'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.
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 When English superceded Cornish as the principal language some time in the 16th century, the people spoke the new language as foreigners.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!
Other relics include the adding of 'do' before the verb, as in "They do go" and "I did walk" especially around the Lizard, and 'weem' and 'youm'- instead of 'we' and 'you'in Mid Cornwall, although the entymology of these latter 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.
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.
English Word
Cornish Translation
Pronounciation
Breton Equivalent
Pronounciation
Cornwall
Kernow
Kerr- Noo
Kernev-Veur
Kerr- Nev-Veeor
Cornish
Kernewek
Kerr-New-ek
Kernevek
Kerr-Nev-ek
Water
Dowr
Dower
Dour
Dour
Beach
Treath
Treth
Traezh
Trezh
Sea
Mor
More
Mor
More
Church
Eglos
Egg-Loss
Ilis
I-Liss
House
Chy
Chee
Ti
Tee
Chapel
Merther
Mert
RE: The Cornish Language
hi lightwinds,
having spent a bit of time over the years in cornwall (nr the lizard), yes, many of those words are familiar as place names. makes more sense too once you know tre, lan, bose etc etc.
thanks for that... ahhh brought back lots of happy thoughts :). why is it so far, even nowadays!!
funnily enough, my sister recently, sent me details of a holiday cottage, that used to be the one my step aunt and uncle lived in for many many years (rented) and where we spent our holidays as kids. wow... has it changed! from having no bathroom and and outside lavvy (ewww spiders and all!), its looking quite luxurious now.
i have this idea that i'd like to take my dad and sister, ona sort of pilgrimage maybe next year, seeing as dad was going there from when he was 17 or so. its in a prime position though so costs lots, unless we go infebruary or something (lol, yeah right! bleak or what!!).
RE: The Cornish Language
hi rosie, your right seem miles away, but I try to get down that way every year, miss home alot, we use to play on the goonhilly downs near Lizard as kids.
So many memorys:D. Have you ever been to Helston Flora Day?
love and blessings
lightwinds
Wendy x
RE: The Cornish Language
hi wendy,
last time i was there, about 2 years or so ago, i stayed in coverack, so had to go over goonhilly all the time. spent most days at kynance, so beautiful and rugged there, although the sea can cut you off!
i actually used to stay at cadgwith, so its good to go back and say hi to the "kids" i played with all those years ago.
never been to the floral dance and hated terry wogan singing it ;). never been to the padstow hobby horse thingie either.
RE: The Cornish Language
Very interesting thread on Cornish language, Wendy!! Got me thinking again and got the itch to go "home".
You may be interested in this link:
[link= http://www.kernewek.org ]www.kernewek.org[/link]
My husband's uncle lives in Kadina - part of the copper triangle in Oz. We think that the Oz part of his family may have actually originated from Cornwall....
As you know, my family comes from Hayle. In fact, as a result of looking for this link to post to you I have come across the person who took the pix and he may well be related to me!! The family name is the same - Hosking. So I'm just about to e-mail him.