English spoken in Cornwall

(West Country)

• The name Cornwall comes from combining two

different terms from separate languages.

• Cornovii
• Kernow, also known as Corneu to the

Brythons. This could be from either of two sources;
the common Celtic root cern, or the Latin cornu

• Corn-wealas

Conflict with the Saxons

• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states in 815 "& þy geare

gehergade Ecgbryht cyning on West Walas from

easteweardum oþ westewearde."...

• "and in this year king Ecgbryht raided in Cornwall from

east to west." 

• The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles states that in 825, "The

Westwealas (Cornish) and the Defnas (men of Devon)

fought at Gafulforda".

• In the same year Ecgbert, as a later document phrases it,

"disposed of their territory as it seemed fit to him, giving a

tenth part of it to God." In other words he incorporated

Cornwall ecclesiastically with the West Saxon diocese of

Sherborne.

Celtic language influence

The Cornish dialect, or Anglo-Cornish has substantial
Celtic language influence, because many western
parts were non-English speaking, even into the early
modern period. In places such
as Mousehole, Newlyn and St Ives, fragments of
Cornish survived in English even into the 20th
century, e.g. some numerals (especially for counting
fish) and the Lord's Prayer were noted by W. D.
Watson in 1925, Edwin Norris collected the Creed in
1860, and J. H. Nankivel also recorded numerals in
1865. The dialect of West Penwith is particularly
distinctive, especially in terms of grammar. This is
most likely due to the late decay of the Cornish
language in this area.
In Cornwall the following places were included in
the Survey of English Dialects: Altarnun, 
Egloshayle, Gwinear, Kilkhampton, Mullion, St
Buryan and St Ives.

Celtic lexicon

• Coombe (Welsh cwm) – A valley
• Blooth - A blossom (Breton bleñv)
• Goco - A bluebell
• Jonnick - Pleasant, agreeable

• The final "y" is pronounced /ei/. For example: party /paːɹtei/ silly /

sɪlei/ etc...

• All "r"s in a word are pronounced in a rhotic fashion. West Country

pronunciation of "r" corresponds with that in Ireland and in most of

North America. For example: park, herd and car.

• Initial fricative consonants can be voiced, so that "s" is pronounced

as Standard English "z" and "f" as Standard English "v".

SEE. FEEL.

• Long "a" vowels in words such as grass, ask and Bath are

represented by the sound [æː] 

• In words containing "r" before a vowel, there is frequent metathesis -

"gurt" (great), "Burdgwater" (Bridgwater) and "chillurn" (children)

• In many words with the letter "l" near the end, such as gold or cold,

the "l" is often not pronounced, so "an old gold bowl"

Grammar and syntax (1)

• The second person singular thee (or ye) and thou forms

used, thee often contracted to 'ee.

• Bist may be used instead of are for the second person, EG: how

bist? ("how are you?")

• Use of male (rather than neutral) gender with nouns, e.g.: put'ee over

there ("put it over there") and 'e's a nice scarf ("That's a nice scarf").

• An a prefix may be used to denote the past participle; a-went ("gone").
• Use of they (also pronounced thoa) in conjunction with plural nouns,

where Standard English demands those e.g.: They shoes are

mine ("Those shoes are mine" / "They are mine"). This is also used

in Modern Scots but differentiated thae meaning those and thay the

plural of he, she and it, both from the Anglo-Saxon ðà/þà 'they/those',

the plural form of se 'he/that', seo 'she/that' and ðæt/þæt 'it/that'.

• In other areas, be may be used exclusively in the present

continuous; Where you be going to? ("Where are you going?")

Grammar and syntax (2)

• The use of to to denote location. Where's that to? ("Where's

that?"). This former usage is common to Newfoundland English,

where many of the island's modern-day descendants have West

Country origins - particularly Bristol - as a result of the 17th–19th

century migratory fishery.

• Use of the past tense "writ" where Standard English uses

"wrote". e.g.: I writ a letter ("I wrote a letter").

• Nominative pronouns follow some verbs. For instance, Don't tell

I, tell'ee! ("Don't tell me, tell him!"), "'ey give I fifty quid and I zay

no, giv'ee to charity inztead" ("They gave me £50 and I said no,

give it to charity instead").

• The Survey of English Dialects found that Cornwall retained

some older features of speech that are now considered

"Northern" in England. For example, a close /ʊ/ in suck, but, cup,

etc. and sometimes a short /a/ in words such as aunt.

Sociophonetics

• There is a popular prejudice that stereotypes speakers as

unsophisticated and even backward, due possibly to the

deliberate and lengthened nature of the accent. This can work

to the West Country speaker's advantage, however: recent

studies of how trustworthy Britons find their fellows based on

their regional accents put the West Country accent high up,

under southern Scottish English but a long way

above Cockney and Scouse.

• The West Country accent is probably most identified

in American English as "pirate speech" – cartoon-like "Ooh arr,

me 'earties! Sploice the mainbrace!" talk is very similar. This

may be a result of the strong seafaring and fisherman tradition

of the West Country, both legal and outlaw. Edward Teach

(Blackbeard) was a native of Bristol, and privateer and English

hero Sir Francis Drake hailed fromTavistock in Devon. 

Vocabulary

• "Crowst"
• "Cuzzel"
• "Dreckley"
• “Emmet”
• "Gockey"
• "Gramersow"
• "Keendle teening"
• “Me Luvver”
• “Ling” Ling 'ee 'ere 
• "Piggy widden"