Tristan and Isolde, and the Cornish language

I've been listening to the Album Tristan and Isolde by Celtic Legend. What I love about this and their other Album Lyonesse is that the story of the legend is told through song.

This lovely song is 'Ysolt Ynn Gweinten' sung beautifully by Gwenno Saunders in the Cornish language.



The Cornish Language


Cornish (or 'Kernewak' ) is a Celtic language of Indo-European origin. It is mainly spoken in the south-western British County of Cornwall ('Kernow').

The ancient British peoples spoke a Celtic language. When the Anglo-Saxons began to settle in Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries AD, many Britons were pushed north and west, into Scotland and Wales. Also into Ireland, Cornwall, Brittany and the very north of Spain. Other British tribes stayed, mixing and inter-marrying with local Anglo-Saxon settlers.


The Celtic language spoken by the Britons split into 2 branches:-

Goidelic (Irish Gaelic, Scots Gaelic, Manx)

Brythonic (Welsh, Cornish, Breton).


There was also a fourth Brythonic language, the now extinct Cumbric.


At one time the languages of Old Cornish and Old Breton were almost identical to each other.

Cornish was spoken as a main language in Cornwall up until the 16th century after which it began to gradually die out. Some Cornish speakers still used the language at home and within the family into the 19th century.

Today, Cornish is a language undergoing new interest and revival. In 2002 Cornish was recognised as a UK minority language.



Some handy phrases in Kernewek (Cornish):-

I have worked out the phonetic pronunciation for those words that need it and put it beside each phrase below. 'g' is a hard g as in the English 'gate'. 'dh' is said as a English 'th' sound. 's' is an English 'z' sound. Otherwise you can't go too wrong to just say it how it's spelt.


Dydh da! - Hello! dith da
Duw genes! - Goodbye! (to one person) dew gen-ez
Nos da - Goodnight noz da
Mar pleg - Please mar playg
Meur ras - Thank you mer raz

Fatla genes? -How are you? fat-lah gen-ez

Pur dha, meur ras - Very well, thanks purr tha mer raz
Da lowr, meur ras - Ok, thanks da low-r mer raz

Keslowena! - Congratulations! kez-low-air-na
Chons da! - Good Luck! Chonz da
Penn bloodh Lowen! -Happy Birthday! Pen bloth low-en
Nadelik Lowen! -Merry Christmas! Na- dellick low-en



If you want to hear audio clips of different phrases in the Cornish language then this website link is a good one:-

http://www.magakernow.org.uk/default.aspx?page=314



Article by Natalie