Standard Written FormAs with many smaller languages around theworld, Cornish has more than one spelling system in use.
Put simply, the written sources we have span several centuriesand reflect different periods in the life of the language. Inreviving Cornish, spelling systems were used at various times whichreflected different views on how we should best use thisinheritance to take Cornish forward into the future. Systems wereeither based on particular target dates in the history of thelanguage or sought to regularise the relationship between spellingand pronunciation. While the existence of different forms was a tribute to thevibrancy of the language movement, given a small language base italso proved a barrier to development, particularly in education andpublic life. As with many other small languages, an increasein public use of the language following official recognition meantthat the problem needed to be addressed. The Cornish Language Partnership therefore established a processto which all could contribute their ideas and involving externalexpertise in the shape of a Commission of eminent languageplanners, who brought experience from other language communities tothe discussion. A conference held in September 2006 examined the basis of thedifferent forms and the papers from this can be accessed on thissite. Another conference took place in October 2007 at which theCommission presented their findings and recommended a consensusapproach for establishing the Standard Written Forum, instead ofchoosing one of the existing forms. The Commission’s statement, aspresented at the conference, can be downloaded in full below. The Commission recommended the setting up of a user group toundertake the detailed work, headed by Dr Trond Trosterud. Thisgroup met several times and an agreement on a Standard Written Formwas reached. The agreement was translated into a specificationdocument by Ben Bruch and Albert Bock, which can be downloadedbelow or requested in hard copy. This was ratified by thePartnership on 9th May 2008. The Standard Form is primarily for official use and for formaleducation and individuals will certainly continue to use the formswith which they are most comfortable in private life. The decisionwill, however, allow greater progress to be made in the developmentof the use of Cornish in public life. A review will be held in2013, at which time it will be possible to evaluate progress overthe intervening five years. SWF Glossarywith Traditional Graphs, SWF Glossary– Pronunciation Guide, Variants andSide Forms in the SWF, Emendationsto the Specification, Ad Hoc GroupStatement 19 12 07, Ad-Hoc GroupStatement 21 11 07, |
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