Cornish Alphabet

The Cornish alphabet has 26 letters: 6 vowels (a, e, i, o, u, y) and 20 consonants. It uses the standard Latin alphabet ^[3], the same writing system as English, with circumflex accents (^) used to indicate long vowels.

Yes! Cornish has an incredible revival story:

• The language became extinct as a native language in the late 18th century

• Revival efforts began in the early 20th century, led by Henry Jenner

• Today, there are 400-500 fluent speakers and over 3,000 with basic skills ^[1]

• Cornish is now taught in schools and used on road signs throughout Cornwall

• It's one of the most successful language revival projects in the world!

Cornish, Welsh, and Breton are sister languages in the Brittonic branch of Celtic ^[2]:

• All three descended from Common Brittonic, spoken in Britain before the 6th century

• They share similar grammatical structures and vocabulary

• Welsh speakers can often understand some written Cornish

• Breton was carried to Brittany, France, by British migrants in the 5th-6th centuries

• These languages are closer to each other than to Irish or Scots Gaelic

Modern Cornish is spoken primarily in:

• Cornwall, England - where it has official recognition as a minority language

• Language classes and events - organized by groups like Agan Tavas and Kesva an Taves Kernewek

• Schools - where it's taught as part of the curriculum in some Cornish schools

• Online communities - connecting Cornish learners and speakers worldwide

The revival continues to grow ^[1] with increasing interest in Celtic heritage!

Cornish has several orthographic systems developed during its revival:

• Unified Cornish (UC) - created in the 1920s by Robert Morton Nance

• Kernewek Kemmyn (KK) - developed in 1986, emphasizing phonetics

• Unified Cornish Revised (UCR) - a modernized version of UC

• Standard Written Form (SWF) - introduced in 2008 as a compromise system

• The SWF is now officially endorsed by the Cornish Language Partnership

Cornish has unique features but is quite learnable:

• Celtic grammar - verb-subject-object word order, different from English

• Mutations - initial consonants change based on grammar (like Welsh)

• Regular pronunciation - once you learn the rules, words are predictable

• Two grammatical genders - masculine and feminine nouns

• Rich learning resources - online courses, dictionaries, and supportive communities

With dedication and the many free resources available, Cornish is accessible to learners!

Learning Cornish offers unique cultural and linguistic benefits:

• Preserve Celtic heritage - help keep an ancient British language alive

• Connect with Cornwall - understand place names, traditions, and culture deeply

• Join a community - become part of the language revival movement

• Linguistic insight - understand how Celtic languages work

• Rare skill - be among the few thousand speakers of this revived language

It's a meaningful way to connect with British history and support linguistic diversity!