Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek (The Cornish Language Fellowship) is a Cornish language association which exists to promote, encourage and foster the use of the Cornish language. [1] It is represented on the Cornish Language Partnership.
Unlike other Cornish language organisations[ citation needed ], Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek recognises the validity of all forms of revived Cornish, and membership is open to all.
Nevertheless, although its members use all forms of Cornish, the society has long been associated by many with a particular spelling system called Kernewek Kemmyn. As a result, Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek received a boost[ citation needed ] in its membership after 1987 when The Cornish Language Board itself adopted, and declared its support for, Kernewek Kemmyn. It received a further boost[ citation needed ] when Paul Dunbar and Ken George claimed in their book Cornish for the 21st Century, published in 1997, that criticisms of this system were without foundation, as by that time Kernewek Kemmyn was very widely used - a large majority of people sitting examinations in the Cornish language were choosing to be examined in Kernewek Kemmyn.
Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek respects the rights of its members to use whichever form of Cornish they choose, although its written business is conducted in Kernewek Kemmyn because that is the form used by the majority of its members.
Every month the society publishes a Cornish Language magazine called An Gannas which consists of articles, stories, news, comment and puzzles. [2] Publishing is an important aspect of the work of the society. Amongst the variety of materials that have been produced are books, diaries, stories and language learning materials. Books with accompanying tapes and CDs are also published to assist beginners. The society also produces tea-towels, mugs, car stickers, pens, cards, T-shirts and other items for sale, all displaying the Cornish language. During the year the society organises a number of language days, often supported by Cornish music or dancing, giving Cornish speakers the opportunity of meeting together in a Cornish speaking environment.[ citation needed ]
The society is closely associated with the running of Cornish classes throughout Cornwall and beyond. It maintains links with a wide range of other cultural organisations both in Cornwall and beyond, including language and educational organisations in other Celtic countries.[ citation needed ] The society is a voluntary body, (charity no. 1065527) and its funding is raised through grants, membership, sales and donations.
Cornish is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, knowledge of Cornish, including speaking ability to a certain extent, continued to be passed on within families and by individuals, and a revival began in the early 20th century. The language has a growing number of second-language speakers, and a very small number of families now raise children to speak revived Cornish as a first language. Cornish is currently recognised under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, and the language is often described as an important part of Cornish identity, culture and heritage.
Henry Jenner was a British scholar of the Celtic languages, a Cornish cultural activist, and the chief originator of the Cornish language revival.
Gorsedh Kernow is a non-political Cornish organisation, based in Cornwall, United Kingdom, which exists to maintain the national Celtic spirit of Cornwall. It is based on the Welsh-based Gorsedd, which was founded by Iolo Morganwg in 1792.
Kenneth John George is a British oceanographer, poet, and linguist. He is noted as being the originator of Kernewek Kemmyn, an orthography for the revived Cornish language which he claims is more faithful to Middle Cornish phonology than its precursor,.
The culture of Cornwall forms part of the culture of the United Kingdom, but has distinct customs, traditions and peculiarities. Cornwall has many strong local traditions. After many years of decline, Cornish culture has undergone a strong revival, and many groups exist to promote Cornwall's culture and language today.
Dalleth (beginning) was a support organisation for parents and families bringing up children to speak Cornish. It organised camps and other children's activities, mostly during Cornish Language related events. It also assisted in the production of books and learning materials in Cornish, including translations from other Celtic languages.
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.
Robert Morton Nance (1873–1959) was a British writer and leading authority on the Cornish language, a nautical archaeologist, and joint founder of the Old Cornwall Society.
Kesva an Taves Kernewek is an organisation that promotes the Cornish language. It was founded in 1967 by Gorseth Kernow and the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. It is represented on the official language body, the Cornish Language Partnership.
Kernewek Kemmyn is a variety of the revived Cornish language.
Modern Cornish (Kernuack Nowedga) is a variety of the revived Cornish language. It is sometimes called Revived Late Cornish (RLC) or Kernuack Dewethas, to distinguish it from other forms of contemporary revived Cornish.
Unified Cornish (UC) is a variety of the Cornish language of the Cornish revival. Developed gradually by Robert Morton Nance during and before the 1930s, it derived its name from its standardisation of the variant spellings of traditional Cornish manuscripts. Nance's recommended spelling and grammar, based on Middle Cornish, soon supplanted Henry Jenner's system, which had been based largely on Late Cornish. Most of the older generation of Cornish users alive today would have started under this system. It was also the form originally used by Gorsedh Kernow, although they now use the new Standard Written Form.
Michael Kenneth Paynter is a retired Cornish civil servant, trade union activist, and poet. Apart from a period of study at the University of Newcastle, he has lived in St Ives.
The Standard Written Form or SWF of the Cornish language is an orthography standard that is designed to "provide public bodies and the educational system with a universally acceptable, inclusive, and neutral orthography". It was the outcome of a process initiated by the creation of the public body Cornish Language Partnership, which identified a need to agree on a single standard orthography in order to end previous orthographical disagreements, secure government funding, and increase the use of Cornish in Cornwall.
The Cornish Language Partnership was a representative body that was set up in Cornwall, England, UK, in 2005 to promote and develop the use of the Cornish language. and was dissolved in 2015. It was a public and voluntary sector partnership and consisted of representatives from various Cornish language societies, Cornish cultural and economic organisations and local government in Cornwall. The organisation was part-funded by the European Union's Objective One programme, the United Kingdom government's Department for Communities and Local Government and Cornwall Council.
The Cornish dialect is a dialect of English spoken in Cornwall by Cornish people. Dialectal English spoken in Cornwall is to some extent influenced by Cornish grammar, and often includes words derived from the Cornish language. The Cornish language is a Celtic language of the Brythonic branch, as are the Welsh and Breton languages. In addition to the distinctive words and grammar, there are a variety of accents found within Cornwall from the north coast to that of the south coast and from east to west Cornwall. Typically, the accent is more divergent from Standard British English the further west through Cornwall one travels. The speech of the various parishes being to some extent different from the others was described by John T. Tregellas and Thomas Quiller Couch towards the end of the 19th century. Tregellas wrote of the differences as he understood them and Couch suggested the parliamentary constituency boundary between the East and West constituencies, from Crantock to Veryan, as roughly the border between eastern and western dialects. To this day, the towns of Bodmin and Lostwithiel as well as Bodmin Moor are considered the boundary.
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 Anglo-Saxon in the 4th and 5th 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 following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cornwall: Cornwall – ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is a peninsula bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall is also a royal duchy of the United Kingdom. It has an estimated population of half a million and it has its own distinctive history and culture.
Presented below is an alphabetical index of articles related to Cornwall:
