Posted on 02/26/2009 5:08:38 PM PST by nickcarraway
The Cornish language has been branded "extinct" by linguistic experts, sparking protests from speakers.
Thirty linguists worked on Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, compiled by United Nations group Unesco. They also said Manx Gaelic was extinct.
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.
The Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, published by Unesco, the cultural section of the United Nations, features about 2,500 dialects.
There are thought to be about 300 fluent speakers of Cornish.
But Jenefer Lowe, development manager of the Cornish Language Partnership, said there were thousands who had a "smattering" of the language.
"Saying Cornish is extinct implies there are no speakers and the language is dead, which it isn't," she said.
"Unesco's study doesn't take into account languages which have growing numbers of speakers and in the past 20 years the revival of Cornish has really gathered momentum."
SNIP
Mrs Lowe said: "There's no category for a language that is revitalised and revived.
"What they need to do is add a category.
"It should be recognised that languages do revive and it's a fluid state."
Christopher Moseley, an Australian linguist and editor-in-chief of the atlas, told BBC News he would consider a new classification.
He said: "I have always been optimistic about Cornish and Manx.
"There is a groundswell of interest in them, although the number of speakers is small.
"Perhaps in the next edition we shall have a 'being revived' category.
"[Cornish] is among a group of languages that turned out not to be extinct but merely sleeping."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Does anybody else wonder why we still support the UN?
It tries to undermine the Constitution of the USA and
would love to cripple our Constitutional Republic.
In over 60 years the only politicians who tried to get
the USA out of the UN were Goldwater and President
Ronald Reagan who did kick UNESCO out.
When does this happen to French and German?
Not only that, I have heard that there are two competing Cornish language revival groups with different ideas about pronunciation and spelling.
I've heard about the attempt to revive Cornish before, but I think there is some question about how authentic the revived version is. Would an actual Cornish-speaker (from when the language was a living language) understand what these modern-day aficionados were saying?
I believe Manx died out much more recently, within the last 50 or 60 years.
Someday everyone will speak English, then we won’t have to waste our time learning all those foreign languages. I think that’s what G-d wants.
UN extinct says M Kehoe.
Ok, I can wish...
5.56mm
Hebrew pretty much came back from the dead and is now a thriving language.
Welsh has rebounded pretty well, too.
OTOH, it’s been tried with Irish and a lot of other languages where it just wouldn’t take. Most attempts to revive a dead or dying language don’t work.
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Thanks nickcarraway. I wonder if they call Cornish hens just "hens" in Cornwall. |
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1492262/posts?page=7#7
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/694010/posts?page=33#33
Well, in England, they call bridal showers, “hen parties.”
Where does Klingon rate?
No wonder my game hens don’t come when I call them.
What do they call hens in Romansh?
Where can I learn Cornish, seeing as how my family is from there three generations ago?
“Welsh has rebounded pretty well, too.”
This does not surprise me. The Welsh are more stubborn, hardworking, and determined than the Irish. My grandfather was Welsh and really embodied these characteristics. He was also 1/4th Manx, but I know nothing about their traits.
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