LL-L "Orthography" 2005.07.24 (06) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 24.JUL.2005 (06) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: "Daniel Prohaska" <danielprohaska at bluewin.ch>
Subject: "spelling wars" (Cornish)

>> From:  "Roger Thijs, Euro-Support, Inc." <roger.thijs at euro-
>> support.be>
>> Subject:  spelling wars (Cornish)

>> Read today on the website of the Guardian.
>> Regards, Roger

Thanks, Roger, for this article.

>> quoting from url:
>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/britain/article/0,2763,1534623,00.html
>> #article_c>>ontinue

>> Spelling row could see Cornish go west
>> Fight between rival camps threatens cash to fund revival
>> Steven Morris Saturday July 23, 2005 The Guardian

And that would be unfortunate indeed. I'm sure they're just looking out for 
any good enough reason...

>> The government money is on the table and the political will in
>> Whitehall and Europe is apparently growing to help Cornish speakers
>> turn their native tongue into a viable, living language. But there
>> is one stumbling block: Cornish speakers cannot agree on how their
>> language should be spelt.

>> Three main groups who have driven forward the revival of Cornish
>> are at loggerheads over how the language should be written.

>> The issue has become so divisive that yesterday two of the groups
>> called for an independent panel of linguists to be appointed to
>> referee the row.

Yes, I can definitely see that heating the debate even more. There is a 
distinct anti-intellectual bias within the revival in Cornwall. If they 
don't like what the panel decides they're not going to follow through with 
the advice.

>> A conference is being organised in September at which the warring
>> factions will again try to agree on how Cornish - or, depending on
>> your fancy, Kernewek, Kernowek, Kernuak or Curnoack - should be
>> spelt. Until a single system is agreed, it will be difficult to
>> launch a credible language programme across Cornwall. Disputes over
>> issues such as road signs and place names will also continue to
>> slow the spread of the language.

I think agreeing on a pronunciation [k at r'nu. at k] would already be a big step 
forward. I think you can leave it up to the individual to choose his or her 
spelling. The above variants don't even reflect so much difference in 
pronunciation, but assigning graphemes to the identified phonemes. The other 
funny thing is that both "Modern" forms <Kernuak> and <Curnoack> are used 
interchangeably in the same form of Cornish. Furthermore UCR (Unified 
Cornish Revised) <Kernowek> reflects the identical pronunciation. UC 
(Unified Cornish) <Kernewek> is justifiable as the reconstruction of an 
earlier form. KK (Common Cornish) <Kernewek> is not justified within its own 
variety where it ought to be <Kernywek>, but it isn't - God knows why.

>> Last month the government announced that it would fund the language
>> by up to £80,000 a year for three years - but the worry is that the
>> cash flow will dry up if agreement over spelling cannot be found.

There was talk of a common written form to be agreed upon for teaching and 
in official business. Privately everyone could write as s/he pleases. The KK 
people with a few open minded exceptions blocked this idea before it was 
fleshed out.

>> Paul Dunbar, a director of a Cornish bookshop in Liskeard which
>> stocks dictionaries, Bibles and children's books in one version of
>> Cornish, said the development of the language was important at a
>> time when many local people argue that they should have more
>> independence from England.

>> "The language has tremendous importance for Cornwall," Mr Dunbar
>> said. "It's an icon of identity. It's the one thing that is
>> uniquely, undeniably Cornish."

>> He expressed frustration that the spelling problem was holding the
>> language back: "There's certainly more heat than light in the
>> debate."

He should be talking. He did a fair bit of kindling with his own rhetoric!

>> His feelings about the champions of rival systems? "It varies from
>> murderous to totally pissed off."

>> The revival of Cornish began to gather pace in the 1920s when a
>> version which came to be known as Unified Cornish was reconstructed
>> using language found in medieval miracle plays and borrowing from
>> related Celtic tongues such as Welsh and Breton.

>> Forty years ago, as interest grew, the Cornish Language Board was
>> formed. Some members felt Unified Cornish was inaccurate and came
>> up with a new system, with different spellings, Common Cornish.

UC was basically a normalisation of the written Middle Cornish texts. There 
were a couple of phonemic contrasts overlooked, however these were 
orthographically blurred in Middle Cornish. As a normalisation the variety 
is valid.

>> In the mid 1980s, another splinter group set up the Cornish
>> Language Council and championed a third system, Modern Cornish,
>> based not on medieval manuscripts but the way the language was last
>> spoken in the 1700s.

This variety, though I personally believe it is not ideal as a base for 
revived Cornish from an orthographical point of view, offers very useful 
insights into the pronunciation of spoken Cornish.

>> The row over whose system was best began in earnest. It has not yet
>> come to blows, but the quality of debate has not always been
>> scholarly.

>> The factions understand each other when they speak Cornish, but do
>> not seem to comprehend why their rival groups insist that their
>> spelling system is correct.

>> Ray Chubb, secretary of Agan Tavas (Our Language) which supports
>> Unified Cornish and an updated version of it called Unified Cornish
>> Revised, accused the supporters of Modern Cornish of "mucking
>> around with historical sources" and claimed that Common Cornish
>> speakers had the arrogant attitude that their system was perfect.

Well, this has long been proven that this is not the case.

>> George Ansell, a supporter of Common Cornish, said that version was
>> easiest to teach. "If people can't agree, it will become a
>> Darwinian situation - the survival of the fittest."

I wonder how he was able to make this assessment.

>> Mr Ansell, who chairs a language strategy group set up by Cornwall
>> county council, said the debate often became overly personal.
>> "People have invested a lot of time and effort in the various forms
>> and do not like to see their work challenged."

When arguments fail then attacks become personal. That's very sad, immature 
and counterproductive.

Actually I find it quite disturbing that the head of the strategy group 
would actively back one variety. The chair ought to be expressing a kind of 
balanced perspective. I think the revival is at an orthographical impasse, 
basically a return to the pre 1996 stage - before UCR arrived on the horizon 
as the short flag of hope to overcome the stalemate that existed then. UCR 
has been rejected by the KK camp though Modern (RLC) users were more open to 
the possibility of accepting it.

What I think a strategy group needs to do is ascertain the common ground. 
Where the orthographies and the theory behind them match and where 
compromises can be found. Each group will have to give in a little.

>> It is nigh on impossible to judge which group is best placed to
>> survive, as nobody agrees on how many people use each version. In
>> all, it is thought that several hundred people speak Cornish
>> reasonably fluently and a few thousand have some knowledge of it.
>> Two secondary schools and a handful of primary schools have begun
>> to teach Cornish.

>> Neil Kennedy, who is in the Modern Cornish camp, said: "It may
>> sound absurd that a language which not many people speak has
>> several different spellings, but that is what we face. We have to
>> find a way of working together to sort it out."

The other option is to say that Cornish does not have a standardised 
orthography and that it's basically everyone for him-/herself.

>> The groups supporting Modern and Unified Cornish issued a statement
>> yesterday saying that there was a "historic" opportunity for the
>> movement to build a "thriving Cornish language", and called for an
>> independent advisory panel.

They are making all the forward looking suggestions while the KK people are 
clinging to their phonemic reconstruction which may or may not be (more or 
less) correct.

>> Professor Philip Payton, director of the Institute of Cornish
>> Studies, said the dispute threatened long-term support from
>> Westminster. "Some sort of agreement is necessary. Otherwise it
>> gets confusing at best and at worst faintly ridiculous."

Yes. I agree with Payton here.

What I would like to see is a variety, that...

- continues the orthographic traditions of the later Middle Cornish period;

- looks to all periods of Cornish for information on the development of the 
language;

- uses a pronunciation fitting a time scale between 1500 and 1650;

- uses place name spellings in line with the texts, charters and takes into 
account all traditionally attested spellings;

I think the best use for the money would be a Cornish dictionary project 
that gives all the attested spellings of all the Cornish words found in the 
texts, place names, dialects survivals etc. plus all forms of Revived 
Cornish used. Each group always makes its own dictionary. It would be good 
to unify the movement in one common dictionary and have all the spellings in 
front of your nose at the same time.

Dan



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