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From: antony@cix.compulink.co.uk ("Antony Rawlinson")
Subject: Re: Vanishing languages
Message-ID: <D575t5.E07@cix.compulink.co.uk>
Organization: ABC                           
References: <3j6ta0$41d@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 23:41:28 GMT
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> 
> The last native speaker of Cornish was supposed to have died in 1778.
> Because of the activities of Cornish revivalists, there are now once
> again native speakers. The oldest native speaker of Cornish is now
> about 17 years old. ...
> 
> Edmundo <etg10@cam.ac.uk>          
> > http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/etg10/

This is indeed remarkable.  I did hear one of these new generation 
Cornish speakers on Radio 4 a few years ago, and I could hear the 
similarities with Welsh, which I learned as my second language living in 
Wales as a child.

Although I have (unfortunately) now forgotten much of my Welsh in terms 
of vocabulary and grammar, I have always remembered how very different 
the intonation of the language is from English, and how odd it is to hear 
it spoken with an English accent.  I don't wish to run down the 
achievements of the Cornish rivivalists (particularly judged on a single 
example), but the boy on the radio programme sounded very much like an 
English speaker.  It would be interesting to know whether the Celtic 
flavour of the language has really been recaptured.

Antony.
