language came to dominate. For centuries, until it was pushed westwards by English, it was the main language of Cornwall, maintaining close links with its sister language Breton, with which it was mutually intelligible, perhaps even as long as Cornish continued to be spoken as a vernacular. Cornish continued to function as a common community language in parts of Cornwall until the mid 18th century, and there is some evidence for traditional speakers of the language persisting into the 19th century.
Middle English Bible translations (1066–1500) covers the age of Middle English, beginning with the Norman Conquest and ending about 1500.
Nicholas Jonathan Anselm Williams, sometimes credited as N. J. A. Williams, is a leading expert and poet in the Cornish language.
Henry Jenner was a British scholar of the Celtic languages, a Cornish cultural activist, and the chief originator of the Cornish language revival.
Parts of the Bible have been translated into Welsh since at least the 15th century, but the most widely used translation of the Bible into Welsh for several centuries was the 1588 translation by William Morgan, Y Beibl cyssegr-lan sef Yr Hen Destament, a'r Newydd as revised in 1620. The Beibl Cymraeg Newydd was published in 1988 and revised in 2004. Beibl.net is a translation in colloquial Welsh which was completed in 2013.
Cornish literature refers to written works in the Cornish language. The earliest surviving texts are in verse and date from the 14th century. There are virtually none from the 18th and 19th centuries but writing in revived forms of Cornish began in the early 20th century.
Kernewek Kemmyn is a variety of the revived Cornish language.
William Scawen (1600–1689) was one of the pioneers in the revival of the Cornish language. He was a politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640 and fought for the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.
John Boson (1655–1730) was a writer in the Cornish language. The son of Nicholas Boson, he was born in Paul, Cornwall. He taught Cornish to William Gwavas. His works in Cornish include an epitaph for the language scholar John Keigwin, and the "Pilchard Curing Rhyme". He also wrote an epitaph for James Jenkins who died in 1710 and also wrote Cornish verse; and translated parts of the Bible, the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed. The only known surviving lapidary inscription in the Cornish language, is also his work, and can be found in Paul Church where John Boson, his father, and their relative Thomas Boson are also buried.
Kernowek Standard, its initial version spelt Kernowak Standard, is a variety of the spelling of revived Cornish. It has two specifications, the first of which was published as a draft proposal in March 2007, and the second of which was published as a practical orthography in May 2012.
Alan M. Kent was a Cornish poet, dramatist, novelist, editor, academic and teacher. He was the author of a number of works on Cornish and Anglo-Cornish literature.
Biblical translations into the indigenous languages of North and South America have been produced since the 16th century.
John Keigwin (1641–1716) was a Cornish antiquary, born at Mousehole, Cornwall. He was a leading member of a group of antiquaries in west Penwith: this group also included John and Thomas Boson, William Gwavas, Thomas Tonkin, William Borlase, Oliver Pender, and James Jenkins of Alverton. His teacher was John Boson. In addition to Cornish and English, Keigwin had a command of the French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages.
The Bible, or portions of it, have been translated into over 1,000 languages of Africa.
Traditionally Russia used the Old Church Slavonic language and Slavonic Bible, and in the modern era Bible translations into Russian. The minority languages of Russia usually have a much more recent history, many of them having been commissioned or updated by the Institute for Bible Translation.
The Cornish language revival is an ongoing process to revive the use of the Cornish language of Cornwall, England. The Cornish language's disappearance began to hasten during the 13th century, but its decline began with the spread of Old English in the 5th and 6th centuries. The last reported person to have full knowledge of a traditional form of Cornish, John Davey, died in 1891. The revival movement started in the late 19th century as a result of antiquarian and academic interest in the language, which was already extinct, and also as a result of the Celtic revival movement. In 2009, UNESCO changed its classification of Cornish from "extinct" to "critically endangered", seen as a milestone for the revival of the language.
The anonymous poem Pascon agan Arluth is the oldest complete literary work in the Cornish language, dating from the 14th century. The modern title means "The Passion of Our Lord", but the poem has also been published as Mount Calvary.
James Jenkins was a Cornish scholar who left some verses giving moral advice on child raising and marriage in the Cornish language. In his day he was considered a learned scholar of the Cornish language. Little of his work has survived.
Craig Weatherhill was a Cornish antiquarian, novelist and writer on the history, archaeology, place names and mythology of Cornwall.
