Should languages be allowed to die?
Cornwall has begun an initiative to halt the almost terminal decline of its language and has won widespread, and not only widespread local support, but also some EU and government funding. The idea is that, for example, front-line tourist reception staff would welcome visitors in the native dialect, and road signs would be rendered in Cornish and would, it is hoped, become a language in everyday discourse.
The language was widely spoken in Cornwall right up to the 19C when the county was much more isolated, and less likely to receive outsiders. The 20C saw attempts at reviving the language and this was encouraged in 2002 when Cornish was recognised under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
To encourage budding speakers, we give below some useful examples of Cornish:
Welcome Dynnargh dhis
How are you? Fatla genes?
Good morning Myttin da
I love you My a’th kar
I don’t understand Ny gonvedha
Have a nice day Lowena dhis
Good luck Chons da!
Cornwall Council has created the Cornish Language Plan to encourage the use of the language in everyday life, in pubs, on the street and in shops.
The council estimates that between 300 and 400 people are fluent speakers who use Cornish regularly, while around 5,000 have very simple conversational ability.
Cornish is not the only language threatened with extinction. There are some 200 languages in the 50 nations of Europe, and many are spoken by just a handful of people. Karaim, in the Ukraine, has only 6 people speaking the language. The languages of Guernsey and Jersey have fewer than 1000 speakers, whilst Manx Gaelic died out with the last speaker in 1974. However efforts are being made to revive the language with 50 students enrolling in an intensive course conducted entirely in Manx.
In the past 1000 years around 139 languages have become extinct.
Click here to see some of the major languages that we can translate
Want to learn more Cornish phrases?
