A Language All Of Its Own

Wasson? Asks Grand Bard MERV DAVEY - if you are confused - read on and learn Cornish dialect

 

‘WASSON?’ goes the Cornish dialect greeting ‘a’right are ee?’ with a ‘yeah, you?’ response. Our dialect is a part of everyday life in Cornwall but it has a fascinating story. It is important is not to confuse the Cornish Celtic language, ‘Kernewek’, with Cornish dialect. It may seem surprising that I need to make this point but this is exactly the mistake the Poldark publicity team made in a recent issue of the Radio Times. As part of the background to the series they provided a list of “Cornish” terms but completely failed to recognise the distinction between the Cornish language and the Cornish dialect of English.