The Cornish language revival (Cornish: dasserghyans Kernewek, lit. ''resurrection of Cornish'') is an ongoing process to revive the use of the Cornish language of Cornwall, England. The Cornish language's disappearance began to hasten during the 13th century, but its decline began with the spread of Old English in the 5th and 6th centuries. The last reported person to have full knowledge of a traditional form of Cornish, John Davey, died in 1891. The revival movement started in the late 19th century as a result of antiquarian and academic interest in the language, which was already extinct, and also as a result of the Celtic revival movement. In 2009, UNESCO changed its classification of Cornish from "extinct" to "critically endangered", seen as a milestone for the revival of the language.
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👉 Cornish language revival in the context of Cornish language
Cornish (Kernewek or Kernowek [kəɾˈnuːək]) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Cornish people and their homeland, Cornwall. Along with Welsh and Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, a language once spoken widely across Great Britain. For much of the medieval period Cornish was the main language of Cornwall, until it was gradually pushed westwards by the spread of English. Cornish remained a common community language in parts of Cornwall until the mid-18th century, and there is some evidence for traditional speakers persisting into the 19th century.
Cornish became extinct as a living community language in Cornwall by the end of the 18th century; knowledge of Cornish persisted within some families and individuals. A revival started in the early 20th century, and in 2010 UNESCO reclassified the language as critically endangered, stating that its former classification of the language as extinct was no longer accurate. The language has a growing number of second-language speakers, and a very small number of families now raise children to speak revived Cornish as a first language.
Cornish language revival in the context of Brittonic languages
The Brittonic languages (also Brythonic or British Celtic; Welsh: ieithoedd Brythonaidd/Prydeinig; Cornish: yethow brythonek/predennek; and Breton: yezhoù predenek) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages; the other is Goidelic. It comprises the extant languages Breton, Cornish, and Welsh. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, denoting a Celtic Briton as distinguished from Anglo-Saxons or Gaels.
The Brittonic languages derive from the Common Brittonic language, spoken throughout Great Britain during the Iron Age and Roman period. In the 5th and 6th centuries emigrating Britons also took Brittonic speech to the continent, most significantly in Brittany and Britonia. During the next few centuries, in much of Britain the language was replaced by Old English and Scottish Gaelic, with the remaining Common Brittonic language splitting into regional dialects, eventually evolving into Welsh, Cornish, Breton, Cumbric, and probably Pictish. Welsh and Breton continue to be spoken as native languages, while a revival in Cornish has led to an increase in speakers of that language. Cumbric and Pictish are extinct, having been replaced by Goidelic and Anglic speech. There is also a community of Brittonic language speakers in Y Wladfa (the Welsh settlement in Patagonia).