UN declares Cornish language extinct

by LotusFlower | February 20, 2009 at 02:30 am

449 views | 44 Recommendations | 17 comments

With only 300 fluent speakers of Cornish left the UN has declared the language officially extinct.

The UN believes that their have effectively been no speakers of Cornish as a first language since 1777 and so feels that as a working language it is effectively extinct.

Some speakers of the language claim that as it is still spoken by some it can't be extinct but others claim that those that speak it are speaking it as a political act rather than an everday use act.

The Cornish language has been branded "extinct" by international linguistic experts, sparking anger from speakers.

Thirty linguists worked on Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, compiled by Unesco, the cultural section of the United Nations.

Cornish is believed to have died out as a first language in 1777.

But the Cornish Language Partnership says the number of speakers has risen in the past 20 years and there should be a section for revitalised languages.

Saying Cornish is extinct implies there are no speakers and the language is dead, which it isn't
Jenefer Lowe, Cornish Language Partnership

Unesco's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger features about 2,500 dialects.

1 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

Paschen

at 03:03 on February 20th, 2009

Sad actually. About 6000 Tongs have been extinct in the last decade.

Fripouille

at 03:30 on February 20th, 2009

That is sad, but languages are like people and cultures and civilisations. They change, they grow old, and they die. Languages do not last forever.

That said, many languages were 'killed before their time' by oppression and being banned or otherwise restricted.

That is reprehensible, and there may be a case to be made for saying that this is what has happened to Cornish, although I am not an expert in Cornish.....

gerrypopplestone

at 04:43 on February 20th, 2009

I don't see why it is sad that people not to speak a minority language that has little use, few if any books written, and does not offer school children any benefit. After all, there lots of old things we decide are no longer useful to people. Why not a language? And why is the UN wasting resources ascertaining whether it is or is not still alive?

searchin (not verified)

at 07:34 on February 20th, 2009

This language has been making maybe not a marked comback,but still a comeback.I love the diversity of the world.And I don't like the idea of one language,one color brown.I love all the colors of the peoples and the languages they speak.

Fripouille

at 04:48 on February 20th, 2009

Hi Gerry, I know what you mean. "Hoarding" is not a good thing. But what I meant by "sad" is that if you use the people analogy, that a language dies is inevitable, sure, but just, well...sad..... :)

It's a bit like throwing out one's old beer can collection.....has to be done one day, but there are still all those memories of having drunk the beers! lol

AlvarezGalloso

at 04:50 on February 20th, 2009

Regardless, there are some people who are speaking Cornish and BBC Radio Cornwall has a section for Cornish Speakers. I am learning Cornish.

Fripouille

at 04:54 on February 20th, 2009

Good stuff. That's good to hear. I think I read somewhere that Cornish is related in some way or another to Basque....

LotusFlower

at 06:56 on February 20th, 2009

If the definition is that some people have to speak it a first language then its maybe dead in that sense but still alive through people like yourself Alvarez - plus I know that there are real culural links to languages spoken or not - I know many folk songs that are sung in Cornish and other so called dead languages and they give us ren or links to the past - when we sing them we are hers and now and then and all points between...

Out of interest do the UN say that Latin is extinct? I guess it should be called so if Cornish is. Anyone know?

Fripouille

at 07:18 on February 20th, 2009

Here's what they say on it dated 2008, Lotus Flower,..with a strange comment on Cornish given the news you bring us...

"A language that is no longer spoken is considered extinct; since most languages have never been written, extinction is usually irreversible. It may be possible to revive extinct languages, provided that there is adequate documentation and a strong motivation within the ethnic community – Hebrew is the most successful example, with Cornish and Manx revived more recently and not yet taught to children as their mother tongue. Ancient written languages such as Aramaic, Latin or Greek, or the English of Chaucer’s time, remain accessible through texts".

From here.

http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?pg=00148

Hope this is of help...

LotusFlower

at 07:50 on February 20th, 2009

Thanks heres the actual atlas entry with the language marked with an extinct marker...

Cornish

Fripouille

at 08:00 on February 20th, 2009

Thanks. This page is well worth going to, and the zoom-in World map has incredible detail!

mudricky

at 05:59 on February 20th, 2009

Sad to hear that.

antoniusestrillo

at 07:41 on February 20th, 2009

this is really sad... Unlike Latin, its dead no longer learned as native language by speech community but its still used by some Roman catholic and other Christianity wings.

Fripouille

at 07:54 on February 20th, 2009

On the subject of putting languages into categories, I think Latin should be qualified as an "Unauthorised Form of Torture" by the Geneva Convention on War.

I know what I'm talking about. I had to learn it at school!! :)

(Just joking. I think the problem was the way it was taught, not Latin itself...)