英文杂志-Magazine：The Kernewek success story

The Kernewek success storyby Linda BaxterIn the first lesson of any language course you'll probably learn a mini dialogue like this. You'll find the translation at the end of this article, but can you guess what it means?

A: "Dydh da! Fatla genes¹?"

B: "Yn poynt da, meur ras. Ha genes jy?"

What you probably can't guess is the language of the exchange above. It's actually Cornish, a language that is listed as 'extinct²' in the UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages but which has experienced a remarkable³ revival⁴ in recent years.

What is Cornish?It's a member of the Celtic family of languages which also includes Scots, Irish, Welsh and Breton. When Britain was invaded by the Anglo-Saxons in the fifth century AD, the native Celtic people were pushed to the West and North of the country and the language that they spoke⁵ developed differently in these separate areas. Some Celts left the country completely and went to the West of France where their language became known as Breton. Cornish (Kernewek) is the language that people spoke in Cornwall (Kernow) which is the county in the extreme South West of England. Welsh and Breton are its nearest relatives and the three languages have a lot of similarities.

When did the language die out?It really depends on your definition of 'died out'. The story goes that the last person who spoke Cornish (and no English) was a woman called Dolly Pentreath. She died in 1777 and some people say that the language died with her. But of course, there were still people who spoke Cornish as a native language, even if they also knew English. And their children learned some Cornish from them even if they spoke English most of the time. The number of speakers got smaller and smaller and they knew less and less of the language, but Cornish didn't disappear. There are stories of fisherman still using Cornish numbers to count fish in the 1940s and 50s. So some people argue that the language never died out completely, but survived until the Cornish revival started at the beginning of the twentieth century.

What do you mean by 'Cornish revival'?At the beginning of the twentieth century academics became interested in Cornish and started to study some of the ancient texts that had survived. From these old documents they worked out the rules for spelling and grammar and people became interested in learning to speak the language again and teaching it to their children. Some people still say that Cornish died with Dolly Pentreath and this 'new' Cornish is an artificial language, but the revival has continued to this day.

So how many people speak it now?Surprise surprise, people don't agree about that either. It depends on what you mean by 'speak'. There are probably only a few hundred people who speak it as their everyday language. But there are several thousand who can have a conversation in Cornish even if they aren't fluent. And if you include all the people who know some words and basic phrases then it could be as many as ten thousand. Not a lot admittedly, but a lot better than a hundred years ago. And the numbers are growing every year. Some children now grow up bilingual and the language is offered as an option in some schools. You can even study the language to degree level at university.

But is it really used in everyday life?Yes it is. You'll see and hear a lot of it if you visit Cornwall. You'll see road signs in Cornish for a start. Newspapers and radio stations have regular articles and programmes in Cornish and there are some magazines written entirely⁶ in the language. There are bookshops which only sell books in Cornish and many businesses use Cornish names. There is even a Cornish language film industry.

Can I understand it if I speak English?That doesn't help much I'm afraid. Some of the modern words are easy to guess, for example 'ayrplen' for aeroplane and 'pytsa' for pizza. Some words are similar to English: fas (face), mam (mother), onyonen (onion) and plat (plate). 'Avon' is Cornish for 'river' which may explain why there are so many River Avons in Britain. Some words seem to be influenced by French, for example, 'pons' (bridge), 'chambour' (bedroom), and 'eglos' (church). But you might have a few more problems with 'kenynen ewynek' (garlic) and 'scubylen dens⁷' (toothbrush). And remember, if you see 'stevel omwolhy' on a hotel door it isn't the name of the manager - it's Cornish for 'bathroom'.

And here's the translation of the mini dialogue at the beginning of the article.

A: Hello! ("good day"). How are you?

B: Very well thank you. And you?

Obvious isn't it?
 

1 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

2 extinct   

adj.灭绝的，不再活跃的，熄灭了的，已废弃的

参考例句：

• All hopes were extinct.所有希望都破灭了。
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years.恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

7 dens   

n.牙齿，齿状部分；兽窝( den的名词复数 )；窝点；休息室；书斋

参考例句：

• Female bears tend to line their dens with leaves or grass. 母熊往往会在洞穴里垫些树叶或草。 来自辞典例句
• In winter bears usually hibernate in their dens. 冬天熊通常在穴里冬眠。 来自辞典例句