View source for Cornish language

{{Short description|Brythonic Celtic language spoken in Cornwall}}
{{For|the Cornish dialect and accent of English|Cornish dialect}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Cornish
| nativename       = {{lang|kw|Kernewek}}<br />{{lang|kw|Kernowek}}
| pronunciation    = {{Plainlist}}
* {{IPA|kw|kəɾˈnuːək|}} {{Small|({{Lang|kw|Kernewek}})}}
* {{IPA|kw|kəɾˈnɛʊək|}} {{Small|({{Lang|kw|Kernewek}})}}
* {{IPA|kw|kəɹˈnuːək|}} {{Small|({{Lang|kw|Kernewek}})}}
* {{IPA|kw|kəɹˈnɛʊək|}} {{Small|({{Lang|kw|Kernewek}})}}
* {{IPA|kw|kəɾˈnɔʊək|}} {{Small|({{Lang|kw|Kernowek}})}}
* {{IPA|kw|kəɹˈnɔʊək|}} {{Small|({{Lang|kw|Kernowek}})}}
{{Endplainlist}}
| image            = 
| states           = [[United Kingdom]]
| region           = [[Cornwall]]
| ethnicity        = [[Cornish people|Cornish]]
| extinct          = End of 18th century<ref>{{cite journal |last=Spriggs |first=Matthew |author-link=Matthew Spriggs |title=Where Cornish was Spoken and When: A Provisional Synthesis |journal=Cornish Studies |series=Second Series |volume=11 |editor-last=Payton |editor-first=Philip |date=2003 |pages=228–269 |publisher=Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter Press |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282577683 |url-status=live |via=ResearchGate |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426211145/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282577683_Where_Cornish_was_spoken_and_When_A_Provisional_Synthesis |archive-date=26 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Language Empires in Comparative Perspective |last=Ó Riagáin |first=Dónall |chapter=Cracks in the foundation of a language empire – the resurgence of autochthonous lesser used languages in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland |date=13 January 2015 |pages=77–88 |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110408362.77/html |editor-last=Stolz |editor-first=Christel |location=Berlin / München / Boston |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |doi=10.1515/9783110408362.77 |isbn=9783110408362 |access-date=11 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=MacAulay |first=Donald |author-link=Donald MacAulay |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/24541026 |title=The Celtic languages |date=1992 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0521231272 |pages=346 |oclc=24541026}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Ball |editor1-first=Martin J. |editor1-link=Martin J. Ball |editor2-first=Nicole |editor2-last=Müller |editor2-link=Nicole Müller (linguist) |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/438705548 |title=The Celtic Languages |date=2009 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=9780203882481 |edition=2nd |location=Hoboken |pages=491 |oclc=438705548}}</ref><!-- NOTE: This date is the result of a talk page discussion. If you wish to change it please take it to the talk page first -->
| revived          = 20th century (563 users as of the 2021 Census:<ref>{{cite web |title=Main language (detailed) - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS024/editions/2021/versions/1 |website=ONS.gov.uk |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |access-date=6 January 2023 |date=29 November 2022}}</ref> 557 in 2011)<ref name="ons_gov_uk">{{cite web |title=Number of Welsh, Gaelic, Irish and Cornish speakers from the 2011 Census |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/numberofwelshgaelicirishandcornishspeakersfromthe2011census |website=ONS.gov.uk |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |access-date=2 June 2018 |date=9 June 2017}}</ref>
<!--
5,000 Conversational Speakers<ref>{{cite new |first=Keely |last=Lockhart |title=What does the Cornish language sound like? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11977031/What-does-the-Cornish-language-sound-like.html |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=3 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603162037/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11977031/What-does-the-Cornish-language-sound-like.html |archive-date=3 June 2020 |url-status=dead |date=5 November 2015}}</ref>
-->| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Celtic languages|Celtic]]
| fam3             = [[Insular Celtic languages|Insular Celtic]]
| fam4             = [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]]
| fam5             = [[Southwestern Brittonic languages|Southwestern Brittonic]]
| iso1             = kw
| iso2             = cor
| lc1              = cor
| ld1              = Modern Cornish
| lc2              = cnx
| ld2              = Middle Cornish
| lc3              = oco
| ld3              = Old Cornish
| linglist         = cnx
| lingname         = Middle Cornish
| linglist2        = oco
| lingname2        = Old Cornish
| lingua           = 50-ABB-a
| glotto           = corn1251
| glottorefname    = Cornish
| script           = [[Latin script|Latin alphabet]]
| minority         = [[England]]
* [[Cornwall]]
| agency           = {{nowrap|[[Cornish Language Partnership]]}}
| standards        = [[Standard Written Form]] (Official)<br>[[Kernewek Kemmyn]]<br>[[Unified Cornish]]<br>[[Kernowek Standard]]<br>[[Modern Cornish]]
| notice           = IPA
| map2             = Lang Status 20-CR.svg
| mapcaption2      = {{center|{{small|Cornish is classified as Critically Endangered by the [[UNESCO]] ''[[Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger]]'' (2010)<ref>{{cite UNESCO Atlas}}</ref>}}}}
}}
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Elizabeth speaking Cornish.webm|thumb|A Cornish speaker|class=notpageimage]]

'''Cornish''' ([[Standard Written Form]]: {{lang|kw|Kernewek}} or {{lang|kw|Kernowek}},<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cornishdictionary.org.uk/ |title=Gerlyver Kernewek |work=CornishDictionary.org.uk |access-date=17 October 2019 |language=kw}}</ref> {{IPA|kw|kəɾˈnuːək|pron}}) is a [[Southwestern Brittonic language|Southwestern Brittonic]] language of the [[Celtic language family]]. Along with [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and [[Breton language|Breton]] (a language spoken by Brittonic Celts who migrated to what is today France from Britain during the 6th and 7th centuries AD) Cornish is descended from the [[Common Brittonic]] language spoken throughout [[Great Britain]] and the [[Isle of Man]] before the English (and for a time in the north, [[Scots Gaelic]]) 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Kenneth Hurlstone |author-link=Kenneth H. Jackson |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/217631525 |title=Language and History in Early Britain: A Chronological Survey of the Brittonic Languages, 1st to 12th Century a.D. |date=1953 |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] |isbn=085224116X |pages=12 |oclc=217631525}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Pool |first=P. A. S. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/927038181 |title=William Bodinar's letter, 1776 |date=1975 |publisher=Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall |oclc=927038181 |quote=[In 1746] Captain Samuel Barrington, in the course of naval duties, took a sailor from Mount's Bay who spoke Cornish well enough to make himself understood to Bretons}}</ref> Cornish continued to function as a [[vernacular|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.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last=Berresford Ellis |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Berresford Ellis |title=The Story of the Cornish Language |date=1990 |publisher=Tor Mark Press |isbn=0850253713 |pages=19–25 |quote=Of John Davey of Zenmor who died in 1891, it was claimed that he was the last surviving native speaker of the language. His stone memorial reads 'John Davey 1812-1891 of Boswednack in this parish ... who was the last to possess any traditional considerable knowledge of the Cornish Language.'}}</ref>

Cornish became [[extinct language|extinct]] as a living community language in Cornwall by the [[last speaker of the Cornish language|end of the 18th century]]<!-- NOTE: This date is the result of a talk page discussion. If you wish to change it please take it to the talk page first -->, although knowledge of Cornish, including speaking ability to a certain extent, persisted within some families and individuals.<ref name="Mackinnon">{{cite journal |last=Mackinnon |first=Ken |title=Cornish at Its Millennium: An Independent Study of the Language |journal=Cornish Studies |volume=10}}</ref> [[Cornish language revival|A revival]] started in the early 20th century, and in 2010 [[UNESCO]] reclassified the language as [[Critically endangered language|critically endangered]], stating that its former classification of the language as extinct was no longer accurate.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-11935464 |title=Cornish language no longer extinct, says UN |work=[[BBC News Online]] |date=7 December 2010 |access-date=11 November 2012}}</ref> The language has a growing number of [[second language|second-language]] speakers,<ref name="Diarmuid O'Neill 240">{{cite book |title=Rebuilding the Celtic Languages: Reversing Language Shift in the Celtic Countries |first=Diarmuid |last=O'Neill |page=240 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6PFckH-GBKAC&q=%22Predennek%22&pg=PA212 |publisher=Y Lolfa |isbn=0862437237 |date=2005}}</ref> and a very small number of families now raise children to speak revived Cornish as a [[first language]].<ref name="Linguistic minorities in countries belonging to the European community">{{cite book |title=Linguistic minorities in countries belonging to the European community: summary report |date=1986 |publisher=[[Commission of the European Communities]] |pages=195}}</ref><ref name="Mebyon Kernow and Cornish Nationalism">{{cite book |last1=Deacon |first1=Bernard |author-link1=Bernard Deacon (linguist) |last2=Tregidga |first2=Garry |author-link2=Garry Tregidga |last3=Cole |first3=Richard |author-link3=Dick Cole (politician) |title=Mebyon Kernow and Cornish Nationalism |date=2003 |publisher=[[Welsh Academic Press]] |pages=132}}</ref>

Cornish is currently recognised under the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2410383.stm |title=Cornish gains official recognition |work=[[BBC News]] |date=6 November 2002 |access-date=11 November 2012}}</ref> and the language is often described as an important part of Cornish identity, culture and heritage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-boost-to-safeguard-cornish-language-announced |title=Funding boost to safeguard Cornish language announced |website=gov.uk |date=13 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cornwallvsf.org/kowethas-an-yeth-kernewek-wins-heritage-lottery-fund-support/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331113516/http://www.cornwallvsf.org/kowethas-an-yeth-kernewek-wins-heritage-lottery-fund-support/ |archive-date=31 March 2016 |title=Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek wins Heritage Lottery Fund support |date=19 August 2014}}</ref> Since the revival of the language, some Cornish textbooks and [[Cornish literature|works of literature]] have been published, and an increasing number of people are studying the language.<ref name="Diarmuid O'Neill 240" /> Recent developments include [[music of Cornwall|Cornish music]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.magakernow.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=38589 |title=Music |website=MagaKernow.org.uk |publisher=[[Cornish Language Partnership]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225143453/http://www.magakernow.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=38589 |archive-date=25 December 2008}}</ref> [[independent film]]s,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.magakernow.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=38588 |title=Film clips: Here you can watch clips from films made in Cornish |website=MagaKernow.org.uk |publisher=[[Cornish Language Partnership]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225143447/http://www.magakernow.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=38588 |archive-date=25 December 2008}}</ref> and children's books. A small number of people in Cornwall have been brought up to be [[multilingualism|bilingual]] native speakers,<ref name="magakernow797">{{cite web |first=Ken |last=MacKinnon |title=Cornish Language Study 2000 |url=http://www.magakernow.org.uk/default.aspx?page=797 |website=MagaKernow.org.uk |publisher=[[Cornish Language Partnership]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203002159/http://www.magakernow.org.uk/default.aspx?page=797 |archive-date=3 December 2013}}</ref><ref name=e18>{{e18|cor|Cornish}}</ref> and the language is taught in schools and appears on street nameplates.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/cornwall_news/4142186.Cornish_language___is_it_dead_/ |title=Cornish language – is it dead? |work=This is The West Country |date=21 February 2009 |access-date=11 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Street name plates - Cornwall Council |url=https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/planning-and-building-control/property-and-street-naming-and-numbering/street-name-plates/ |access-date=2024-01-22 |website=www.cornwall.gov.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-02-11 |title=Milestone reached as 1,000th Cornish language street sign is installed |url=https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/11001378.milestone-reached-as-1000th-cornish-language-street-sign-is-installed/ |access-date=2024-01-22 |website=Falmouth Packet |language=en}}</ref> The first Cornish-language [[day care]] opened in 2010.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6988752.ece |title=Have a good dy: Cornish language is taught in nursery |work=[[The Times]] |first=Nicola |last=Woolcock |date=15 January 2010 |access-date=11 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604213311/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6988752.ece |archive-date=4 June 2010}}</ref>

== Classification ==
Cornish is a [[Southwestern Brittonic languages|Southwestern Brittonic]] language,<ref>{{cite book |last=Schrijver |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Schrijver |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/33209243 |title=Studies in British Celtic historical phonology |date=1995 |publisher=Rodopi |isbn=9051838204 |location=Amsterdam |pages=12 |oclc=33209243}}</ref> a branch of the [[Insular Celtic languages|Insular Celtic]] section of the [[Celtic languages|Celtic language family]], which is a sub-family of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language family.<ref>{{cite web |title=Glottolog 4.4 - Cornish |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/corn1251 |access-date=21 September 2021 |website=[[Glottolog]]}}</ref> Brittonic also includes [[Welsh language|Welsh]], [[Breton language|Breton]], [[Cumbric]] and possibly [[Pictish]], the last two of which are [[extinct language|extinct]]. [[Scottish Gaelic]], [[Irish language|Irish]] and [[Manx language|Manx]] are part of the separate [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic]] branch of Insular Celtic.

[[Joseph Loth]] viewed Cornish and Breton as being two dialects of the same language, claiming that "Middle Cornish is without doubt closer to Breton as a whole than the modern Breton dialect of [[Quiberon]] [{{lang|br|Kiberen}}] is to that of [[Saint-Pol-de-Léon]] [{{lang|br|Kastell-Paol}}]."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Williams |first=Nicholas J. A. |title=The Preterite in Cornish |journal=Cornish Studies |date=2010 |volume=18 |series=Second Series |page=201 |doi=10.1386/corn.18.1.179_1}}</ref> Also, [[Kenneth H. Jackson|Kenneth Jackson]] argued that it is almost certain that Cornish and Breton would have been mutually intelligible as long as Cornish was a living language, and that Cornish and Breton are especially closely related to each other and less closely related to Welsh.{{sfn|Jackson|1953|p=12}}

== History ==
[[File:Cornish language shift.svg|right|thumb|upright=1.1|A map showing the westward decline of Cornish, 1300–1750]]

Cornish evolved from the [[Common Brittonic]] spoken throughout Britain south of the [[Firth of Forth]] (and if Pictish is included as Brittonic, the entirety of Britain) during the [[British Iron Age]] and [[Roman Britain|Roman period]]. As a result of [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|westward Anglo-Saxon expansion]], the Britons of the southwest were separated from those in modern-day [[Wales]] and [[Cumbria]], which Jackson links to the defeat of the Britons at the [[Battle of Deorham]] in about 577. Similarly, the Britons of the north (the [[Hen Ogledd]]) were separated from those of the south and west by Anglo-Saxon and Gaelic Scots expansion.{{sfn|Jackson|1953|p=18}} The [[Western Brittonic languages|western dialects]] eventually evolved into [[Welsh language|modern Welsh]] and the now extinct [[Cumbric language|Cumbric]], while [[Southwestern Brittonic languages|Southwestern Brittonic]] developed into Cornish and Breton, the latter as a result of emigration to parts of the continent, known as [[Brittany]] over the following centuries.{{sfn|Jackson|1953|p=19}}

=== Old Cornish ===
The area controlled by the southwestern Britons was progressively reduced by the expansion of [[Wessex]] over the next few centuries. During the Old Cornish ({{lang|kw|Kernewek Koth}}){{sfn|George|2009|p=343}} period (800–1200), the Cornish-speaking area was largely coterminous with modern-day [[Cornwall]], after the Saxons had taken over [[Devon]] in their south-westward advance, which probably was facilitated by a second migration wave to Brittany that resulted in the partial depopulation of the native Brittonic inhabitants of Devon.{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|pp=410–468}}

[[File:Vocabularium Cornicum BL MS Cotton Vespasian A xiv 7r.jpg|thumb|right|The first page of {{lang|la-x-medieval|Vocabularium Cornicum}}, a 12th-century Latin-Cornish glossary]]

The earliest written record of the Cornish language comes from this period: a 9th-century [[Gloss (annotation)|gloss]] in a [[Latin]] [[manuscript]] of {{lang|la-x-medieval|[[Consolation of Philosophy|De Consolatione Philosophiae]]}} by [[Boethius]], which used the words {{lang|oco|ud rocashaas}}. The phrase may mean "it [the mind] hated the gloomy places",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/po/060615.shtml |title=Oxford scholars detect earliest record of Cornish |date=15 June 2006 |access-date=8 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060925181724/http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/po/060615.shtml |archive-date=25 September 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Sims-Williams |first=P. |author-link=Patrick Sims-Williams |date=Winter 2005 |title=A New Brittonic Gloss on Boethius: ud rocashaas |journal=Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies |volume=50 |pages=77–86}}</ref> or alternatively, as [[Andrew Breeze]] suggests, "she hated the land".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Breeze |first=A. |date=1 December 2007 |title=The Old Cornish Gloss on Boethius |url=https://academic.oup.com/nq/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/notesj/gjm184 |journal=Notes and Queries |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=367–368 |doi=10.1093/notesj/gjm184 |issn=0029-3970|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Other sources from this period include the ''Saints' List'', a list of almost fifty Cornish saints,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Olson |first=B. Lynette |date=1996 |title=Note: The tenth-century List of Cornish parochial saints' names in Codex Vaticanus Reg. Lat. 191 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pgn.1996.0016 |journal=Parergon |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=179–181 |doi=10.1353/pgn.1996.0016 |s2cid=144542278 |issn=1832-8334|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the [[Bodmin manumissions]], which is a list of [[Manumission|manumittors]] and slaves, the latter with mostly Cornish names,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stokes |first=Whitley |title=The manumissions in the Bodmin Gospels |journal=Revue Celtique |volume=1 |pages=332–345}}</ref> and, more substantially, a Latin–Cornish glossary (the {{lang|la-x-medieval|[[Vocabularium Cornicum]]}} or Cottonian Vocabulary), a Cornish translation of [[Ælfric of Eynsham]]'s Latin–Old English Glossary,<ref>{{cite book |last=Blom |first=Alderik H. |title=Multilingualism in Medieval Britain (C. 1066-1520) |chapter=Multilingualism and the Vocabularium Cornicum |date=2012 |chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1484/m.tcne-eb.1.100793 |series=Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe |volume=15 |pages=59–71 |place=Turnhout |publisher=Brepols Publishers |doi=10.1484/m.tcne-eb.1.100793 |isbn=9782503542508 |access-date=18 September 2021}}</ref> which is thematically arranged into several groups, such as the [[Genesis creation narrative]], anatomy, church hierarchy, the family, names for various kinds of artisans and their tools, flora, fauna, and household items.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mills |first=Jon |date=2013 |title=The Vocabularium Cornicum: a Cornish vocabulary? |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/zcph.2013.009/html |journal={{lang|de|Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie}} |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=141–150 |doi=10.1515/zcph.2013.009 |s2cid=161927698 |issn=1865-889X|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Padel |first=Oliver |date=2014 |title=The nature and date of the Old Cornish Vocabulary |journal={{lang|de|Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie}} |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=191 |doi=10.1515/zcph.2014.009 |s2cid=164677429 |issn=1865-889X}}</ref> The manuscript was widely thought to be in [[Old Welsh]] until the 18th century when it was identified as Cornish by [[Edward Lhuyd]].{{sfn|Padel|2014}} Some Brittonic glosses in the 9th-century colloquy {{lang|la-x-medieval|[[De raris fabulis]]}} were once identified as Old Cornish, but they are more likely Old Welsh, possibly influenced by a Cornish scribe.<ref>{{citation |first=Alexander |last=Falileyev |title=De raris fabulis |encyclopedia=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |editor-first=John C. |editor-last=Koch |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |date=2006 |pages=575–577}}.
</ref> No single phonological feature distinguishes Cornish from both Welsh and Breton until the beginning of the [[assibilation]] of [[dental stop]]s in Cornish, which is not found before the second half of the eleventh century,{{sfn|Jackson|1953|p=21}} and it is not always possible to distinguish Old Cornish, Old Breton, and Old Welsh orthographically.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chaudhri |first=Talat |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/828579430 |title=Studies in the consonantal system of Cornish |date=2007 |publisher=[[University of Wales]], Aberystwyth |pages=2–3 |oclc=828579430}}</ref>

=== Middle Cornish ===
 [[File:Origo Mundi kynsa gwersow.jpg|thumb|right|The opening verses of {{lang|la-x-medieval|Origo Mundi}}, the first play of the {{lang|la-x-medieval|[[Ordinalia]]}} (the {{lang|la|[[masterpiece|magnum opus]]}} of medieval Cornish literature), written by an unknown monk in the late 14th century]]
[[File:Beunans Meriasek (The life of St Meriasek) (f.56v.) Middle Cornish Saint's Play.jpg|thumb|{{lang|cnx|[[Beunans Meriasek]]}} (The life of St. [[Meriasek]]) (f.56v.) Middle Cornish Saint's Play]]
The Cornish language continued to flourish well through the Middle Cornish ({{lang|kw|Kernewek Kres}}){{sfn|George|2009|p=343}} period (1200–1600), reaching a peak of about 39,000 speakers in the 13th century, after which the number started to decline.<ref name="ken">{{cite journal |last=George |first=Ken |author-link=Ken George |date=1986 |title=How many people spoke Cornish traditionally? |journal=Cornish Studies |volume=14 |pages=67–70}}</ref><ref name="stalmaszczyk" /> This period provided the bulk of traditional [[Cornish literature]], and was used to reconstruct the language during its revival. Most important is the {{lang|la-x-medieval|[[Ordinalia]]}}, a cycle of three mystery plays, {{lang|la-x-medieval|Origo Mundi}}, {{lang|la-x-medieval|Passio Christi}} and {{lang|la-x-medieval|Resurrexio Domini}}. Together these provide about 8,734 lines of text. The three plays exhibit a mixture of English and Brittonic influences, and, like other Cornish literature, may have been written at [[Glasney College]] near [[Penryn, Cornwall|Penryn]].<ref>{{citation |last=Padel |first=O.J. |title=Ordinalia |date=3 August 2017 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118396957.wbemlb247 |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain |pages=1–2 |editor1-last=Rouse |editor1-first=Robert |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]], Ltd |doi=10.1002/9781118396957.wbemlb247 |isbn=9781118396957 |access-date=16 September 2021 |editor2-last=Echard |editor2-first=Sian |editor3-last=Fulton |editor3-first=Helen |editor4-last=Rector |editor4-first=Geoff|url-access=subscription }}</ref> From this period also are the [[Hagiography|hagiographical]] dramas {{lang|cnx|[[Beunans Meriasek]]}} (''The Life of [[Meriasek]]'') and {{lang|cnx|[[Bewnans Ke]]}} (''The Life of [[Saint Kea|Ke]]''), both of which feature as an antagonist the villainous and tyrannical King [[Tewdwr Mawr|Tewdar]] (or Teudar), a historical medieval king in Armorica and Cornwall, who, in these plays, has been interpreted as a lampoon of either of the [[House of Tudor|Tudor]] kings [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] or [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Mills |first=Jon |date=2012 |chapter=Depiction of Tyranny in the Cornish Miracle Plays: Tenor, Code Switching and Sociolinguistic Variables |title=Ilteangach, ilseiftiúil: Féilscríbhinn in ómós do Nicholas Williams – A festschrift in Honour of Nicholas Williams |pages=139–157 |chapter-url=http://rgdoi.net/10.13140/RG.2.1.1558.0882 |doi=10.13140/RG.2.1.1558.0882}}</ref>

Others are the ''Charter Fragment'', the earliest known continuous text in the Cornish language, apparently part of a play about a medieval marriage,<ref>{{cite book |last=Toorians |first=Lauran |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/614930826 |title=The Middle Cornish: Charter endorsement: the making of a marriage in medieval Cornwall |date=1991 |publisher=Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck |oclc=614930826}}</ref> and {{lang|cnx|[[Pascon agan Arluth]]}} (''The Passion of Our Lord''), a poem probably intended for personal worship, were written during this period, probably in the second half of the 14th century.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1144791918 |title=The Charter fragment and Pascon agan arluth |date=2020 |first1=Alan M. |last1=Kent |first2=Michael |last2=Everson |first3=Nicholas |last3=Williams |isbn=9781782011828 |location=Dundee |oclc=1144791918 |publisher=Evertype}}</ref> Another important text, the {{lang|cnx|Tregear Homilies}}, was realized to be Cornish in 1949, having previously been incorrectly classified as Welsh. It is the longest text in the traditional Cornish language, consisting of around 30,000 words of continuous prose. This text is a late 16th century translation of twelve of [[Edmund Bonner|Bishop Bonner]]'s thirteen homilies by a certain John Tregear, tentatively identified as a vicar of [[St Allen]] from [[Crowan]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Frost |first=D. H. |date=1 May 2007 |title=Glasney's Parish Clergy and the Tregear Manuscript |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/10.1386/corn.15.1.27_1 |journal=Cornish Studies |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=27–89 |doi=10.1386/corn.15.1.27_1 |issn=1352-271X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and has an additional catena, Sacrament an Alter, added later by his fellow priest, Thomas Stephyn.<ref>{{cite book |last=Classen |first=Albrecht |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/775645348 |title=Handbook of Medieval Studies Terms - Methods - Trends |series=De Gruyter Lexikon |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] |date=29 November 2010 |isbn=9783110215588 |pages=371–372 |oclc=775645348}}</ref> In the reign of Henry VIII, an account was given by [[Andrew Boorde]] in his 1542 {{lang|en-emodeng|Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge}}. He states, "{{lang|en-emodeng|In Cornwall is two speches, the one is naughty Englysshe, and the other is Cornysshe speche. And there be many men and women the which cannot speake one worde of Englysshe, but all Cornyshe.}}"<ref>{{cite book |last=Jenner |first=Henry |author-link=Henry Jenner |date=1904 |title=A Handbook of the Cornish Language Chiefly in Its Latest Stages with Some Account of Its History and Literature |location=London |publisher=David Nutt}}</ref>

When Parliament passed the [[Act of Uniformity 1549]], which established the 1549 edition of the English Book of Common Prayer as the sole legal form of worship in England, including Cornwall, people in many areas of Cornwall did not speak or understand English. The passing of this Act was one of the causes of the [[Prayer Book Rebellion]] (which may also have been influenced by government repression after the failed [[Cornish rebellion of 1497]]), with "the commoners of Devonshyre and Cornwall" producing a manifesto demanding a return to the old religious services and included an article that concluded, "and so we the Cornyshe men (whereof certen of us understande no Englysh) utterly refuse thys newe Englysh."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fletcher |first1=Anthony |first2=Diarmaid |last2=MacCulloch |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/213080705 |title=Tudor rebellions |date=2008 |publisher=[[Pearson Longman]] |isbn=9781405874328 |edition=5th |location=Harlow, Essex |pages=152 |oclc=213080705}}</ref> In response to their articles, the government spokesman (either [[Philip Nichols]] or [[Nicholas Udall]]) wondered why they did not just ask the king for a version of the liturgy in their own language.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ó hAnnracháin |first1=Tadgh |last2=Armstrong |first2=Robert Matthew |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1020678113 |title=Christianities in the Early Modern Celtic World |date=30 July 2014 |isbn=9781137306340 |pages=76 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |oclc=1020678113}}</ref> Archbishop [[Thomas Cranmer]] asked why the Cornishmen should be offended by holding the service in English, when they had before held it in [[Latin language|Latin]], which even fewer of them could understand.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ridley |first=Jasper |author-link=Jasper Ridley (historian) |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/970603152 |title=Thomas Cranmer |date=2013 |isbn=9781447241287 |publisher=Bello |location=London |oclc=970603152}}</ref> [[Anthony Fletcher]] points out that this rebellion was primarily motivated by religious and economic, rather than linguistic, concerns.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fletcher |first1=Anthony |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/213080705 |title=Tudor rebellions |date=2008 |publisher=[[Pearson Longman]] |first2=Diarmaid |last2=MacCulloch |isbn=9781405874328 |edition=5th |location=Harlow, Essex |pages=65 |oclc=213080705}}</ref> The rebellion prompted a heavy-handed response from the government, and 5,500 people died during the fighting and the rebellion's aftermath. Government officials then directed troops under the command of [[Anthony Kingston|Sir Anthony Kingston]] to carry out pacification operations throughout the West Country. Kingston subsequently ordered the executions of numerous individuals suspected of involvement with the rebellion as part of the post-rebellion reprisals.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=A. L. Rowse |last=Rowse |first=A. L. |title=Tudor Cornwall: Portrait of a Society |publisher=Jonathan Cape |location=London |date=1941 |pages=282–286}}</ref>

The rebellion eventually proved a turning-point for the Cornish language, as the authorities came to associate it with [[sedition]] and "backwardness". This proved to be one of the reasons why the Book of Common Prayer was never translated into Cornish (unlike [[Welsh language|Welsh]]), as proposals to do so were suppressed in the rebellion's aftermath. The failure to translate the Book of Common Prayer into Cornish led to the language's rapid decline during the 16th and 17th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=James Whetter |last=Whetter |first=James |title=The History of Glasney College |publisher=Tabb House |date=1988}}</ref><ref name="Mills">{{cite journal |last=Mills |first=Jon |date=2010 |title=Genocide and Ethnocide: The Suppression of the Cornish Language |url=https://kar.kent.ac.uk/27912/2/Mills%2C%20Jon%20%282010%29%20Genocide%20and%20Ethnocide%20-%20The%20Suppression%20of%20the%20Cornish%20Language%20%28not%20for%20distribution%29.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012214437/https://kar.kent.ac.uk/27912/2/Mills%2C%20Jon%20%282010%29%20Genocide%20and%20Ethnocide%20-%20The%20Suppression%20of%20the%20Cornish%20Language%20%28not%20for%20distribution%29.pdf |archive-date=12 October 2018 |url-status=live |journal=Interfaces in Language |pages=189–206 |doi=10.13140/2.1.1439.5843}}</ref> [[Peter Berresford Ellis]] cites the years 1550–1650 as a century of immense damage for the language, and its decline can be traced to this period. In 1680 [[William Scawen]] wrote an essay describing 16 reasons for the decline of Cornish, among them the lack of a distinctive [[Cornish alphabet]], the loss of contact between Cornwall and [[Brittany]], the cessation of the miracle plays, loss of records in the Civil War, lack of a [[Cornish Bible]] and immigration to Cornwall.<ref name="Berresford-Ellis">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L709AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA82 |title=The Cornish Language and Its Literature |first=Peter Berresford |last=Ellis |author-link=Peter Berresford Ellis |date=1 January 1974 |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |via=[[Google Books]] |isbn=9780710079282}}</ref> [[Mark Stoyle]], however, has argued that the 'glotticide' of the Cornish language was mainly a result of the Cornish gentry adopting English to dissociate themselves from the reputation for disloyalty and rebellion associated with the Cornish language since the 1497 uprising.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stoyle |first=Mark |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48154341 |title=West Britons: Cornish identities and the early modern British state |date=2002 |publisher=[[University of Exeter Press]] |isbn=0859896870 |pages=45 |oclc=48154341}}</ref>

=== Late Cornish ===
[[File:Lether Bodinar.jpg|thumb|right|upright|William Bodinar's letter, dated 3 July 1776]]
By the middle of the 17th century, the language had retreated to [[Penwith]] and [[Kerrier]], and transmission of the language to new generations had almost entirely ceased. In his ''Survey of Cornwall'', published in 1602, [[Richard Carew (antiquary)|Richard Carew]] writes:<blockquote>[M]ost of the inhabitants can speak no word of Cornish, but very few are ignorant of the English; and yet some so affect their own, as to a stranger they will not speak it; for if meeting them by chance, you inquire the way, or any such matter, your answer shall be, "{{lang|cnx|Meea navidna caw zasawzneck}}," "I [will] speak no Saxonage."<ref name="Carew1811">{{cite book |last=Carew |first=Richard |title=Carew's Survey of Cornwall: to which are added, notes illustrative of its history and antiquities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhTOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA152 |access-date=13 February 2013 |date=1811 |publisher=T. Bensley for J. Faulder |page=152 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref></blockquote>
The Late Cornish ({{lang|kw|Kernewek Diwedhes}}){{sfn|George|2009|p=343}} period from 1600 to about 1800 has a less substantial body of literature than the Middle Cornish period, but the sources are more varied in nature, including songs, poems about fishing and curing [[Sardine|pilchards]], and various translations of verses from the Bible, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer and the Creed.{{sfn|Chaudhri|2007|pp=10-11}} Edward Lhuyd's [[Archæologia Britannica|''Archaeologia Britannica'']], which was mainly recorded in the field from native speakers in the early 1700s, and his unpublished field notebook are seen as important sources of Cornish vocabulary, some of which are not found in any other source.{{sfn|Chaudhri|2007|p=9}} ''Archaeologia Britannica'' also features a complete version of a traditional folk tale, ''John of Chyanhor'', a short story about a man from [[St Levan]] who goes far to the east seeking work, eventually returning home after three years to find that his wife has borne him a child during his absence.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lhuyd |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Lhuyd |title=Archaeologia Britannica |volume=1: ''Glossography'' |date=1707 |pages=251–253}}</ref>

In 1776, William Bodinar, who describes himself as having learned Cornish from old fishermen when he was a boy, wrote a letter to [[Daines Barrington]] in Cornish, with an English translation, which was probably the last prose written in the traditional language. In his letter, he describes the sociolinguistics of the Cornish language at the time, stating that there are no more than four or five old people in his village who can still speak Cornish, concluding with the remark that Cornish is no longer known by young people.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pool |first=P. A. S. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/927038181 |title=William Bodinar's letter, 1776 |date=1975 |journal=Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall |oclc=927038181}}</ref> However, the last recorded traditional Cornish literature may have been the ''[[Cranken Rhyme]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Zafar |first=Chaudhri Talat |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1119992761 |title=Studies in the consonantal system of Cornish |pages=17 |oclc=1119992761}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lipoński |first=Wojciech |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/986071821 |title=Landmarks in British History and Culture: A Monograph of Selected Issues |date=2016 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM / Adam Mickiewicz University |series="Seria Filologia Angielska" No. 47 |isbn=9788323231103 |edition=2nd |location=Poznań |pages=54 |oclc=986071821}}</ref> a corrupted version of a verse or song published in the late 19th century by [[John Hobson Matthews]], recorded orally by [[John Davey (Cornish speaker)|John Davey]] (or Davy) of [[Boswednack]], of uncertain date but probably originally composed during the last years of the traditional language. Davey had traditional knowledge of at least some Cornish.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Payton |first=Philip |date=1 May 2011 |title=Introduction |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/10.1386/corn.19.1.1_2 |journal=Cornish Studies |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1386/corn.19.1.1_2 |issn=1352-271X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> John Kelynack (1796–1885), a fisherman of Newlyn, was sought by [[Philology|philologists]] for old Cornish words and technical phrases in the 19th century.<ref>{{cite news |title=Death of Mr John Kelynack, of Newlyn |work=[[The Cornishman (newspaper)|The Cornishman]] |issue=356 |date=14 May 1885 |page=5}}</ref>

=== Decline of Cornish speakers between 1300 and 1800 ===
[[File:Dorothy Pentreath.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.15|[[Dolly Pentreath]] (died 1777), said to be the last native speaker of Cornish, in an engraved portrait published in 1781|alt=A black and white engraving of a woman in 18th century clothing with a bonnet. Fish, a crab, a crustacean and a jug are below]]

It is difficult to state with certainty when Cornish ceased to be spoken, due to the fact that its last speakers were of relatively low social class and that the definition of what constitutes "a living language" is not clear cut. Peter Pool argues that by 1800 nobody was using Cornish as a daily language and no evidence exists of anyone capable of conversing in the language at that date.<ref name="pool">{{cite book |last=Pool |first=Peter |title=The Death of Cornish |date=1975 |publisher=County Museum |location=Truro |url=https://peterpool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Death-of-Cornish-compressed.pdf |access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref> However, [[Passive speaker (language)|passive speakers]], [[semi-speaker]]s and [[rememberer]]s, who retain some competence in the language despite not being fluent nor using the language in daily life, generally survive even longer.

The traditional view that [[Dolly Pentreath]] (1692–1777) was the [[Last speaker of the Cornish language|last native speaker of Cornish]] has been challenged,<ref name=":0" /> and in the 18th and 19th centuries there was academic interest in the language and in attempting to find the last speaker of Cornish. It has been suggested that, whereas Pentreath was probably the last ''fluent'' speaker, the last ''native'' speaker may have been [[John Davey (Cornish speaker)|John Davey]] of Zennor, who died in 1891.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grenoble |first1=Lenore A. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62410803 |title=Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization |date=2006 |first2=Lindsay J. |last2=Whaley |isbn=9780511130892 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=46 |oclc=62410803}}</ref> However, although it is clear Davey possessed some traditional knowledge in addition to having read books on Cornish, accounts differ of his competence in the language. Some contemporaries stated he was able to converse on certain topics in Cornish whereas others affirmed they had never heard him claim to be able to do so.<ref name="pool" /> [[Robert Morton Nance]], who reworked and translated Davey's Cranken Rhyme, remarked, "There can be no doubt, after the evidence of this rhyme, of what there was to lose by neglecting John Davey."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lowenna |first=Sharon |date=1 May 2011 |title=Charles Rogers' 'Vocabulary of the Cornish Language', the Rylands Vocabulary, and gatherers of pre-'Revival' fragments |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/10.1386/corn.19.1.105_1 |journal=Cornish Studies |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=105–122 |doi=10.1386/corn.19.1.105_1 |issn=1352-271X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The search for the last speaker is hampered by a lack of transcriptions or audio recordings, so that it is impossible to tell from this distance whether the language these people were reported to be speaking was Cornish, or English with a heavy Cornish [[stratum (linguistics)#Substratum|substratum]], nor what their level of fluency was. Nevertheless, this academic interest, along with the beginning of the [[Celtic Revival]] in the late 19th century, provided the groundwork for a Cornish language revival movement.

Notwithstanding the uncertainty over who was the last speaker of Cornish, researchers have posited the following numbers for the prevalence of the language between 1050 and 1800.<ref name="ken"/><ref name="stalmaszczyk">{{cite journal |last=Stalmaszczyk |first=Piotr |date=1997 |title=Cornish Language and Literature: A brief introduction |url=http://cejsh.icm.edu.pl/cejsh/element/bwmeta1.element.hdl_11089_14418 |journal=Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Litteraria Anglica |volume=3 |issue=1999 |pages=117–127}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Area where<br />Cornish<br />was spoken<br />(in km<sup>2</sup>)
!Total<br />population<br />of Cornwall
!Number of<br />Cornish<br />speakers
|-
|1050
|
|16,000
|15,000
|-
|1110
|
|21,000
|20,000
|-
|1150
|
|28,000
|26,000
|-
|1200
|3,270
|35,000
|30,000
|-
|1250
|
|43,000
|34,000
|-
|1300
|2,780
|52,000
|38,000
|-
|1350
|
|48,000
|32,000
|-
|1400
|2,360
|55,000
|34,000
|-
|1450
|2,360
|62,000
|33,000
|-
|1500
|1,890
|69,000
|33,000
|-
|1550
|
|76,000
|30,000
|-
|1600
|1,400
|84,000
|22,000
|-
|1650
|910
|93,000
|14,000
|-
|1700
|530
|106,000
|5,000
|-
|1750
|160
|140,000 
|"Very few"
|-
|1800
|0
|192,000
|0
|}

=== Revived Cornish ===
{{See also|Cornish language revival}}
In 1904, the Celtic language scholar and Cornish cultural activist [[Henry Jenner]] published ''A Handbook of the Cornish Language''. The publication of this book is often considered to be the point at which the revival movement started. Jenner wrote about the Cornish language in 1905, "one may fairly say that most of what there was of it has been preserved, and that it has been continuously preserved, for there has never been a time when there were not some Cornishmen who knew some Cornish."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jenner |first=Henry |date=1905 |title=Cornwall a Celtic Nation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30069809 |journal=The Celtic Review |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=234–246 |doi=10.2307/30069809 |jstor=30069809|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The revival focused on reconstructing and standardising the language, including coining new words for modern concepts, and creating educational material in order to teach Cornish to others. In 1929 [[Robert Morton Nance]] published his [[Unified Cornish]] ({{lang|kw|Kernewek Unys}}){{sfn|George|2009|p=343}} system, based on the Middle Cornish literature while extending the attested vocabulary with neologisms and forms based on Celtic roots also found in Breton and Welsh, publishing a dictionary in 1938.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mills |first=Jon |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1078987354 |title=A Short History of Cornish Lexicography |date=2016 |publisher=[[Jagiellonian University Press]] |pages= |oclc=1078987354}}</ref> Nance's work became the basis of revived Cornish ({{lang|kw|Kernewek Dasserghys}}){{sfn|George|2009|p=343}} for most of the 20th century. During the 1970s, criticism of Nance's system, including the inconsistent orthography and unpredictable correspondence between spelling and pronunciation,<ref name="Mackinnon" /> as well as on other grounds such as the archaic basis of Unified and a lack of emphasis on the spoken language,<ref>{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Gendall |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1169991198 |title=Kernewek bew |date=1972 |publisher=[[Kesva an Taves Kernewek]] |oclc=1169991198}}</ref> resulted in the creation of several rival systems. In the 1980s, [[Ken George]] published a new system, {{lang|kw-kkcor|[[Kernewek Kemmyn]]}} ('Common Cornish'), based on a reconstruction of the phonological system of Middle Cornish, but with an approximately [[phonemic orthography|morphophonemic orthography]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=N. J. A. |title=Celtic Linguistics / Ieithyddiaeth Geltaidd |chapter=A Problem in Cornish Phonology |date=1990 |chapter-url=https://benjamins.com/catalog/cilt.68.20wil |series=Current Issues in Linguistic Theory No. 68 |volume=68 |pages=241 |editor-last=Ball |editor-first=Martin J. |place=Amsterdam |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |doi=10.1075/cilt.68.20wil |isbn=9789027235657 |access-date=18 September 2021 |editor2-last=Fife |editor2-first=James |editor3-last=Poppe |editor3-first=Erich |editor4-last=Rowland |editor4-first=Jenny}}</ref> It was subsequently adopted by the Cornish Language Board{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=757}} and was the written form used by a reported 54.5% of all Cornish language users according to a survey in 2008,<ref>{{cite book |last=Burley |first=Stuart |date=2008 |title=Report on the Cornish language survey conducted by the Cornish language Partnership }}</ref> but was heavily criticised for a variety of reasons by Jon Mills and [[Nicholas Williams (poet)|Nicholas Williams]], including making phonological distinctions that they state were not made in the traditional language {{circa|1500}}, failing to make distinctions that they believe ''were'' made in the traditional language at this time, and the use of an orthography that deviated too far from the traditional texts and Unified Cornish.<ref>{{cite book |title=Reconstructive Phonology and Contrastive Lexicology: Problems with the Gerlyver Kernewek Kemmyn |last=Mills |date=1999 |publisher=[[University of Exeter Press]] |oclc=1078438372}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Cornish today: An examination of the revived language |last=Williams |first=Nicholas |date=2006 |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |isbn=9781904808077 |edition=3rd |location=Westport, Co. Mayo |oclc=80332199}}</ref> Also during this period, [[Richard Gendall]] created his Modern Cornish system (also known as Revived Late Cornish), which used Late Cornish as a basis,<ref name="Grenoble2009">{{cite book |last=Grenoble |first=Lenore A. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1225224133 |title=Saving Languages: An Introduction to Language Revitalization |date=2009 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9780521816212 |oclc=1225224133}}</ref>{{rp|46}} and Nicholas Williams published a revised version of Unified;<ref name="Grenoble2009" />{{rp|46}} however neither of these systems gained the popularity of Unified or Kemmyn.

The revival entered a period of factionalism and public disputes, with each orthography attempting to push the others aside. By the time that Cornish was recognised by the UK government under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2002, it had become recognised that the existence of multiple orthographies was unsustainable with regards to using the language in education and public life, as none had achieved a wide consensus. A process of unification was set about which resulted in the creation of the public-body [[Cornish Language Partnership]] in 2005 and agreement on a [[Standard Written Form]] in 2008.<ref name="autogenerated3">{{cite news |last=Morris |first=Jonathan |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7074487.stm |title=Breakthrough for Cornish language |work=[[BBC News Online]] |date=19 May 2008 |access-date=11 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7408686.stm |title=Standard Cornish spelling agreed |work=[[BBC News Online]] |date=19 May 2008 |access-date=11 November 2012}}</ref> In 2010 a new milestone was reached when UNESCO altered its classification of Cornish, stating that its previous label of "extinct" was no longer accurate.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

== Geographic distribution and number of speakers ==
[[File:Penzance - CrossCountry 221130 in platform 4.JPG|thumb|Cornish can be seen in many places in [[Cornwall]]; this sign is at Penzance railway station.]]
Speakers of Cornish reside primarily in [[Cornwall]], which has a population of 563,600 (2017 estimate). There are also some speakers living outside Cornwall, particularly in the countries of the [[Cornish diaspora]], as well as in other [[Celtic nations]]. Estimates of the number of Cornish speakers vary according to the definition of a speaker, and is difficult to determine accurately due to the individualised nature of language take-up. Nevertheless, there is recognition that the number of Cornish speakers is growing.<ref name="Diarmuid O'Neill 240" /><ref>{{Cite web |title='Significant rise' in number of people learning Cornish |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0xx6170z8vo |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=www.bbc.com |date=16 June 2024 |language=en-GB}}</ref> From before the 1980s to the end of the 20th century there was a sixfold increase in the number of speakers to around 300.<ref name=":ekeltoi1">{{cite journal |last=Ferdinand |first=Siarl |date=2 December 2013 |title=A Brief History of the Cornish Language, its Revival and its Current Status |url=https://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol2/2_6/ferdinand_2_6.html |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=2 |pages=199–227 |issn=1540-4889 |access-date=11 July 2018}}</ref> One figure for the number of people who know a few basic words, such as knowing that "Kernow" means "Cornwall", was 300,000; the same survey gave the number of people able to have simple conversations as 3,000.<ref>{{cite book |title=Rebuilding the Celtic Languages: Reversing Language Shift in the Celtic Countries |first=Diarmuid |last=O'Neill |page=242 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6PFckH-GBKAC&q=%22Predennek%22&pg=PA212 |publisher=Y Lolfa |isbn=0862437237 |date=2005 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

The Cornish Language Strategy project commissioned research to provide quantitative and qualitative evidence for the number of Cornish speakers: due to the success of the revival project it was estimated that 2,000 people were fluent (surveyed in spring 2008), an increase from the estimated 300 people who spoke Cornish fluently suggested in a study by [[Kenneth MacKinnon]] in 2000.<ref name="BBC BBC/British Council">{{cite news |title='South West: TeachingEnglish: British Council: BBC |url=http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/uk-languages/south-west |access-date=9 February 2010 |date=2010 |work=TeachingEnglish.orgn |publisher=[[BBC]] / British Council |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108190250/http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/uk-languages/south-west |archive-date=8 January 2010}}</ref><ref name="Walesonline creche">{{cite news |title=First Cornish-speaking creche is inspired by example set in Wales |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/01/16/first-cornish-speaking-creche-is-inspired-by-example-set-inwales-91466-25612689/ |access-date=18 January 2010 |date=16 January 2010 |work=[[WalesOnline]] |publisher=Welsh Media Ltd}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web |url=http://www.gosw.gov.uk/497666/docs/254795/mode_of_use.doc |title=Mode of Use |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327121248/http://www.gosw.gov.uk/497666/docs/254795/mode_of_use.doc |archive-date=27 March 2009}}</ref>

Jenefer Lowe of the [[Cornish Language Partnership]] said in an interview with the BBC in 2010 that there were around 300 fluent speakers.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-11935464 |title=Cornish language no longer extinct, says UN |work=[[BBC News]] |date=7 December 2010}}</ref> [[Bert Biscoe]], a councillor and bard, in a statement to the ''[[Western Morning News]]'' in 2014 said there were "several hundred fluent speakers".<ref name="brooks">{{cite web |last=Brooks |first=Richard |title=The Cornish Language: In Danger or Flourishing? |work=K International |url=https://www.k-international.com/blog/cornish-language-danger-flourishing/ |access-date=23 July 2019 |date=18 November 2014}}</ref> [[Cornwall Council]] estimated in 2015 that there were 300–400 fluent speakers who used the language regularly, with 5,000 people having a basic conversational ability in the language.<ref>{{cite news |last=Harley |first=Nicola |title=Council splashes out £180,000 to try to stop the Cornish language dying out |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11976596/Council-splashes-out-180000-to-try-to-stop-the-Cornish-language-dying-out.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11976596/Council-splashes-out-180000-to-try-to-stop-the-Cornish-language-dying-out.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=1 July 2017 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=5 November 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

A report on the 2011 Census published in 2013 by the [[Office for National Statistics]] placed the number of speakers at somewhere between 325 and 625.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/language/articles/languageinenglandandwales/2013-03-04 |title=Language in England and Wales: 2011 |via=ons.gov.uk |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |access-date=7 April 2017 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140729112455/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census-analysis/language-in-england-and-wales-2011/rpt---language-in-england-and-wales--2011.html?format=print |archive-date=29 July 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2017 the [[Office for National Statistics|ONS]] released data based on the 2011 Census that placed the number of speakers at 557 people in England and Wales who declared Cornish to be their main language, 464 of whom lived in Cornwall.<ref name="ons_gov_uk" /> The 2021 census listed the number of Cornish speakers at 563.<ref>{{cite web |title=Main language (detailed) |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS024/editions/2021/versions/3 |website=ONS.gov.uk |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |access-date=18 August 2023}} (UK 2021 Census)</ref>

A study that appeared in 2018 established the number of people in Cornwall with at least minimal skills in Cornish, such as the use of some words and phrases, to be more than 3,000, including around 500 estimated to be fluent.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ferdinand |first=Siarl |title=The Promotion of Cornish in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly: Attitudes towards the Language and Recommendations for Policy |date=2018 |journal=Studia Celtica Fennica |volume=19 |pages=107–130 |doi=10.33353/scf.79496 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The Institute of Cornish Studies at the [[University of Exeter]] is working with the Cornish Language Partnership to study the Cornish language revival of the 20th century, including the growth in number of speakers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Celtic Revival |url=http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/history/research/centres/ics/projects/celtic_revival/ |website=Humanities.Exeter.ac.uk |publisher=[[University of Exeter]] |access-date=3 July 2018}}</ref>

== Legal status and recognition ==
[[File:View south from Carn Brea beacon, West Penwith - geograph.org.uk - 51844.jpg|thumb|The view from Carn Brea beacon ({{lang|kw|Karn Bre}}) in [[Penwith]] ({{lang|kw|Pennwydh}}), near [[Crows-an-Wra]] ({{lang|kw|Krows an Wragh}}), looking towards the village of Treave ({{lang|kw|Trev}}) with [[Porthcurno]] ({{lang|kw|Porthkornow}}) in the distance.]]

In 2002, Cornish was recognized by the UK government under Part II of the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]].{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=769}} [[UNESCO]]'s ''Atlas of World Languages'' classifies Cornish as "critically endangered". UNESCO has said that a previous classification of 'extinct' "does not reflect the current situation for Cornish" and is "no longer accurate".<ref name="autogenerated1" />

===Within the UK===
[[Cornwall Council]]'s policy is to support the language, in line with the European Charter. A motion was passed in November 2009 in which the council promoted the inclusion of Cornish, as appropriate and where possible, in council publications and on signs.<ref>{{cite web |last=Birch |first=Sophie |title=Cornwall cultural strategy evidence report |url=https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/3623631/FINAL_Cultural_strategy_evidence_report.pdf |publisher=[[Cornwall Council]] |access-date=19 April 2018 |page=24 |date=March 2010 |archive-date=19 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419183551/https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/3623631/FINAL_Cultural_strategy_evidence_report.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> This plan has drawn some criticism.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Dyslexic-councillor-says-Cornish-language-road/story-21947323-detail/story.html |title=Dyslexic councillor says Cornish language road signs could prove dangerous for drivers |work=[[Plymouth Herald]] |date=21 July 2014 |access-date=29 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729230737/http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Dyslexic-councillor-says-Cornish-language-road/story-21947323-detail/story.html |archive-date=29 July 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In October 2015, the council announced that staff would be encouraged to use "basic words and phrases" in Cornish when dealing with the public.<ref>{{cite news |last=Elgot |first=Jessica |title=Cornwall council plans to encourage staff to speak Cornish |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/07/cornwall-council-plans-to-encourage-staff-to-speak-cornish |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 October 2015}}</ref> In 2021 Cornwall Council prohibited a marriage ceremony from being conducted in Cornish as the [[Marriage Act 1949]] only allowed for marriage ceremonies in English or Welsh.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-56188851 |title=Couple cannot have a Cornish language wedding |date=26 February 2021 |work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

In 2014, the Cornish people were recognised by the UK Government as a national minority under the [[Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Milmo |first=Cahal |title=Cornish to be recognised as a national minority along with Scots, Welsh and Irish |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cornish-people-formally-declared-a-national-minority-along-with-scots-welsh-and-irish-9278725.html |access-date=3 February 2019 |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=23 April 2014}}</ref> The FCNM provides certain rights and protections to a national minority with regard to their minority language.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/157.htm |title=Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities |publisher=Council of Europe |location=Strasbourg |date=1 February 1995}}</ref>

In 2016, British government funding for the Cornish language ceased, and responsibility transferred to Cornwall Council.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cornish language funding stopped by government |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-36104716 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=21 April 2016}}</ref>

== Orthography ==
{{Further|International Phonetic Alphabet#Brackets and transcription delimiters}}

=== Old Cornish orthography ===
Until around the middle of the 11th century, Old Cornish scribes used a traditional spelling system shared with Old Breton and Old Welsh, based on the pronunciation of [[British Latin]].{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=495}}{{sfn|Jackson|1953|p=67}} By the time of the {{lang|la|[[Vocabularium Cornicum]]}}, usually dated to around 1100, Old English spelling conventions, such as the use of [[Thorn (letter)|thorn]] (Þ, þ) and [[eth]] (Ð, ð) for [[dental fricative]]s, and [[wynn]] (Ƿ, ƿ) for /w/, had come into use, allowing documents written at this time to be distinguished from Old Welsh, which rarely uses these characters, and Old Breton, which does not use them at all.{{sfn|Jackson|1953|pp=67-68}} Old Cornish features include using initial ⟨ch⟩, ⟨c⟩, or ⟨k⟩ for /k/, and, in internal and final position, ⟨p⟩, ⟨t⟩, ⟨c⟩, ⟨b⟩, ⟨d⟩, and ⟨g⟩ are generally used for the phonemes /b/, /d/, /ɡ/, /β/, /ð/, and /ɣ/ respectively, meaning that the results of Brittonic [[lenition]] are not usually apparent from the orthography at this time.{{sfn|Jackson|1953|p=68}}{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=495}}

=== Middle Cornish orthography ===
Middle Cornish orthography has a significant level of variation, and shows influence from Middle English spelling practices.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bock |first=Albert |date=2010 |title=Nucleus Length and Vocalic Alternation in Cornish Diphthongs |journal=Die Sprache |volume=48 |issue=1–2 |pages=34–43|doi=10.13173/SPR.48.1-2.034 }}</ref> [[Yogh]] (Ȝ ȝ) is used in certain Middle Cornish texts, where it is used to represent a variety of sounds, including the dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/, a usage which is unique to Middle Cornish and is never found in Middle English.{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=496}}<ref name="Mills 1999">{{cite book |last=Mills |first=Jon |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1078438372 |title=Reconstructive Phonology and Contrastive Lexicology: Problems with the Gerlyver Kernewek Kemmyn |date=1999 |publisher=[[University of Exeter Press]] |oclc=1078438372}}</ref> Middle Cornish scribes tend to use ⟨c⟩ for /k/ before back vowels, and ⟨k⟩ for /k/ before front vowels, though this is not always true, and this rule is less consistent in certain texts.{{sfn|Williams|2016}} Middle Cornish scribes almost universally use ⟨wh⟩ to represent /ʍ/ (or /hw/), as in Middle English. Middle Cornish, especially towards the end of this period, tends to use orthographic ⟨g⟩ and ⟨b⟩ in word-final position in stressed monosyllables, and ⟨k⟩ and ⟨p⟩ in word-final position in unstressed final syllables, to represent the reflexes of late Brittonic /ɡ/ and /b/, respectively.<ref>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Nicholas |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1017761062 |title=The Cornish consonantal system: Implications for the revival |date=2016 |publisher=Evertype |isbn=9781782011859 |oclc=1017761062}}</ref>

=== Late Cornish orthography ===
Written sources from this period are often spelled following English spelling conventions since many of the writers of the time had not been exposed to Middle Cornish texts or the Cornish orthography within them. Around 1700, Edward Lhuyd visited Cornwall, introducing his own partly phonetic orthography that he used in his {{lang|la|Archaeologia Britannica}}, which was adopted by some local writers, leading to the use of some Lhuydian features such as the use of [[circumflex]]es to denote long vowels, ⟨k⟩ before front vowels, word-final ⟨i⟩, and the use of ⟨dh⟩ to represent the voiced dental fricative /ð/.{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|pp=496–497}}<ref name="Mills 1999" />

=== Revived Cornish orthography ===
After the publication of Jenner's ''Handbook of the Cornish Language'', the earliest revivalists used Jenner's orthography, which was influenced by Lhuyd's system. This system was abandoned following the development by Nance of a "unified spelling", later known as [[Unified Cornish]], a system based on a standardization of the orthography of the early Middle Cornish texts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davies-Deacon |first=Merryn |date=28 August 2017 |title=Names, Varieties and Ideologies in Revived Cornish |journal=Studia Celtica Posnaniensia |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=85 |doi=10.1515/scp-2017-0005 |s2cid=171451822 |issn=2451-4160 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Nance's system was used by almost all Revived Cornish speakers and writers until the 1970s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Nicholas |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/38886149 |title=Clappya Kernowek: an introduction to Unified Cornish Revised |date=1997 |publisher=Agan Tavas, the Society for the Promotion of the Cornish Language |isbn=1901409015 |pages=5 |oclc=38886149}}</ref> Criticism of Nance's system, particularly the relationship of spelling to sounds and the phonological basis of Unified Cornish, resulted in rival orthographies appearing by the early 1980s,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Davies-Deacon |first=Merryn |date=28 August 2017 |title=Names, Varieties and Ideologies in Revived Cornish |journal=Studia Celtica Posnaniensia |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=81–95 |doi=10.1515/scp-2017-0005 |s2cid=171451822 |issn=2451-4160 |doi-access=free}}</ref> including Gendal's [[Modern Cornish]], based on Late Cornish native writers and Lhuyd, and Ken George's [[Kernewek Kemmyn]], a mainly [[Morphophonology|morphophonemic]] orthography based on George's reconstruction of Middle Cornish {{circa|1500}}, which features a number of orthographic, and phonological, distinctions not found in Unified Cornish.<ref name="J. 1986">{{cite book |last=George |first=Ken |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/868707844 |title=The pronunciation and spelling of revived Cornish. |date=1986 |publisher=[[Kesva an Taves Kernewek]] |oclc=868707844}}</ref><ref name="Mills 1999" /> Kernewek Kemmyn is characterised by the use of universal ⟨k⟩ for /k/ (instead of ⟨c⟩ before back vowels as in Unified); ⟨hw⟩ for /hw/, instead of ⟨wh⟩ as in Unified; and ⟨y⟩, ⟨oe⟩, and ⟨eu⟩ to represent the phonemes /ɪ/, /o/, and /œ/ respectively, which are not found in Unified Cornish. Criticism of all of these systems, especially Kernewek Kemmyn, by Nicolas Williams,<ref>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Nicholas |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/80332199 |title=Cornish today: an examination of the revived language |date=2006 |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |isbn=9781904808077 |edition=3rd |location=Westport, Co. Mayo |oclc=80332199}}</ref> resulted in the creation of Unified Cornish Revised, a modified version of Nance's orthography, featuring: an additional phoneme not distinguished by Nance, "ö in German {{lang|de|schön}}", represented in the UCR orthography by ⟨ue⟩; replacement of ⟨y⟩ with ⟨e⟩ in many words; internal ⟨h⟩ rather than ⟨gh⟩; and use of final ⟨b⟩, ⟨g⟩, and ⟨dh⟩ in stressed monosyllables.{{sfn|Williams|1997|p=12–13}} A [[Standard Written Form]], intended as a compromise orthography for official and educational purposes, was introduced in 2008, although a number of previous orthographic systems remain in use and, in response to the publication of the SWF, another new orthography, [[Kernowek Standard]], was created, mainly by Nicholas Williams and Michael Everson, which is proposed as an amended version of the Standard Written Form.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Nicholas |last=Williams |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/793690262 |title=Desky kernowek: a complete guide to Cornish |date=2012 |page=xx-xxi |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |isbn=9781904808992 |oclc=793690262}}</ref>

== Phonology ==
{{main|Cornish phonology|Standard Written Form}}
The phonological system of Old Cornish, inherited from Proto-Southwestern Brittonic and originally differing little from Old Breton and Old Welsh, underwent various changes during its Middle and Late phases, eventually resulting in several characteristics not found in the other Brittonic languages. The first sound change to distinguish Cornish from both Breton and Welsh, the [[assibilation]] of the dental stops {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} in medial and final position, had begun by the time of the {{lang|la|Vocabularium Cornicum}}, {{circa|1100}} or earlier.{{sfn|Jackson|1953|p=699}} This change, and the subsequent, or perhaps dialectical, [[palatalization (sound change)|palatalization]] (or occasional [[rhotacism|rhotacization]] in a few words) of these sounds, results in orthographic forms such as Middle Cornish {{lang|cnx|tas}} 'father', Late Cornish {{lang|cnx|tâz}} (Welsh {{lang|cy|tad}}), Middle Cornish {{lang|cnx|cresy}} 'believe', Late Cornish {{lang|cnx|cregy}} (Welsh {{lang|cy|credu}}), and Middle Cornish {{lang|cnx|gasa}} 'leave', Late Cornish {{lang|cnx|gara}} (Welsh {{lang|cy|gadael}}).{{sfn|Chaudhri|2007}} A further characteristic sound change, [[pre-stopped consonant|pre-occlusion]], occurred during the 16th century, resulting in the nasals {{IPA|/nn/}} and {{IPA|/mm/}} being realised as {{IPA|[ᵈn]}} and {{IPA|[ᵇm]}} respectively in stressed syllables, and giving Late Cornish forms such as {{lang|cnx|pedn}} 'head' (Welsh {{lang|cy|pen}}) and {{lang|cnx|kabm}} 'crooked' (Welsh {{lang|cy|cam}}).{{sfn|Chaudhri|2007}}

As a [[language revitalization|revitalised language]], the phonology of contemporary spoken Cornish is based on a number of sources,<ref>{{cite book |last=Mills |first=Jon |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1078987283 |title=Reconstructive Phonology and Contrastive Lexicology: Problems with the Gerlyver Kernewek Kemmyn |date=1999 |publisher=[[University of Exeter Press]] |oclc=1078987283}}</ref> including various [[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstructions]] of the sound system of middle and early modern Cornish based on an analysis of internal evidence such as the orthography and rhyme used in the historical texts,<ref name="J. 1986" />{{sfn|Schrijver|1995}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Wmffre |first=Iwan |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/249114049 |title=Late Cornish |date=1998 |publisher=Lincom Europa |isbn=9783895861222 |oclc=249114049}}</ref> [[Comparative method|comparison]] with the other Brittonic languages Breton and Welsh,<ref>{{cite book |last=Ball |first=Martin J. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/759101335|title=Celtic Linguistics/ Ieithyddiaeth Geltaidd: Readings in the Brythonic Languages. Festschrift for T. Arwyn Watkins. |date=1990 |publisher=John Benjamins Pub. Co. |isbn=9789027278302 |pages=242 |oclc=759101335}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Peter Berresford |author-link=Peter Berresford Ellis |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1256181 |title=The Cornish language and its literature |date=1974 |publisher=[[Routledge]] & Kegan Paul |isbn=0710079281 |location=London |pages=194 |oclc=1256181}}</ref> and the work of the linguist [[Edward Lhuyd]], who visited Cornwall in 1700 and recorded the language in a partly phonetic orthography.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lhuyd |first1=Edward |author1-link=Edward Lhuyd |first2=Dewi W. |last2=Evans |first3=Brynley F. |last3=Roberts |author3-link=Brynley F. Roberts |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/339162016 |title=Archaeologia Britannica: Texts & Translations |date=2009 |publisher=Celtic Studies Publications – Cymru Cyf |isbn=9781891271144 |location=Aberystwyth |oclc=339162016}}</ref>{{sfn|Chaudhri|2007|p=68}}

== Vocabulary ==
Cornish is a Celtic language, and the majority of its vocabulary, when usage frequency is taken into account, at every documented stage of its history is inherited from [[Proto-Celtic language|Proto-Celtic]],{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=532}} either directly from the ancestral [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] language or through vocabulary borrowed from unknown substrate language(s) at some point in the development of the Celtic proto-language from PIE.<ref>{{cite book |last=Matasović |first=Ranko |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/262430534 |title=Etymological dictionary of proto-Celtic |date=2009 |publisher=[[Brill Publishing]] |isbn=9789004173361 |location=Leiden |pages=2 |oclc=262430534}}</ref> Examples of the PIE > PCelt. development are various terms related to kinship and people, including {{lang|oco|mam}} 'mother', {{lang|oco|modereb}} 'aunt, mother's sister', {{lang|oco|huir}} 'sister', {{lang|oco|mab}} 'son', {{lang|oco|gur}} 'man', {{lang|oco|den}} 'person, human', and {{lang|cnx|tus}} 'people', and words for parts of the body, including {{lang|oco|lof}} 'hand' and {{lang|cnx|dans}} 'tooth'.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Klein |editor1-first=Jared |editor2-last=Joseph |editor2-first=Brian |editor2-link=Brian Joseph |editor3-last=Fritz |editor3-first=Matthias |editor4-last=Wenthe |editor4-first=Mark |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1004563249 |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: an International Handbook. |date=2016 |publisher=[[De Gruyter]] Mouton |isbn=9783110261288 |location=Berlin / Boston |pages=1251 |oclc=1004563249 |ref={{harvid|Klein et al.|2016}}}}</ref> Inherited adjectives with an Indo-European etymology include {{lang|oco|newyth}} 'new', {{lang|oco|ledan}} 'broad, wide', {{lang|oco|rud}} 'red', {{lang|oco|hen}} 'old', {{lang|oco|iouenc}} 'young', and {{lang|oco|byw}} 'alive, living'.{{sfn|Klein et al.|2016|p=1252}}

Several Celtic or Brittonic words cannot be reconstructed to Proto-Indo-European, and are suggested to have been borrowed from unknown substrate language(s) at an early stage, such as Proto-Celtic or Proto-Brittonic. Proposed examples in Cornish include {{lang|oco|coruf}} 'beer' and {{lang|oco|broch}} 'badger'.{{sfn|Klein et al.|2016|p=1254}}

Other words in Cornish inherited direct from Proto-Celtic include a number of toponyms, for example {{lang|cnx|bre}} 'hill', {{lang|cnx|din}} 'fort', and {{lang|cnx|bro}} 'land',{{sfn|Klein et al.|2016|p=1255}} and a variety of animal names such as {{lang|oco|logoden}} 'mouse', {{lang|oco|mols}} '[[sheep|wether]]', {{lang|cnx|mogh}} 'pigs', and {{lang|cnx|tarow}} 'bull'.{{sfn|Klein et al.|2016|p=1256}}

During the Roman occupation of Britain a large number (around 800) of Latin loan words entered the vocabulary of Common Brittonic, which subsequently developed in a similar way to the inherited lexicon.{{sfn|Klein et al.|2016|p=1255}} These include {{lang|oco|brech}} 'arm' (from [[British Latin]] {{lang|la|bracc(h)ium}}), {{lang|oco|ruid}} 'net' (from {{lang|la|retia}}), and {{lang|oco|cos}} 'cheese' (from {{lang|la|caseus}}).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/827952091 |title=Multilingualism in medieval Britain (c. 1066–1520): Sources and analysis |date=2013 |last=Jefferson |first=Judith |isbn=9782503542508 |location=Turnhout |publisher=Brepols |pages=62 |oclc=827952091}}</ref>

A substantial number of loan words from English and to a lesser extent French entered the Cornish language throughout its history. Whereas only 5% of the vocabulary of the Old Cornish Vocabularium Cornicum is thought to be borrowed from English, and only 10% of the lexicon of the early modern Cornish writer William Rowe, around 42% of the vocabulary of the whole Cornish corpus is estimated to be English loan words, without taking frequency into account. (However, when frequency ''is'' taken into account, this figure for the entire corpus drops to 8%.){{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=532}} The many English loanwords, some of which were sufficiently well assimilated to acquire native Cornish verbal or plural suffixes or be affected by the mutation system, include {{lang|cnx|redya}} 'to read', {{lang|cnx|onderstondya}} 'to understand', {{lang|oco|ford}} 'way', {{lang|oco|hos}} 'boot' and {{lang|oco|creft}} 'art'.{{sfn|Jefferson|2013|p=62}}{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=532}}

Many Cornish words, such as mining and fishing terms, are specific to the culture of Cornwall. Examples include {{lang|cnx|atal}} 'mine waste' and {{lang|cnx|beetia}} 'to mend fishing nets'. {{lang|cnx|Foogan}} and {{lang|cnx|hogan}} are different types of pastries. {{lang|cnx|Troyl}} is a 'traditional Cornish dance get-together' and {{lang|cnx|Furry}} is a specific kind of ceremonial dance that takes place in Cornwall.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mills |first=Jon |title=The Vocabularium Cornicum: A Cornish vocabulary? |journal=Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie |volume=60 |issue=1 |doi=10.1515/zcph.2013.009 |date=2013 |pages=141–150 |s2cid=161927698}}</ref> Certain Cornish words may have several translation equivalents in English, so for instance {{lang|cnx|lyver}} may be translated into English as either 'book' or 'volume' and {{lang|cnx|dorn}} can mean either 'hand' or 'fist'.
Like other Celtic languages, Cornish lacks a number of verbs commonly found in other languages, including modals and psych-verbs;{{sfn|Padel|2014}} examples are 'have', 'like', 'hate', 'prefer', 'must/have to' and 'make/compel to'. These functions are instead fulfilled by [[periphrasis|periphrastic]] constructions involving a verb and various prepositional phrases.

== Grammar ==
{{Main|Cornish grammar}}
The grammar of Cornish shares with other Celtic languages a number of features which, while not unique, are unusual in an Indo-European context. The grammatical features most unfamiliar to English speakers of the language are the initial [[consonant mutation]]s, the [[verb–subject–object]] word order, [[inflected preposition]]s, fronting of emphasised syntactic elements and the use of two different forms for 'to be'.

=== Morphology ===
==== Mutations ====
Cornish has initial [[consonant mutation]]: The first sound of a Cornish word may change according to grammatical context. As in Breton, there are four types of mutation in Cornish (compared with three in [[Welsh language|Welsh]], two in [[Irish language|Irish]] and [[Manx language|Manx]] and one in [[Scottish Gaelic]]). These changes apply to only certain letters (sounds) in particular grammatical contexts, some of which are given below:{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|pp=510-513}}

*[[Lenition]] or "soft" mutation:
**Feminine singular nouns are lenited after {{lang|kw-kkcor|an}} 'the':
***{{lang|kw-kkcor|kath}} 'cat' > {{lang|kw-kkcor|an gath}} 'the cat'
*[[Spirantization]] or "aspirate" mutation:
**Nouns are spirantized after {{lang|kw-kkcor|ow}} 'my':
***{{lang|kw-kkcor|tas}} 'father' > {{lang|kw-kkcor|ow thas}} 'my father'
*[[Provection]] or "hard" mutation:
**Verbs are provected after the verbal particle {{lang|kw-kkcor|ow}} (approximately English "-ing"):
***{{lang|kw-kkcor|gweles}} 'see' > {{lang|kw-kkcor|ow kweles}} 'seeing'
*Lenition followed by provection (usually), or "mixed" mutation:
**Type 1 mixed mutation:
***Occurs after the affirmative particle {{lang|kw-kkcor|y}}:
****{{lang|kw-kkcor|gwelav}} > {{lang|kw-kkcor|y hwelav}} 'I see'
**Type 2 mixed mutation:
***Occurs after 2nd person singular infixed pronoun {{lang|kw-kkcor|'th}}:
****{{lang|kw-kkcor|dorn}} 'hand' > {{lang|kw-kkcor|y'th torn}} 'in thy hand'

==== Articles ====
Cornish has no indefinite [[article (grammar)|article]]. {{lang|kw-kkcor|Porth}} can either mean 'harbour'<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-first=Ken |editor-last=George |editor-link=Ken George |date=2009 |title=porth |page=533 |dictionary=An Gerlyver Meur: Cornish-English; English-Cornish Dictionary |publisher=[[Kesva an Taves Kernewek]] |isbn=9781902917849}}</ref> or 'a harbour'. In certain contexts, {{lang|kw-kkcor|unn}} can be used, with the meaning 'a certain, a particular', e.g. {{lang|kw-kkcor|unn porth}} 'a certain harbour'. There is, however, a definite article {{lang|kw-kkcor|an}} 'the', which is used for all nouns regardless of their gender or number, e.g. {{lang|kw-kkcor|an porth}} 'the harbour'.{{sfn|Williams|1997|pp=17-18}}

==== Nouns ====
Cornish nouns belong to one of two [[grammatical gender]]s, masculine and feminine, but are not inflected for [[grammatical case|case]]. Nouns may be singular or plural. Plurals can be formed in various ways, depending on the noun:<ref>{{cite book |last=Toorians |first=Lauran |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1075291123 |title=Towards a grammar of Middle Cornish |date=2011 |oclc=1075291123}}</ref>

*Vowel change:
**{{lang|kw-kkcor|toll}} 'hole' > {{lang|kw-kkcor|tell}} 'holes'
*Addition of a specific plural suffix:
**{{lang|kw-kkcor|el}} 'angel' > {{lang|kw-kkcor|eledh}} 'angels'
**{{lang|kw-kkcor|tas}} 'father' > {{lang|kw-kkcor|tasow}} 'fathers'
**{{lang|kw-kkcor|gwikor}} 'peddler' > {{lang|kw-kkcor|gwikoryon}} 'peddlers'
*Suppletion:
**{{lang|kw-kkcor|den}} 'man' > {{lang|kw-kkcor|tus}} 'men, people'

Some nouns are collective or mass nouns. Singulatives can be formed from collective nouns by the addition of the suffix ⫽-enn⫽ (SWF ''-en''):

*{{lang|kw-kkcor|gwels}} 'grass' > {{lang|kw|gwelsen}} 'a blade of grass'
*{{lang|kw-kkcor|helyk}} 'willow-trees' > {{lang|kw-kkcor|helygen}} 'a willow tree'

==== Verbs ====
Verbs are [[grammatical conjugation|conjugated]] for [[Grammatical person|person]], [[grammatical number|number]], [[grammatical tense|tense]] and [[grammatical mood|mood]]. For example, the [[verbal noun]] {{lang|kw|gweles}} 'see' has derived forms such as 1st person singular present indicative {{lang|kw|gwelav}} 'I see', 3rd person plural imperfect indicative {{lang|kw|gwelens}} 'they saw', and 2nd person singular imperative {{lang|kw|gwel}} 'see!'<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/436976273 |title=An Outline of the Standard Written Form of Cornish |date=3 June 2008 |publisher=Cornish Language Partnership |first1=Albert |last1=Bock |first2=Benjamin |last2=Bruch |isbn=9781903798560 |edition=1st |pages=76–77 |oclc=436976273}}</ref> Grammatical categories can be indicated either by inflection of the main verb, or by the use of auxiliary verbs such as {{lang|kw-ucrcor|bos}} 'be' or {{lang|kw-ucrcor|gul}} 'do'.{{sfn|Williams|1997|p=166}}

==== Prepositions ====
Cornish uses [[inflected language|inflected]] (or [[grammatical conjugation|conjugated]]) [[preposition]]s: Prepositions are inflected for person and number. For example, {{lang|kw-kkcor|gans}} (with, by) has derived forms such as {{lang|kw-kkcor|genev}} 'with me', {{lang|kw-kkcor|ganso}} 'with him', and {{lang|kw-kkcor|genowgh}} 'with you (plural)'.{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=516}}

=== Syntax ===
Word order in Cornish is somewhat fluid and varies depending on several factors such as the intended element to be emphasised and whether a statement is negative or affirmative. In a study on Cornish word order in the play Bewnans Meriasek ({{circa|1500}}), Ken George has argued that the most common word order in main clauses in Middle Cornish was, in affirmative statements, [[Subject–verb–object|SVO]], with the verb in the third person singular:<ref>{{cite book |last=George |first=Ken J. |chapter=Notes on word order in Beunans Meriasek |date=1991 |title=Studies in Brythonic Word Order |series="Current Issues in Linguistic Theory" series |volume=83 |pages=205 |place=Amsterdam |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |doi=10.1075/cilt.83.06geo |isbn=9789027235800}}</ref>

{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=kw-kkcor|My a wel an gath|1SG PTCL see-PRES.3SG DEF cat|'I see the cat.'{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=529}}}}

When affirmative statements are in the less common VSO order, they usually begin with an adverb or other element, followed by an affirmative particle, with the verb inflected for person and tense:

{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=kw-kkcor|Ev a grys y hwelav an gath|3SG.M PTCL believe-PRES.3SG PTCL see-PRES.1SG DEF cat|'He believes that I see the cat.'{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=529}}}}

In negative statements, the order was usually [[Verb–subject–object|VSO]], with an initial negative particle and the verb conjugated for person and tense:

{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=kw-kkcor|Ny welav an gath|NEG see-PRES.1SG DEF cat|'I do not see the cat.'{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=529}}}}

A similar structure is used for questions:

{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=cnx|a glewsyugh why?|PTCL hear-{{gcl|PLUPERF|pluperfect}}.2PL 2PL|'Did you hear?'{{sfn|MacAulay|1992|p=348}}}}

Elements can be fronted for emphasis:

{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=kw-kkcor|an gath my a wel|DEF cat 1SG PTCL see-PRES.3SG|'I see '''''the cat'''''.'{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=239}}}}

Sentences can also be constructed periphrastically using auxiliary verbs such as {{lang|kw|bos}} 'be, exist':

{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=cnx|Yma ow kelwel ely|be-PRES-AFF.3SG PTCL call-VN Ely|'(He) is calling Ely.'{{sfn|MacAulay|1992|p=351}}}}

As Cornish lacks verbs such as 'to have', possession can also be indicated in this way:

{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=cnx|'ma 'gen ehaz nyi dhen|be-PRES-AFF.3SG 1PL health 1PL to+us|'We have our health.'{{sfn|Williams|1997|p=147}}}}

Enquiring about possession is similar, using a different interrogative form of {{lang|kw|bos}}:

{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=cnx|Hostes, ues boues dewhy?|Hostess be-PRES-INTERR-INDEF.3SG food to+you|'Hostess, have you [any] food?'{{sfn|Williams|1997|p=153}}}}

Nouns usually precede the adjective, unlike in English:<ref>{{cite book |last=Norris |first=Edwin |title=The Ancient Cornish Drama |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=1859 |pages=22}}</ref>

{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=cnx|Benyn vas|woman good|'[A] good woman.'{{sfn|Norris|1859|p=22}}}}

Some adjectives usually precede the noun, however:

{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=cnx|Drog den|evil man|'[An] evil man.'<ref>{{cite journal |last=Williams |first=N. J. A. |date=1 May 2013 |title=Adjectival and Adverbial Prefixes in Cornish |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/10.1386/corn.21.1.33_1 |journal=Cornish Studies |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=33–75 |doi=10.1386/corn.21.1.33_1 |issn=1352-271X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>}}

== Culture ==
[[File:AnGofPlaqueBlackheath.jpg|thumb|right|Commemorative plaque in Cornish and English for [[Michael An Gof|Michael Joseph the Smith]] ({{lang|kw-uccor|An Gof}}) mounted on the north side of [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]] common, south east London, near the south entrance to Greenwich Park]]
The [[Celtic Congress]] and [[Celtic League (political organisation)|Celtic League]] are groups that advocate cooperation amongst the Celtic Nations in order to protect and promote Celtic languages and cultures, thus working in the interests of the Cornish language.

There have been films such as {{lang|kw-kkcor|[[Hwerow Hweg]]}}, some televised, made entirely, or significantly, in Cornish. Some businesses use Cornish names.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cornish (Kernewek/Kernowek/Kernuak/Curnoack) |url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/cornish.htm |website=[[Omniglot]] |access-date=4 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Business Use |url=http://www.magakernow.org.uk/default.aspx?page=17 |website=MagaKernow.org.uk |publisher=[[Cornish Language Partnership]] |access-date=4 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917143538/http://www.magakernow.org.uk/default.aspx?page=17 |archive-date=17 September 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Cornish has significantly and durably affected Cornwall's place-names as well as [[Cornish surnames]] and knowledge of the language helps the understanding of these ancient meanings. Cornish names are adopted for children, pets, houses and boats.<ref>{{cite news |title=Helping promote the Cornish language |url=https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/10078889.helping-promote-the-cornish-language/ |access-date=19 September 2021 |work=The Falmouth Packet |date=29 November 2012}}</ref>

There is Cornish literature, including spoken poetry and song, as well as traditional Cornish chants historically performed in marketplaces during religious holidays and public festivals and gatherings.

There are periodicals solely in the language, such as the monthly {{lang|kw-kkcor|An Gannas}}, {{lang|kw-kkcor|An Gowsva}} and {{lang|kw|An Garrick}}. [[BBC Radio Cornwall]] has a news broadcast in Cornish and sometimes has other programmes and features for learners and enthusiasts. Local newspapers such as the ''[[Western Morning News]]'' have articles in Cornish, and newspapers such as ''The Packet'', ''The West Briton'', and ''The Cornishman'' have also been known to have Cornish features. There is an online radio and TV service in Cornish called {{lang|kw-kkcor|Radyo an Gernewegva}}, publishing a one-hour podcast each week, based on a magazine format. It includes music in Cornish as well as interviews and features.<ref>{{cite web |title=Aagan Towlennow / Our Programmes |url=https://anradyo.com/ |website=Radyo an Gernewegva |access-date=28 November 2019}}</ref>

The language has financial sponsorship from sources including the [[Millennium Commission]]. A number of language organisations exist in Cornwall: {{lang|kw-uccor|[[Agan Tavas]]}} (Our Language), the Cornish sub-group of the [[European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages]], {{lang|kw|[[Gorsedh Kernow]]}}, {{lang|kw-kkcor|[[Kesva an Taves Kernewek]]}} (the Cornish Language Board) and {{lang|kw-kkcor|[[Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek]]}} (the Cornish Language Fellowship).<ref>{{cite conference |last=Mills |first=Jon |title=Linguistic Relativity and Linguistic Determinism: Idiom in 20th Century Cornish |conference=New Directions in Celtic Studies Conference |date=November 2000 |url=http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED540362.pdf |access-date=24 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Stoyle |first=Mark |date=October 1999 |title=The Dissidence of Despair: Rebellion and Identity in Early Modern Cornwall |journal=[[Journal of British Studies]] |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=423–444 |jstor=175946 |doi=10.1086/386202 |s2cid=162279176}}</ref>

There are ceremonies, some ancient, some modern, that use the language or are entirely in the language.

[[File:Truro Cathedral welcome cropped.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Welcome sign at [[Truro Cathedral]] in several languages, including Cornish]]

=== Cultural events ===

Cornwall has had cultural events associated with the language, including the international [[Celtic Media Festival]], hosted in [[St Ives, Cornwall|St Ives]] in 1997. The [[Old Cornwall Society]] has promoted the use of the language at events and meetings. Two examples of ceremonies that are performed in both the English and Cornish languages are [[Crying the Neck]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://newquay.oldcornwall.org.uk/articles/crying_the_neck.shtml |title=Crying the Neck in Cornwall |work=Newquay.oldcornwall.org.uk |access-date=11 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708232916/http://newquay.oldcornwall.org.uk/articles/crying_the_neck.shtml |archive-date=8 July 2012}}</ref> and the annual mid-summer bonfires.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.redrutholdcornwall.org/bonfire.htm |title=Bonfire |work=RedruthOldCornwall.org |publisher=Redruth Old Cornwall Society |date=26 May 2012 |access-date=11 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114202557/http://www.redrutholdcornwall.org/bonfire.htm |archive-date=14 November 2012}}</ref>

Since 1969, there have been three full performances of the ''[[Ordinalia]]'', originally written in the Cornish language, the most recent of which took place at the [[plen-an-gwary]] in [[St Just in Penwith|St Just]] in September 2021. While significantly adapted from the original, as well as using mostly English-speaking actors, the plays used sizable amounts of Cornish, including a character who spoke only in Cornish and another who spoke both English and Cornish. The event drew thousands over two weeks, also serving as a celebration of [[Celts (modern)|Celtic culture]]. The next production, scheduled for 2024, could, in theory, be entirely in Cornish, without English, if assisted by a professional linguist.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Centuries-old Plays Helping to Revitalize a Once-lost Language |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ordinalia-play-revitalize-cornish |website=[[Atlas Obscura]] |date=18 November 2021 |access-date=30 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Cornwall to stage rare performance of 14th-century Ordinalia cycle |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/04/cornwall-st-just-to-stage-rare-performance-of-14th-century-ordinalia-cycle |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=4 February 2021 |access-date=1 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='The Passion': review of the second play in St Just Ordinalia trilogy |url=https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/the-passion-review-second-play-5932131 |first=Sam |last=Beamish |date=17 September 2021 |work=[[The Cornishman (newspaper)|CornwallLive]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ordinalia Trilogy UK's oldest plays to be performed in St Just |url=https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/19523879.ordinalia-trilogy-uks-oldest-plays-performed-st-just/ |work=The Falmouth Packet |date=19 August 2021 |access-date=1 December 2021}}</ref>

Outside of Cornwall, efforts to revive the Cornish language and culture through community events are occurring in Australia. A biennial festival, Kernewek Lowender, takes place in South Australia, where both cultural displays and language lessons are offered.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lowender |first=Kernewek |date=9 May 2023 |title=Home: Kernewek Lowender |url=https://www.kernewek.org/ |access-date=9 May 2023 |website=Kernewek Lowender Copper Coast Cornish Festival}}</ref>

=== Study and teaching ===
Cornish is taught in some schools; it was previously taught at degree level at the [[University of Wales]], though the only existing course in the language at university level is as part of a course in Cornish studies at the [[University of Exeter]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About the Institute |url=http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/history/research/centres/ics/about/ |website=Humanities.Exeter.ac.uk |publisher=[[Institute of Cornish Studies]], [[University of Exeter]]}}</ref> In March 2008 a course in the language was started as part of the Celtic Studies curriculum at the [[University of Vienna]], Austria.
The [[University of Cambridge]] offers courses in Cornish through its John Trim Resources Centre, which is part of the university's Language Centre.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.langcen.cam.ac.uk/lc/index.html |title=The Language Centre |website=LangCen.Cam.ac.uk |publisher=[[University of Cambridge]]}}</ref> In addition, the [[Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, University of Cambridge|Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic]] (which is part of the Faculty of English) also carries out research into the Cornish language.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.asnc.cam.ac.uk |title=The Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic |website=ASNC.Cam.ac.uk |publisher=[[University of Cambridge]]}}</ref>

In 2015 a university-level course aiming at encouraging and supporting practitioners working with young children to introduce the Cornish language into their settings was launched. The ''Cornish Language Practice Project (Early Years)'' is a [[Qualifications and Credit Framework|level 4]] course approved by [[Plymouth University]] and run at [[Cornwall College (England)|Cornwall College]]. The course is not a Cornish-language course but students will be assessed on their ability to use the Cornish language constructively in their work with young children. The course will cover such topics as ''Understanding Bilingualism'', ''Creating Resources'' and ''Integrating Language and Play'', but the focus of the language provision will be on Cornish. A non-accredited specialist Cornish-language course has been developed to run alongside the level 4 course for those who prefer tutor support to learn the language or develop their skills for use with young children.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kevren |url=http://www.magakernow.org.uk/pdf/2014_12_Kevren_misKevardhu.pdf |access-date=24 January 2015 |website=MagaKernow.org.uk |publisher=[[Cornish Language Partnership]] |date=December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128112341/http://www.magakernow.org.uk/pdf/2014_12_Kevren_misKevardhu.pdf |archive-date=28 January 2015}}</ref>

Cornwall's first Cornish-language [[day care|crèche]], {{lang|kw|Skol dy'Sadorn Kernewek}}, was established in 2010 at Cornwall College, [[Camborne]]. The nursery teaches children aged between two and five years alongside their parents to ensure the language is also spoken in the home.<ref name="Walesonline creche" />

A number of dictionaries are available in the various orthographies, including ''A Learners' Cornish Dictionary in the Standard Written Form'' by Steve Harris (ed.), {{lang|kw-kkcor|An Gerlyver Meur}} by [[Ken George]],{{sfn|George|2009}} {{lang|kw-ucrcor|Gerlyver Sawsnek–Kernowek}} by Nicholas Williams and ''A Practical Dictionary of Modern Cornish'' by [[Richard Gendall]]. Course books include the three-part {{lang|kw|Skeul an Yeth}} series, {{lang|kw-ucrcor|Clappya Kernowek}}, {{lang|kw|Tavas a Ragadazow}} and {{lang|kw|Skeul an Tavas}}, as well as the more recent {{lang|kw|Bora Brav}} and {{lang|kw-kscor|Desky Kernowek}}. Several online dictionaries are now available, including one organised by An Akademi Kernewek in SWF.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cornishdictionary.org.uk/ |title=Gerlyver Kernewek}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://glosbe.com/en/kw |title=Dictionary: English – Cornish |work=Glosbe}}</ref>

Classes and conversation groups for adults are available at several locations in Cornwall as well as in [[London]], [[Cardiff]] and [[Bristol]].<ref name="Maga: class list and map">{{cite web |title=Find a Class |url=http://www.learncornishnow.com/find-a-class.html |website=Learn Cornish Now |publisher=[[Cornish Language Office]] |access-date=11 December 2017 |archive-date=17 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917032404/http://www.learncornishnow.com/find-a-class.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic a number of conversation groups entitled {{lang|kw|Yeth an Werin Warlinen}} have been held online, advertised through Facebook and other media. A surge in interest, not just from people in Cornwall but from all over the world, has meant that extra classes have been organised.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/homepage/title_870214_en.html |title=Learn Cornish in your own home as part of an exciting new online course |website=[[University of Exeter]] |date=2 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cornwallheritage.com/news-blogs/ertach-kernow-blogs/ertach-kernow-keep-it-kernewek/ |title=Ertach Kernow – Keep it Kernewek |website=Cornwall Heritage |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405131404/https://www.cornwallheritage.com/news-blogs/ertach-kernow-blogs/ertach-kernow-keep-it-kernewek/ |archive-date=5 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-60302511 |title=Cornish language has new learners after pandemic moves courses online |work=[[BBC News]] |date=9 February 2022 |first=Martha |last=Dixon}}</ref>

=== Cornish studies ===
[[William Scawen]] produced a manuscript on the declining Cornish language that continually evolved until he died in 1689, aged 89. He was one of the first to realise the language was dying out and wrote detailed manuscripts which he started working on when he was 78. The only version that was ever published was a short first draft but the final version, which he worked on until his death, is a few hundred pages long.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Spriggs |first=Matthew |date=1 May 2005 |title=William Scawen (1600-1689) - A Neglected Cornish Patriot and Father of the Cornish Language Revival |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/10.1386/corn.13.1.98_1 |journal=Cornish Studies |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=98–125 |doi=10.1386/corn.13.1.98_1 |issn=1352-271X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> At the same time a group of scholars led by [[John Keigwin]] (nephew of William Scawen) of Mousehole tried to preserve and further the Cornish language and chose to write in Cornish. One of their number, [[Nicholas Boson]], tells how he had been discouraged from using Cornish to servants by his mother.<ref>{{cite ODNB|title=Boson family (per. c. 1675–1730), preservers of the Cornish language |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-74428 |access-date=20 September 2021 |date=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/74428 |isbn=9780198614128}}</ref> This group left behind a large number of translations of parts of the Bible, proverbs and songs. They were contacted by the Welsh linguist [[Edward Lhuyd]], who came to Cornwall to study the language.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Peter Berresford |author-link=Peter Berresford Ellis |title=The Cornish Language and Its Literature |date=1974 |publisher=[[Routledge|Routledge & Kegan Paul]] |isbn=9780710079282 |pages=82–94, 100–108}}</ref>

Early Modern Cornish was the subject of a study published by Lhuyd in 1707,<ref name="Lhuyd">{{cite book |last=Lhuyd |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Lhuyd |date=1707 |title=Archæologia Britannica: Giving some account additional to what has been hitherto publish'd, of the languages, histories and customs of the original inhabitants of Great Britain, from collections and observations in travels through Wales, Cornwall, Bas-Bretagne, Ireland, and Scotland; Vol. I. Glossography |location=Oxford |publisher=Edward Lhuyd and Mr. Bateman}}</ref> and differs from the medieval language in having a considerably simpler structure and grammar. Such differences included sound changes and more frequent use of auxiliary verbs.{{sfn|Wmffre|1998|p=4}} The medieval language also possessed two additional tenses for expressing past events and an extended set of possessive suffixes.

[[John Whitaker (historian)|John Whitaker]], the Manchester-born rector of [[Ruan Lanihorne]], studied the decline of the Cornish language. In his 1804 work ''the Ancient Cathedral of Cornwall'' he concluded that: "[T]he English Liturgy, was not desired by the Cornish, but forced upon them by the tyranny of England, at a time when the English language was yet unknown in Cornwall. This act of tyranny was at once gross barbarity to the Cornish people, and a death blow to the Cornish language."<ref>{{cite book |last=Jago |first=Fred W. P. |author-link=Fred W. P. Jago |orig-year=1882 |title=The Ancient Language and the Dialect of Cornwall |location=New York |publisher=AMS Press |date=1983 |pages=4}} Originally published in Netherton and Worth, Truro.</ref>

Robert Williams published the first comprehensive Cornish dictionary in 1865, the {{lang|la|Lexicon Cornu-Britannicum}}. As a result of the discovery of additional ancient Cornish manuscripts, 2000 new words were added to the vocabulary by [[Whitley Stokes (scholar)|Whitley Stokes]] in ''A Cornish Glossary''. William C. Borlase published ''Proverbs and Rhymes in Cornish'' in 1866 while ''A Glossary of Cornish Names'' was produced by John Bannister in the same year. [[Fred W. P. Jago|Frederick Jago]] published his ''English–Cornish Dictionary'' in 1882.

In 2002, the Cornish language gained new recognition because of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. Conversely, along with government provision was the governmental basis of "New Public Management", measuring quantifiable results as means of determining effectiveness. This put enormous pressure on finding a single orthography that could be used in unison. The revival of Cornish required extensive rebuilding. The Cornish orthographies that were reconstructed may be considered versions of Cornish because they are not traditional sociolinguistic variations. In the middle-to-late twentieth century, the debate over Cornish orthographies angered more people because several language groups received public funding. This caused other groups to sense favouritism as playing a role in the debate.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sayers |first=Dave |date=2012 |title=Standardising Cornish: The Politics Of A New Minority Language |url=http://shura.shu.ac.uk/10586 |journal=[[Language Problems and Language Planning]] |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=99–119 |doi=10.1075/lplp.36.2.01say |s2cid=143909573 |access-date=24 April 2017|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

A governmental policymaking structure called New Public Management (NPM) has helped the Cornish language by managing public life of the Cornish language and people. In 2007, the [[Cornish Language Partnership|Cornish Language Partnership MAGA]] represents separate divisions of government and their purpose is to further enhance the Cornish Language Developmental Plan. MAGA established an Ad-Hoc Group, which resulted in three orthographies being presented. The relations for the Ad-Hoc Group were to obtain consensus among the three orthographies and then develop a "single written form". The result was creating a new form of Cornish, which had to be natural for both new learners and skilled speakers.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Review of ''Faction and Faith. Politics and Religion of the Cornish Gentry before the Civil War; Law, Order and Government in Caernarfonshire, 1558–1640'' by Anne Duffin; ''Law, Order and Government in Caernarfonshire, 1558–1640. Justices of the Peace and the Gentry'' by John Gwynfor Jones |last=Holmes |first=Clive |journal=The English Historical Review |date=1998 |volume=113 |issue=450 |pages=177–179 |jstor=576240 |doi=10.1093/ehr/CXIII.450.177}}</ref>

=== Literature ===
{{Main|Cornish literature}}

==== Recent Modern Cornish literature ====
In 1981, the [[Brittany|Breton]] library {{lang|br|Preder}} edited {{lang|kw|Passyon agan arluth}} (Passion of our lord), a 15th-century Cornish poem.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.preder.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1245:PASSYON-AGAN-ARLUTH&catid=34:levriou&Itemid=55&lang=en |title=Passyon Agan Arluth |work=Preder.net |date=22 October 2009 |access-date=11 November 2012}}</ref> The first complete [[Bible translations into Cornish|translation of the Bible into Cornish]], translated from English, was published in 2011. Another Bible translation project translating from original languages is underway. The [[New Testament]] and [[Psalms]] were made available online on [[YouVersion]] (Bible.com) and Bibles.org in July 2014 by the Bible Society.

A few small publishers produce books in Cornish which are stocked in some local bookshops, as well as in Cornish branches of Waterstones and WH Smith, although publications are becoming increasingly available on the Internet.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cornish-language.org/Cornish-language-books.html |title=Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek Cornish Language Stock List}}</ref><ref>Examples of [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kas-Dial-Cornish-Polin-Prys-ebook/dp/B00WQ3Y0WI Kas ha Dial] and [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Winnie-Pou-Cornish-Milne-ebook/dp/B00X69F6BU Winni-an-Pou] ebooks</ref> Printed copies of these may also be found from Amazon. The [[Truro]] Waterstones hosts the annual {{lang|kw|Holyer an Gof}} literary awards, established by {{lang|kw|[[Gorsedh Kernow]]}} to recognise publications relating to Cornwall or in the Cornish language.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.holyerangofawards.org.uk/ |title=Holyer an Gof Awards |access-date=21 January 2015}}</ref> In recent years, a number of Cornish translations of literature have been published, including ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' (2009),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.evertype.com/books/alice-kw.html |title=Alys in Pow an Anethow |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref> ''[[Around the World in Eighty Days]]'' (2009),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.evertype.com/books/adro-dhen-bys.html |title=Adro dhe'n Bÿs in Peswar Ugans Dëdh |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref> ''[[Treasure Island]]'' (2010),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.evertype.com/books/treasure-island-kw.html |title=Enys Tresour |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref> ''[[The Railway Children]]'' (2012),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.evertype.com/books/railway-children-kw.html |title=Flehes an Hens Horn |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref> ''[[Hound of the Baskervilles]]'' (2012),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.evertype.com/books/hound-kw.html |title=Ky Teylu Baskerville |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref> ''[[The War of the Worlds]]'' (2012),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.evertype.com/books/wotw-kw.html|title=Gwerryans an Planettys |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref> ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]'' (2013),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.evertype.com/books/wind-in-the-willows-kw.html |title=An Gwyns i'n Helyk |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref> ''[[Three Men in a Boat]]'' (2013),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.evertype.com/books/three-men-kw.html |title=Tredden in Scath (Heb Gwil Mencyon a'n Ky) |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref> ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass]]'' (2014),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kesva.org |title=Alys y'n Vro a Varthusyon ha Der an Gweder-Mires |publisher=[[Kesva an Taves Kernewek]]}}</ref> and ''[[A Christmas Carol]]''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cornish-language.org/Cornish-language-books.html |title=Karol Nadelik |publisher=[[Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek]]}}</ref> (which won the 2012 {{lang|kw|Holyer an Gof}} award for Cornish Language books), as well as original Cornish literature such as ''{{lang|kw|Jowal Lethesow}}''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.evertype.com/books/jowal.html |title=Jowal Lethesow |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref> (''The [[Lyonesse]] Stone'') by [[Craig Weatherhill]]. Literature aimed at children is also available, such as {{lang|kw|Ple'ma Spot?}} (''Where's [[Spot the Dog|Spot]]?''), {{lang|kw|Best Goon Brèn}} (''The Beast of Bodmin Moor''), three ''[[Topsy and Tim]]'' titles,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cornish-language.org/Cornish-language-books.html |title=Topsy and Tim |publisher=[[Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek]]}}</ref> two ''[[The Adventures of Tintin|Tintin]]'' titles and {{lang|kw|Briallen ha'n Alyon}} (''Briallen and the Alien''), which won the 2015 {{lang|kw|Holyer an Gof}} award for Cornish Language books for children.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sites.google.com/site/orssempel/publications/briallen-ha-n-alyon |title=Briallen ha'n Alyon |publisher=Ors Sempel}}</ref> In 2014 {{lang|kw-kscor|An Hobys}}, [[Nicholas Williams (poet)|Nicholas Williams]]'s translation of [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Hobbit]]'', was published.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.evertype.com/books/hobys.html |title=An Hobys, pò An Fordh Dy ha Tre Arta |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref>

{{lang|kw|[[An Gannas]]}} is a monthly magazine published entirely in the Cornish language. Members contribute articles on various subjects. The magazine is produced by Graham Sandercock who has been its editor since 1976.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cornish-language.org/An-Gannas-Cornish-language-magazine.html |title=An Gannas – Cornish language magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722104746/http://www.cornish-language.org/An-Gannas-Cornish-language-magazine.html |archive-date=22 July 2019}}</ref>

=== Media ===
In 1983 [[BBC Radio Cornwall]] started broadcasting around two minutes of Cornish every week. In 1987, however, they gave over 15 minutes of airtime on Sunday mornings for a programme called {{lang|kw|Kroeder Kroghen}} ('[[Holdall]]'), presented by John King, running until the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/25205141 |title=The Celtic languages |date=1993 |last=Ball |first=Martin |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=New York / London |isbn=0415010357 |pages=652 |oclc=25205141}}</ref> It was eventually replaced with a five-minute news bulletin called {{lang|kw|An Nowodhow}} ('The News'). The bulletin was presented every Sunday evening for many years by [[Rod Lyon]], then Elizabeth Stewart, and currently a team presents in rotation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/connected/stories/cornish_news.shtml |title=Cornwall – Connected – Hear the news read in Cornish |work=[[BBC]] |access-date=28 May 2013}}</ref> [[Pirate FM]] ran short bulletins on Saturday lunchtimes from 1998 to 1999. In 2006, Matthew Clarke who had presented the Pirate FM bulletin, launched a web-streamed news bulletin called {{lang|kw|Nowodhow an Seythen}} ('Weekly News'), which in 2008 was merged into a new weekly magazine podcast {{lang|kw|[[Radyo an Gernewegva]]}} (RanG).

Cornish television shows have included a 1982 series by [[Westward Television]] with each episode containing a three-minute lesson in Cornish.{{sfn|Ball|1993|p=652}} {{lang|kw|An Canker-Seth}}, an eight-episode series produced by [[Television South West]] and broadcast between June and July 1984, later on [[S4C]] from May to July 1985, and as a schools programme in 1986.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.broadcastforschools.co.uk/site/An_Canker-Seth |title=An Canker-Seth |work=BroadcastForSchools.co.uk |date=31 December 2011 |access-date=28 May 2013}}</ref> Also by Television South West were two bilingual programmes on Cornish Culture called {{lang|kw|Nosweyth Lowen}}.{{sfn|Ball|1993|p=652}}
In 2016 Kelly's Ice Cream of [[Bodmin]] introduced a light hearted television commercial in the Cornish language and this was repeated in 2017.<ref>{{cite news |date=20 May 2016 |title=First Cornish TV ad to air weeks after language funding is axed |url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/may/20/first-cornish-tv-ad-to-air-weeks-after-language-funding-is-axed |access-date=18 September 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

The first episode from the third season of the US television program ''[[Deadwood (TV series)|Deadwood]]'' features a conversation between miners, purportedly in the Cornish language, but really in [[Irish language|Irish]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The other American Celts - the Cornish |url=http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/other-american-celts-cornwall |access-date=18 September 2021 |website=IrishCentral.com |date=23 February 2020}}</ref> One of the miners is then shot by thugs working for businessman [[George Hearst]] who justify the murder by saying, "He come at me with his foreign gibberish."

A number of Cornish language films have been made, including ''[[Hwerow Hweg]]'', a 2002 drama film written and directed by Hungarian film-maker Antal Kovacs and ''[[Trengellick Rising]]'', a short film written and directed by [[Guy Potter]].

Screen Cornwall works with Cornwall Council to commission a short film in the Cornish language each year, with their FilmK competition. Their website states "FylmK is an annual contemporary Cornish language short film competition, producing an imaginative and engaging film, in any genre, from distinctive and exciting filmmakers".<ref>{{Cite web |title=FylmK |url=https://www.screencornwall.com/fylmk |access-date=21 April 2022 |website=Screen Cornwall}}</ref>

A monthly half-hour online TV show began in 2017 called {{lang|kw|An Mis}} (The Month). It contained news items about cultural events and more mainstream news stories all through Cornish. It also ran a cookery segment called "{{lang|kw|italic=unset|Kegin Esther}}" ('Esther's Kitchen').<ref>{{Cite web |title=FylmK |url=https://anradyo.com/ |access-date=4 May 2024 |website=Radyo an Gernewegva}}</ref>

=== Music ===
English composer [[Peter Warlock]] wrote a Christmas carol in Cornish (setting words by Henry Jenner).<ref>{{cite web |title=Peter Warlock: Works |url=http://www.peterwarlock.org/PWWORKS.HTM#songs |publisher=The Peter Warlock Society |access-date=2 December 2019 |archive-date=2 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202104554/http://www.peterwarlock.org/PWWORKS.HTM#songs |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Cornish electronic musician [[Aphex Twin]] has used Cornish names for track titles, most notably on his ''[[Drukqs]]'' album.

Several traditional Cornish folk songs have been collected and can be sung to various tunes. These include "{{lang|kw|italic=unset|[[An Awhesyth]]}}", "{{lang|kw|italic=unset|[[Bro Goth agan Tasow]]}}", and "{{lang|kw|italic=unset|[[Delkiow Sivy]]}}".

In 2018, the singer [[Gwenno Saunders]] released an album in Cornish, entitled {{lang|kw|[[Le Kov]]}}, saying: "I speak Cornish with my son: if you're comfortable expressing yourself in a language, you want to share it."<ref name="Gwenno">{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20180412-the-rebirth-of-britains-lost-languages |first=Holly |last=Williams |work=[[BBC News]] |title=The rebirth of Britain's 'lost' languages |date=12 April 2018 |access-date=13 April 2018}}</ref>

=== Place-names and surnames ===
{{See also|Cornish surnames}}

[[File:CornwallKernowMappa.png|thumb|right|Place-names translated into [[Standard Written Form|SWF]]]]

The Cornish language features in the [[toponymy]] of Cornwall, with a significant contrast between English place-names prevalent in eastern Cornwall and Cornish place-names to the west of the Camel-Fowey river valleys, where English place-names are much less common.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pye |title=Cornish Place-names in the Landscape |publisher=[[University of Exeter]] |date=2019 |pages=393}}</ref> Hundreds of Cornish family names have an etymology in the Cornish language, the majority of which are derived from Cornish place-names.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/964412220 |title=The Oxford dictionary of family names in Britain and Ireland |date=2016 |first1=Patrick |last1=Hanks |first2=Richard A. |last2=Coates |first3=Peter |last3=McClure |isbn=9780192527479 |edition=1st |publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=xxxi |oclc=964412220}}</ref> Long before the agreement of the [[Standard Written Form|Standard Written Form of Cornish]] in the 21st century, Late Cornish orthography in the [[Early Modern]] period usually followed Welsh to English transliteration, phonetically rendering C for K, I for Y, U for W, and Z for S. This meant that place names were adopted into English with spellings such as 'Porthcurno' and 'Penzance'; they are written {{lang|kw|Porth Kernow}} and {{lang|kw|Pen Sans}} in the Standard Written Form of Cornish, agreed upon in 2008. Likewise words such as {{lang|kw|Enys}} ('island') can be found spelled as ''{{lang|en-cornu|Ince}}'' as at [[Ince Castle]]. These apparent mistransliterations can, however, reveal an insight into how names and places were actually pronounced, explaining, for example, how anglicised {{lang|en-cornu|[[Launceston, Cornwall|Launceston]]}} is still pronounced [ˈlansǝn] with emphasis on the first element,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20669792 |title=BBC pronouncing dictionary of British names |date=1990 |publisher=Oxford University Press |first=G. E. |last=Pointon |isbn=0192827456 |edition=2nd |pages=140 |oclc=20669792}}</ref> perhaps from Cornish {{lang|kw|Lann Stefan}}, though the ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names'' considers this unlikely.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ekwall |first=Eilert |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/400936 |title=The concise Oxford dictionary of English place-names |date=1960 |isbn=0198691033 |edition=4th |publisher=Claredon Press |location=Oxford |pages=289 |oclc=400936}}</ref>

The following tables present some examples of Cornish place names and surnames and their anglicised versions:

{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{| class="wikitable"
! English (anglicised)<br />place-name || Cornish place-name ||Translation
|-
| [[Truro]] || {{lang|kw|Truru}}{{sfn|George|2009|p=647}} ||Three Roads
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]]}} || {{lang|kw|Aberfal}}{{sfn|George|2009|p=44}} || Mouth [of] Fal
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Newquay, Cornwall|Newquay]]}} || {{lang|kw|Tewynn Pleustri}}{{sfn|George|2009|p=624}} || Dunes [of] Pleustri
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Penzance]]}} || {{lang|kw|Pennsans}}{{sfn|George|2009|p=514}} || Head Holy i.e. Holy Headland
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Redruth]]}} || {{lang|kw|Rysrudh}}{{sfn|George|2009|p=866}} || Ford Red
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Camborne]]}} || {{lang|kw|Kammbronn}}{{sfn|George|2009|p=717}} || Camm (crooked) Hill
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[St Austell]]}} || {{lang|kw|Sen Ostell}}{{sfn|George|2009|p=573}} || Saint Ostel
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Bodmin]]}} || {{lang|kw|Bosvenegh}}{{sfn|George|2009|p=102}} || Abode [of] Monks
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Liskeard]]}} || {{lang|kw|Lyskerrys}}{{sfn|George|2009|p=432}} || Court [of the] Crossroads
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Launceston, Cornwall|Launceston]]}} || {{lang|kw|Lannstefan}}{{sfn|George|2009|p=408}} || Land [of] [[St Stephen]]
|}
{{col-2}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! English (anglicised) surname || Cornish surname || Translation
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Angwin (disambiguation)|Angwin]]}} || {{lang|kw|An Gwynn}} || 'The White'
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|Angove}} || {{lang|kw|An Gov}} || 'The Smith'
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Ellery (surname)|Ellery]]}} || {{lang|kw|Elerghi}} || Either a dialectal variant of [[Hilary (name)|Hilary]] (from [[Latin]] {{lang|la|Hilarius}}),<ref>{{cite web |title=Ellery Family History |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/name-origin?surname=ellery |access-date=28 November 2018 |website=[[Ancestry.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Last Name: Ellery |url=http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Ellery |access-date=28 November 2018 |website=SurnameDB}}</ref><br />or from the parish of {{lang|kw|[[Veryan|Elerghi]]}}, meaning 'swan river'.
|-
|{{lang|en-cornu| [[Chenoweth]]}} || {{lang|kw|Chi Nowydh}} || 'New house'<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |last2=Hodges |first2=Flavia |title=The Oxford Names Companion |date=2002 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=0198605617 |page=125}}</ref>
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Pascoe]]}} || {{lang|kw|Pask}} || 'Easter/Passion'
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|Curnow}} || {{lang|kw|Kernow}} || 'Cornwall'
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Teague (disambiguation)|Teague]]}} || {{lang|kw|Teg}} || 'Fair/Beautiful'
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Trevithick]]}} || {{lang|kw|Trevuthik}} || Possibly 'Homestead of the doctor'<ref>{{cite web |title=Trevithick Family History |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/name-origin?surname=trevithick |access-date=28 November 2018 |website=[[Ancestry.com]]}}</ref>
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Goldsworthy (name)|Goldsworthy]]}} || {{lang|kw|Golerewi}} || From {{lang|kw|gool-erewi}}, literally meaning 'feast-acre'.<ref>{{cite web |title=An English - Cornish Glossary in the Standard Written Form |url=http://www.kernewegva.com/PDFs/glossary_140810.pdf |first1=Albert |last1=Bock |first2=Benjamin |last2=Bruch |first3=Neil |last3=Kennedy |first4=Daniel |last4=Prohaska |first5=Laurence |last5=Rule |date=14 August 2010 |work=Kernewegva.com |access-date=19 August 2020}}</ref>
|-
| {{lang|en-cornu|[[Tremaine]]}} || {{lang|kw|Tremayn}} || 'Mean/Middle town'
|}
{{col-end}}

== Samples ==
From the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]:

{|class="wikitable"
! Cornish
! Translation
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|Genys frank ha par yw oll tus an bys}}
| All human beings are born free and
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|yn aga dynita hag yn aga gwiryow.}}
| equal in dignity and rights. They are
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|Enduys yns gans reson ha kowses}}
| endowed with reason and conscience
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|hag y tal dhedha omdhon an eyl orth}}
| and should act towards one another
|-
| {{lang|kw|y gila yn spyrys a vrederedh.}}
| in a spirit of brotherhood.
|}

From {{lang|kw|[[Bro Goth agan Tasow]]}}, the Cornish anthem:

{|class="wikitable"
! Cornish
! Translation
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|Bro goth agan tasow, dha fleghes a'th kar,}}
| Old land of our fathers, your children love you,
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|Gwlas ker an howlsedhes, pan vro yw dha bar?}}
| Dear country of the west, what land is your equal?
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|War oll an norvys 'th on ni skollys a-les,}}
| Over all the world, we are spread far and wide,
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|Mes agan kerensa yw dhis.}}
| But our love is for you.
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|Kernow, Kernow y keryn Kernow;}}
| Cornwall, Cornwall, we love Cornwall;
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|An mor hedre vo yn fos dhis a-dro}}
|For as long as the sea is a wall around you
|-
| {{lang|kw|'Th on onan hag oll rag Kernow!}}
| We are one and all for Cornwall!
|}

From the [[Cornish wrestling|wrestler's]] oath:

{|class="wikitable"
! Cornish
! Translation
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|War ow enor ha war enor ow bro,}}
| On my honour and the honour of my country,
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|My a de omdewlel heb traytouri na garowder,}}
| I swear to wrestle without treachery or brutality 
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|Hag avel ol ow lelder my a ystyn ow leuv dhe’m kontrari.}}
| And in token of my sincerity I offer my hand to my opponent. 
|-style="border-bottom-style:hidden;"
| {{lang|kw|Gans geryow ow hendasow:}}
| In the words of my forefathers:
|-
| {{lang|kw|“Gwari hweg yw gwari teg”.}}
| "Fair play is sweet play".
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Cornwall|Language}}
* [[Anglo-Cornish]], the Cornish dialect of the English language
* [[Bible translations into Cornish]]
* [[Breton language]]
* [[List of Celtic-language media]]
* [[The Cornish Language Council]] ({{lang|kw|Cussel an Tavas Kernuak}})
* [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]]
* [[Language revival]]
** [[Gaelic revival|Irish language revival]]
** [[Manx language|Manx]], another Celtic language subject to revival efforts
* [[Languages in the United Kingdom]]
* [[Cornish literature]]
* [[List of topics related to Cornwall]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* Bruch, Benjamin; Bock, Albert (2008) ''An Outline of the Standard Written Form of Cornish''. Cornish Language Partnership
* Hodge, Pol (2001) ''Cornish Names''. Truro: Dyllansow Fentenwynn {{ISBN|1902917235}}
* [[Fred W. P. Jago|Jago, F. W. P.]], ''A Cornish Dictionary'' (1887) [https://archive.org/details/EnglishCornishDictionary English Cornish dictionary]
* Jenner, Henry, [[iarchive:handbookofcornis00jennuoft|A Handbook of the Cornish language: Chiefly in its latest stages with some account of its history and literature (1904)]] [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26192/26192-h/26192-h.htm] [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26192]
* Ellis, Peter B. (1971) ''The Story of the Cornish Language''. 32 p. Truro: Tor Mark Press
* [[Peter Berresford Ellis|Ellis, Peter B.]] (1974) ''The Cornish Language and its Literature''. ix, 230 p.&nbsp;London: [[Routledge|Routledge & Kegan Paul]]
* Everson, Michael (2007) ''A Proposed Standard Written Form of Cornish''. Cornish Language Partnership Process
* Ferdinand, Siarl (2013). Brief History of the Cornish language, its Revival and its Current Situation. ''E-Keltoi'', Vol. 2, 2 Dec pp.&nbsp;199–227 [https://www.academia.edu/5323710/A_Brief_History_of_the_Cornish_Language_its_Revival_and_its_Current_Status]
* Jackson, Kenneth (1953) ''Language and History in Early Britain: A chronological survey of the Brittonic languages, first to twelfth century a.D.'' Edinburgh Uuniverty Ppress; 2nd ed. Dublin: Four Courts Press (1994) has a new introduction by William Gillies
* Norris, Edwin, [https://archive.org/details/sketchofcornishg00norr Sketch of Cornish grammar (1859)] [https://archive.org/details/sketchofcornishg00norruoft] [https://archive.org/details/sketchcornishgr00norrgoog] [https://archive.org/details/sketchofcornishg00norriala]
* Sandercock, Graham (1996) ''A Very Brief History of the Cornish Language''. Hayle: {{lang|kw|Kesva an Tavas Kernewek}} {{ISBN|0907064612}}
* Stokes, Whitley, [[iarchive:cu31924026878334|{{lang|kw|Gwreans an bys|nocat=y}} = The Creation of the World: A Cornish Mystery (1863)]]
* Weatherhill, Craig (1995) ''Cornish Place Names & Language''. Wilmslow: Sigma Press (reissued in 1998, 2000 {{ISBN|1850584621}}; second revised edition 2007 {{ISBN|978-1-85058-837-5}})
* Weatherhill, Craig (2009) ''Concise Dictionary of Cornish Place-names''; edited by [[Michael Everson]]. Westport, Co. Mayo: Evertype {{ISBN|9781904808220}}
* Williams, G. P, [https://archive.org/details/preverbalparticl00willrich The preverbal particle Re in Cornish (1908)]

== External links ==
{{InterWiki|code=kw}}
{{Wiktionary category|type=Cornish|category=Cornish language}}
{{Commons category|Cornish language}}
* [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26192/26192-h/26192-h.htm A Handbook of the Cornish Language, by Henry Jenner] A [[Project Gutenberg]] eBook
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170112235606/http://www.magakernow.org.uk/ Cornish Language Partnership website]
* [https://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/4050 Endangered Languages Project: Cornish]
* [http://radyo.kernewegva.com/ A Cornish Internet radio station in nascent state featuring weekly podcasts in Cornish]
* [http://kernowek.net/mailman/listinfo/spellyans_kernowek.net Spellyans – Standard Written Form Cornish discussion list]
* [http://www.kernowek.net/ UdnFormScrefys' site for the proposed compromise orthography, Kernowek Standard]
* [http://www.kernewegva.com/medhelweyth.html List of localised software in Cornish]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/connected/stories/new_cornwall_language.shtml {{lang|kw|Blas Kernewek|nocat=y}} – A Taste of Cornish] – basic Cornish lessons hosted by BBC Cornwall
* [https://cornish-language.org/ Cornish Language Fellowship]
* [http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Cornish/index.htm Lyver Pysadow Kemyn (1980)] Portions of the Book of Common Prayer in Cornish
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/cornish.shtml Cornish today] by Kenneth MacKinnon – from the [[BBC]]
* [https://www.bibelkernewek.com/ Bibel Kernewek] Cornish Bible Translation Project
* [http://cornish-place-names.wikidot.com/ An Index to the Historical Place Names of Cornwall]
* [https://qz.com/969597/hebrew-was-the-only-language-ever-to-be-revived-from-extinction-there-may-soon-be-another/ A review of the Cornish revival]
* [https://cornwalldirect.co.uk/cornish-language-sayings-and-phrases/ Cornish language Sayings and Phrases]

=== Dictionaries ===
* [https://www.cornishdictionary.org.uk/ Gerlyver kernewek (Cornish dictionary)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20151105003722/http://www.magakernow.org.uk/idoc.ashx?docid=205a3451-0e49-4216-a825-d4a4ceba9ba2&version=-1 An English-Cornish Glossary in the Standard Written Form] – [[Cornish Language Partnership]]
* [https://archive.org/details/lexiconcornubrit00willuoft {{lang|la|Lexicon Cornu-Britannicum}}'': a Dictionary of the Ancient Celtic Language of Cornwall''] by Robert Williams, Llandovery, 1865.

{{Navboxes
| list =
{{Cornish language|state=show}}
{{Cornwall}}
{{Celtic languages}}
{{Celts}}
{{Languages of the United Kingdom}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cornish language| ]]
[[Category:Critically endangered languages]]
[[Category:Languages attested from the 9th century]]
[[Category:Languages extinct in the 18th century]]
[[Category:Southwestern Brittonic languages]]
[[Category:Cornish language revival|*]]
[[Category:Languages of England]]
[[Category:Languages of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Cornish nationalism]]
[[Category:Endangered Celtic languages]]
[[Category:Verb–subject–object languages]]
[[Category:Language revival]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]