This
map shows the regions of the world where Cornish is spoken
(see red circle).
Cornish largely died out by the late 1700s, with the last fluent
speaker perishing in 1777. But thanks to a revival movement
that started in the 1922, about 300 speakers speak it
as of 2007. In 2002, the British government
recognized Cornish as one of the nation's official minority
languages.
Three or four dialects appear today (though the linguistic
charts and isoglosses have to map them on a block-by-block
basis in certain towns.) Cornish descends from the Celtic
branch of Indo-European languages
in the
subfamily
of
the Brythonic languages. It is most closely related to modern
Welsh and to the Breton
language found in Northern France. Examples of Cornish include
phrases like agan tavas ("our language"), Fatia
genes ("How are you?") and Awodhes
kewsel Kerenwek ("Do you know Cornish")?
| Daniel M. Short originally created this
map and the other Indo-European language charts for his website at http://www.danshort.com/.
I reproduce these images here with the author's permission, but they are
copyrighted by Daniel Short as of 2002. These charts should not be reproduced
or reused without Mr. Short's approval. You may contact him at danshort@gte.net
for more information. These images are not public domain. |