/r/CornishLanguage
A subreddit for all things related to the Cornish language.
Welcome to /r/CornishLanguage, a place for people to discuss, share and learn Cornish. Any orthography is acceptable here (but uncivil arguments are not).
Useful Links:
Cornwall Council's Page on the Cornish Language: Resources, Contacts and Translation Requests
Agan Tavas - Very useful site with lots of information and resources.
An Gernewegva - Fairly large audio archive. Not really beginner-friendly!
An Kylgh Kernewek: The Cornish Language Circle
BBC Radio Cornwall - Weekly News in Cornish
Celtic Language Discord - has a moderately active Cornish channel.
Gerlyver Kernewek (Cornish Dictionary) - Online Cornish Dictionary from the Cornish Language Partnership
GoCornish.org - Online Cornish language resources, find local classes and more
Kalender a Hwarvosow (Sodhva an Yeth Kernewek) - Events Calendar (Cornish Language Office)
Kernewek Bew - Website with lots of audio and video resources.
Learn Cornish Now Youtube Channel - New videos haven't been posted for some time, but there are some very useful vocabulary videos on the channel.
Memrise Course - Introduction to Cornish - A fantastic place to start your learning journey.
Memrise Course - Go Cornish, Grade 1 - Once you've finished the "Introduction" course, this is a great next step.
The Cornish Language Council/Cussel an Tavas Kernowek
101Languages.net: Free Basic Cornish resource
For further links and resources, go to Cornish-Language.org
/r/CornishLanguage
https://sordya.net/2024/11/29/operation-chough-kaskyrgh-palores/
Some of the Sordya crew have worked together to bring you audio, with transcription and translation, from Rodney Nute of his recollection of participating in the famous Operation Chough by the revived Stannary Parliament to cut down English Heritage signs in Kernow.
Nebes a vayni Sordya re gesoberas dhe dhri dhywgh oll son, gans treusskrifans ha treylyans Kernewek, a Rodney Nute a'y govyow a gemeres rann bosek y'n Kaskyrgh Palores a vri gans an Senedh Stenek dasserghys dhe dreghi dhe'n leur arwodhyow Ertach Pow Sows yn Kernow.
The Cornish word "dha" is confusing for Welsh learners like me because it's pronounced like the word “dda" in Welsh which means “good" but "dha" doesn't mean good in Cornish, even thought I keep thinking it does. It instead means "your" (singular). Cognate with Welsh "dy".
I think there’s a word for this kind of thing, false friends is that it? A false friend between Welsh and Cornish.
https://sordya.net/2024/11/21/right-to-roam-at-roche-rock-gwir-dhe-wandra-orth-an-garrek/
alexthornton shares a writeup of the recent Right to Roam trespass at Roche Rock protesting its micro-enclosure.
alexthornton a gevren derivas a'n kammdremenas Right to Roam a-gynsow orth An Garrek ow protestya y gorrargeans.
I'm trying to learn Cornish, but I lose focus too quickly.
Drog yw genev
Memrise used to support Cornish, but now I can't find it in the drop-down menu.
Does anyone know of any other language apps that support/have Cornish?
Anonymous takes us through the problem with the Pasty-Industrial Complex and the commodification of Cornish culture by capitalism.
Dihanow a'gan led dres an kudyn gans an Kevreyth Pasti-Diwysyansek ha'n kenwerthheans a wonisogeth Kernow gans chatelydhieth.
I'm currently playing a Wizard in a Dnd campaign and thought the idea of translating the Spells I use into Cornish was interesting.
If there was a song you'd want to be translated into Cornish, which would choose and why?
https://www.bowgie.com/14-words-and-phrases-everyone-should-learn-from-cornish-people
Personally I like dreckly/ drekly, I take it to mean soon or later, so I'll be seeing ya dreckly.
I kind of want a Cornish translation of this song.
Already tried Cornish language office email no answer.
I know it will cost £25
Unless there are other options?
I kind of want to know how to say in Cornish:
Don't fuck with me
I'll kick your ass
hello, I hope it’s okay to ask this, I’m looking for a direct translation to something of the effect of “Matchday”
Apologies if this isn’t allowed :)
Pixies are generally connected to Cornwall more than any other place. Within Cornish English the spelling is often "piskey" or "piskie" rather than something sounding like "picksie." I'm not certain in which direction the metathesis occurred (consonant switching), in other words which pronunciation appeared first. My question is how was this spelled in Cornish? I have looked in my Cornish dictionaries (I have 3) and in several online dictionaries and none give the word for pixie. Wiktionary gives two possible etymologies for pixie. One is that it is from Swedish pysk meaning "fairy." It cites a 1903 English dialect dictionary. I find no evidence that pysk means fairy in Swedish. The words for fairy are fe and älva (cognate with elf). The other etymology may be more plausible. It cites an 1895 dictionary saying it came from "puck-sy." "Puck" of course is of Germanic origin. It should be noted that pysk in Cornish means "fish", but I see no connection there. My hypothesis is that it is a diminutive form of Cornish bocka (see below).
As an aside, I compiled the following terms. Feel free to add more if you have sources.
an dus vyghan (plural) — The Fairies; tus: people, byghan: little. Late Cornish: An dus vian.
bocka (pl. bockas, bockyas) or bucca in Cornish English — puck, bogeyman, gnome, goblin, scarecrow (farming). Compare Welsh bwca.
fay (pl. fayys) — fairy.
knoukyer (pl. knoukyers) — knocker: a dwarf, goblin, or sprite imagined to dwell in mines and to indicate the presence of ore by knocking. Known historically in the United States mining industry as a "Tommyknocker."
korr (pl. korryon) — dwarf, midget.
korrik (pl. korrigown) — gnome. Diminutive of korr above.
kowr (pl. kewri) — giant. Feminine: kowres (pl. kowresow)
kravlost (pl. kravlostow) — knocker (see the knoukyer above). Etymology?
spyrys (pl. spyrysyon) or spriggen (pl., pronounced spridjen) in Cornish English — spirit, sprite, fairy
I've seen this used a few times, dedh/dydh is a masculine noun, and An jedh/jydh for The day. Why the mutation?
I was wondering what the Cornish equivalent to "ex libris" or "from the library of" for a bookplate or book stamp would be. I know this might not even be a thing, but thanks in advance anyway!
I'm looking for a podcast, audio book or something similar in Cornish. Something on Spotify would be ideal but if anyone could suggest anything on YouTube or another free service that would be great too!
I was wondering if there are any native speakers of Cornish today. I.e. people who were raised as children with the language so that it became a joint mother-tongue with English, at least linguistically speaking. I can't find an example of anyone online. I know there was a Cornish nursery set up a few years ago, though.
Another question, following on from this, is how good would someone's level of the language be if they were raised like this? I wonder who the person with the most knowledge of the Cornish language is today - would it be the leading academic on the language?
I feel sad that Cornish is often forgotten among Welsh and Irish, themselves much endangered to a degree. It would be amazing if the BBC did a documentary on the language and its speakers in modern day Cornwall.
I've been planning to change my name for a long time and have been leaning toward choosing the name Elowen. However, since I'm not Cornish, I'm worried that doing this could be culturally insensitive, so I wanted to seek feedback from people with Cornish heritage before deciding on the name.
Another concern I have is that I've always heard people pronounce this name as "EL-oh-wen", with emphasis on the "EL" (I live in the US). I recently learned this is not the traditional Cornish pronunciation, so I'm also wondering if it would be offensive to pronounce the name this way.
Although I love this name, I don't want to choose it if it would be disrespectful for me to do so, so I would truly appreciate any honest input anyone has on this.
dyadphaos writes on the danger of saviours and the lionisation of the revolution.
dyadphaos a skrif war an peryl a selwysi ha'n lewheans a'n domhwelans. (edited)
Dydh da! I'm learning Kernewek, but I'm having trouble finding a consistent pronunciation guide. What's the most used one in the community?
‘An Rin Kernewek ha Hwedhlow Erel’ by Agatha Christie
Translated by Roger Henley
Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek are pleased to announce the publication of a new translation of six short stories by the famous crime novelist, Agatha Christie.
The six short stories all share a connection to Cornwall, though a little tenuous in some of the stories. The stories include: An Rin Kernewek (The Cornish Mystery); An Gowethes (The Companion); An Hond a Ankow (The Hound of Death); An Kons Gosek (The Blood-Stained Pavement); Kas an Venyn Rych (The Case of the Rich Woman); Yngotys a Owr (Ingots of Gold).
These are the first translations of Agatha Christie’s stories into Kernewek, the Cornish language.
“We are so proud of publishing these stories for the first time in Kernewek,” said Lianne Wilson, chair of the publishing branch of Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek. “It’s no secret that areas of Devon and Cornwall are important in Agatha Christie’s writing, and finally the time has come for some of her work to be available in Kernewek.”
Originally from Torquay in Devon, Agatha Christie is considered the queen of crime writing, having written 75 books throughout her lifetime. Cornwall has been the inspiration for many locales and events in many of her works, including the title story of this collection ‘An Rin Kernewek’ (The Cornish Mystery).
Originally published in 1923, ‘The Cornish Mystery’ is one of the earliest cases for the famous, fictional detective from Belgium, Hercule Poirot. In this story, Monsieur Poirot is asked to investigate a case of poisoning in a small Cornish town named Polgarwith.
Roger Henley is a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedh and language teacher with KDL. His short stories and biographies have won many awards in the Gorsedh competitions in previous years.
It is hoped that the stories will prove interesting to students as well as crime fiction fanatics, but it’s certain that they will appeal to all types of Cornish language readers. The translation is written in the Standard Written Form and is suitable for third grade students and above.
‘An Rin Kernewek’ is available from the Kowethas an Yeth Kernowek website and at Kowsva in Heartlands.
Publication Details:
Title: An Rin Kernewek ha Hwedhlow Erel
Author: Agatha Christie
Translator: Roger Henley
Publisher: Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 1-899342-87-7
Available here: https://cornish-language.org/product/an-rin-kernewek/
‘An Rin Kernewek ha Hwedhlow Erel’ gans Agatha Christie
Treylyes gans Roger Henley
Yma Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek lowen a warnya dyllans treylyans nowyth a hwegh drolla berr gans awtoures lien galweyth a vri, Agatha Christie.
An hwegh hwedhel berr oll ma a rann mell dhe Gernow, kynth yw an mell na nebes tanow yn unn po dew hwedhel. An drollow a gomprehend: An Rin Kernewek (The Cornish Mystery); An Gowethes (The Companion); An Hond a Ankow (The Hound of Death); An Kons Gosek (The Blood-Stained Pavement); Kas an Venyn Rych (The Case of the Rich Woman); Yngotys a Owr (Ingots of Gold).
Yth yns i an kynsa treylyans a hwedhlow Agatha Christie yn Kernewek ha’n pympes ha tri ugens yeth may feu hy hwedhlow treylyes ynni.
“Ass on ni prout a dhyllo an hwedhlow ma rag an kensa tro yn Kernewek,” yn-medh Lianne Wilson, chayr panel dyllo Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek. “Nyns yw kevrin bos arenebedhow Kernow ha Dewnens posek yn skrifa Agatha Christie, ha wortiwedh an termyn re dheuth rag nebes a’s drollow dhe vos kevadow yn Kernewek.”
Yn terowel a-dhyworth Torquay yn Dewnens, yth yw Agatha Christie styryes avel myghternes lien galweyth wosa hi dhe skrifa 75 lyver dres hy bewnans. Kernow a brovias awen rag lies tyller ha hwarvos yn meur a’y drollow, ow komprehendya drolla titel an kuntel ma ‘An Rin Kernewek’.
Dyllys yn terowel yn 1923, ‘An Rin Kernewek’ yw onan a dhrollow a-varr an helerghyas belgek fugiethel a vri, Hercule Poirot. Y’n hwedhel ma, Monsieur Poirot yw govynnys dhe hwithra kas a bosnans y’n drev vian fug a Bolgarwith yn Kernow.
Roger Henley yw Bardh a Orsedh Kernow ha dyskador a’n yeth gans KDL. Y hwedhlow berr ha’y vewskrifow re waynyas lies pewas y’n kesstrifow an Orsedh y’n bledhynnyow usi passyes.
Gwaytys yw an drollow dhe brevi dhe les dhe studhyoryon keffrys ha’n re a gar novelys galweyth, mes yn sur i a elow dhe bub eghen an redyer Kernewek. Skrifys yw an treylyans ma y’n Furv Skrifys Savonek hag yth yw gwiw rag studhyoryon tressa gradh po moy.
Kevadow yw ‘An Rin Kernewek’ a-dhyworth gwiasva Kowethas an Yeth Kernowek hag yn Kowsva dhe Gresdir.
Kedhlow an Dyllans:
Titel: An Rin Kernewek ha Hwedhlow Erel
Awtoures: Agatha Christie
Treylyer: Roger Henley
Dyller: Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek
Pris: £9.99
ISBN: 1-899342-87-7
Kevadow omma: https://cornish-language.org/product/an-rin-kernewek/