Cornish phonology

The Cornish language separated from the southwestern dialect of Common Brittonic at some point between 600 and 1000 AD. The phonological similarity of the Cornish, Welsh, and Breton languages during this period is reflected in their writing systems, and in some cases it is not possible to distinguish these languages orthographically.[1] However, by the time it had ceased to be spoken as a community language around 1800[2] the Cornish language had undergone significant phonological changes, resulting in a number of unique features which distinguish it from the other neo-Brittonic languages.

Research history

The emergence of a language that can be described as specifically Cornish, rather than a dialect of late Common Brittonic, has not been conclusively dated and may have been a process lasting several hundred years. According to Jackson (1953), the Common Brittonic period ended around 600 AD due to the loss of direct land communications between western and southwestern Britain following the Anglo-Saxon incursions. McCone (1996), however, assumes a later date, around the turn of the first millennium, citing continuing maritime connections and the various shared phonological developments during this period, such as the accent shift and internal i-affection.[3] Only minor differences, such as the sporadic (orthographic) denasalisation of Common Brittonic *m, can distinguish Cornish from Breton during this period, and no single phonological feature distinguishes Cornish from both Welsh and Breton until the beginning of the assibilation of dental stops, which is not found before the second half of the eleventh century.[4]

George (2009a) divides the history of the Cornish language into four periods:[2]

  • Primitive Cornish, before the earliest written records.
  • Old Cornish, c. 800 – 1200
  • Middle Cornish, c. 1200–1575
  • Late Cornish, c. 1575–1800

These dates are broadly accepted, though Chaudhri (2007) uses slightly different dates, based upon the estimated dates of the surviving texts.[5]

As with other languages known only from written records, the phonological system of Cornish has to be inferred through analysis of the orthography used in the extant manuscripts, using the methods of historical linguistics such as internal reconstruction and the comparative method. This task is hampered by a relative paucity of surviving texts,[6] but the existence of a number of documents written in rhyme, as well as the work of Lhuyd (1707), who visited Cornwall for three months in the early 1700s and recorded what he heard in a more-or-less phonetic orthography, have allowed linguists to reconstruct various stages of the phonology of the Cornish language.

Phonology

Stress

Stress in polysyllables was originally on the final syllable in the earliest Cornish,[7][8] which then shifted to the penultimate syllable at some point in the eleventh century.[9] Monosyllables were usually stressed, apart from the definite article, possessive adjectives, verbal particles, conjunctions and prepositions.[10] According to George (2009a), Middle Cornish verse suggests that the pitch-accent remained on the final syllable.[10]

Rules for vowel length

From around 600 AD, the earlier Brittonic system of phonemic vowel length was replaced by a system in which vowel length is allophonic, determined by the position of the stress and the structure of the syllable.[11][12] This is the New Quantity System, as described by Jackson (1953). After the Old Cornish accent shift to the penultimate syllable, probably in the 11th century, the rules were as follows:

  • vowels in unstressed syllables are short
  • vowels in stressed syllables, followed by two or more consonants (including long fortis or geminate consonants) are short
    • There is some evidence that vowels were also realised as long or half-long before the consonant clusters *sk, *st[13] and *sp.[14] This may have been due to the influence of English loanwords, or perhaps because such clusters were analysed as a single consonant.
  • vowels in stressed syllables, followed by a single consonant (or in hiatus) in polysyllabic words were half-long
  • vowels in stressed syllables in monosyllabic words were long
  • vowels in irregularly-stressed final syllables of polysyllabic words were long

The date of the breakdown of these quantity rules, due to the influx of English loan-words not conforming to the original system, is disputed. Williams (2006a) dates it to before the earliest Middle Cornish texts,[15] whereas George (1985) claims that this change did not occur until 1600.[16] According to this analysis, Cornish at some point returned to a system of phonemic vowel length as in early Brittonic after this so-called "prosodic shift", and most vowels in polysyllables became or remained short.

The "prosodic shift"

The suggestion that Cornish phonology underwent systematic changes in its vocalic system first appears in George (1985), who dated it to around 1600. Nicholas Williams, however, later suggested that this Prosodic Shift occurred some centuries earlier, either in the early thirteenth century[15] or the twelfth century. According to Williams, the consequences of the prosodic shift are:[17][18]

  • Vowel length becomes phonemic
  • Half-long vowels become short
  • All long or geminate consonants are reduced to short or single consonants
  • Vowels in unstressed syllables tend to be reduced to schwa
  • Vocalic alternation
  • All nuclei in diphthongs are now short

Williams's theory has been criticised by several linguists. Chaudhri (2007) points out that "there is no incontrovertible evidence as yet to show that any such Prosodic Shift ever occurred" at any time, especially not as early as postulated by Williams; he further argues that "the observed results of pre-occlusion in the sixteenth century would have been impossible if the inherited quantity system had been radically re-shaped centuries before."[19] and states that George is "quite correct in his rejection of Williams's evidence for the Prosodic Shift at a date before the Middle Cornish period"[20] He also rejects George's use of Late Cornish spellings to support a shift c. 1600.[20] Bock & Bruch (2010) argue that Williams's claim that all diphthongs were short from the thirteenth century at the latest "does not withstand even a cursory glance at Edward Lhuyd's transcription of Late Cornish diphthongs", which were collected in the early 1700s.[21]

Vocalic alternation

Williams (2006a) points out that the reflex of Common Brittonic *ī and *ĭ in the Middle Cornish texts is usually written as ⟨y⟩ in monosyllables, but is often written as ⟨e⟩ in polysyllables.[22] This phenomenon is known as 'vocalic alternation'.

This written alternation does not appear in all of the Middle Cornish texts,[23] and there is disagreement on how this alternation should be interpreted. Both Dunbar & George (1997) and Williams (2006a) interpret this as a purely orthographic phenomenon. According to Williams, the continued writing of ⟨y⟩ and ⟨i⟩ in monosyllables is an archaism and a reflection of orthographic conservatism which does not represent the contemporary pronunciation of the scribes.[22] According to Dunbar & George, the scribes who wrote ⟨y⟩ were describing the quality of the vowel, whereas those who wrote ⟨e⟩ were describing the reduced quantity of a half-long vowel in a polysyllable.[24] Both of these interpretations are questioned by Bock & Bruch (2012) who argue that the use of ⟨y⟩ and ⟨e⟩ in the texts reflects the phonetic reality of the language at around the time the manuscripts were written. According to their analysis, the graph used by the scribes is determined by the quality of the vowel (rather than the quantity), and vocalic alternation is a consequence of the lowering of Old Cornish *ɪ to *e. They further state that vocalic alternation "cannot therefore be the result of a general shortening of vowels, unless one accepts Williams's assertion that 'by the Late Cornish period, vowels in stressed monosyllables had again lengthened.'"[25]

Assibilation and palatalization of dental plosives
  • Assibilation and palatalization of Old Cornish *t and *d:
    • According to George (2009a), the groups *lt and *nt, except when followed by a vowel plus a liquid or a nasal, were assibilated to *ls and *ns respectively, c. 1275.[26]
    • Also according to George (2009a), medial and final *d, including in the groups *ld, *nd and *dw, became assibilated to *z in similar phonetic environments, c. 1325. This sound change also does not occur when *d is followed by a vowel plus a liquid or a nasal.[27]
    • Chaudhri (2007) argues that these phonemes in this environment were first assibilated (apart from a few early cases of palatalization), then palatalized to *dʒ later, perhaps with *ʒ as an intermediate step.[28]
    • George[29] now argues that assibilation occurred first, followed by palatalization, but states that the change to *dʒ did not take hold in the Powder hundred.
    • Williams (1990) proposes the following schema for the evolution of Old Cornish *t and *d:[30]
      • In medial and final position *t in the groups *lt and *nt was affricated to *ts before the twelfth century.
      • Intervocalic *t was affricated to [ts] in some words.
      • Around 1100, *d was affricated to [dz] finally, and medially before certain vowels and *w}}
      • Before a stressed front vowel, or before *j followed by a stressed vowel initial *d was affricated to [dz] in some words following a final *n
      • Medially after *l and *n, [ts] was voiced to [dz]
      • Before stressed front vowels and *j followed by a vowel, [dz] was palatalised to *dʒ, and *[an tsiː] became [an tʃiː]
      • Some dialects of Cornish tended to more regularly palatalise [dz] to *dʒ, and [ts] to *tʃ, even when not followed by a high front vowel.
      • In dialects in which this did not happen, [dz] was simplified to *z and [ts] was simplified to *s

Explanation of symbols

Most symbols below correspond with their expected IPA values. Some non-standard symbols used in the literature are explained below:

  • *μ - a highly nasalized [β] sound
  • *ī, *ū, etc. - Proto-Celtic and early Brittonic long vowels
  • *ĭ, *ŭ etc. - Proto-Celtic and early Brittonic short vowels
  • *ʉ (= *ü in Schrijver's notation) - an i-affected *ŭ
  • *ɵ (= *ö in Schrijver's notation) an i-affected *ŏ
  • *e̝ = "raised e", eg. from i-affected *ă or *ĕ
  • *ō̜, *o̜ = "open o" - from Proto-Celtic *ā and *au
  • *o̝ - "raised o"

Summary
Proto-Celtic British Latin Late SW Brittonic Old Cornish Middle Cornish Late Cornish Example
Proto-Celtic British Latin Late Brittonic Old Cornish Middle Cornish Late Cornish
Short vowels
ĭ ɪ[31] ɪ ɪ e bitus 'world' bɪd bɪd bɪz bez
e[lower-alpha 1][32][33] ɛ ɛ ɛ ɸlikkā 'flat stone' lɛx lɛx lɛx lɛx
ĕ e[31] ɛ ɛ ɛ ekʷos 'horse' ɛbo̜l 'foal' ɛbœl ɛbɛl ɛbɛl
ɪ[lower-alpha 2][34] ɪ ɪ ɪ ɸare kʷennū 'in front of the head' ɛrbɪnn ɛrbɪnn ɛrbɪnn war bɪᵈn[35]
ɪ[lower-alpha 3][36][37] ɪ ɛ ɛ melinos 'yellow' mɪlɪn mɪlɪn mɛlɪn mɛlɪn
ă a[31][38] a a a bakkos 'hook' bax bax bax bah
e̝[lower-alpha 2][39] ɛ ɛ ɛ markoi 'horses' me̝rx mɛrx mɛrx mɛrx
e̝[lower-alpha 3][34] ɛ ɛ ɛ klamito-'sickness' kle̝μɪd klɛβɪd klɛvɪz klɛvɛz
ŏ o[31] o o o rotos 'wheel' rod roz roz roz
ɵ[lower-alpha 2][40][34] ɛ ɛ ɛ kornī 'horns' kɵrn kɛrn kɛrn kɛrn
ɵ[lower-alpha 3][34] ɛ ɛ ɛ olīnā 'elbow' ɵlin ɛlin ɛlin ɛlin
ŭ u[31] o o o bukkos 'buck' bux box box boh
o[lower-alpha 1][32][41] o o o butā 'hut, dwelling' bod bod boz boz
ʉ[lower-alpha 2][34] ɛ ɛ ɛ tullī 'holes' tʉll tɛll tɛll tɛll
ɵ[lower-alpha 3][40][34] ɛ ɛ ɛ gulbīno 'beak' gɵlβin gɛlβin gɛlvin gɛlvin
Long vowels and diphthongs
ī[42] i i i i līw- 'colour' liw liw liw liw
ū[42] kūlos 'back' kil kil kil kil
ē[42] wēros 'true' gwir gwir gwir gwir
eu[42] y y y i teutā 'people' tyd tyd tyz tiz
ou[42] roudos 'red' ryð ryð ryð rið
oi[42] oinos 'one' yn yn ynn ɪᵈn
ei[42] ui ui o̝ u skeitom 'shield' skuid skuid sko̝z skuz
ai[42] oi kaikos 'blind' koig kuig ko̝g kug
ā[43][44] ɔ œ œ e māros 'great' mo̜r mœr mœr mer
au[43] au-beros 'vain, futile' o̜βɛr œβɛr œvɛr ɛvɛr
Semivowels
j j[lower-alpha 4][45][46] j j j jaro- 'chicken' jar jar jar jar
ð[lower-alpha 5][47] ð ð ð monijos 'mountain' mɵnɪð mɛnɪð mɛnɪð mɛnɪð
w gw[lower-alpha 4][48] gw gw gw wēros 'true' gwir gwir gwir gwir
w[lower-alpha 6][49] w w w awilā 'wind' awɛl awɛl awɛl awɛl
Consonants
kʷ p[lower-alpha 4][50] p p p kʷetwores 'four' pɛdwar pɛdwar pɛzwar padʒar
b[lower-alpha 6][51] b b b ekʷos 'horse' ɛbo̜l 'foal' ɛbœl ɛbɛl ɛbel
t t t t[52][53] t toranos 'thunder' taran taran taran taran
tʃ[54] tʃ tegos 'house' ti ti tʃi tʃəi
s[lower-alpha 7][52] s s kantom 'hundred' kant kant kans kans
d d d[lower-alpha 6][52] d ɸlitanos 'broad' lɪdan lɛdan lɛdan lɛdan
z z[lower-alpha 8][52] beitom 'food' buid buid bo̝z buz
dʒ[lower-alpha 6][55] tritijos 'third' trɪdɪð trɪda trɪza trɛdʒa
r[lower-alpha 9]
k k[lower-alpha 4][52] k k k kenetlom 'people, race' kɛnɛðl kɛnɛðl kɛnɛðl kɛnɛðl
g[lower-alpha 6][52] g g g dekam 'ten' dɛg dɛg dɛg dɛg
b b[lower-alpha 4][56] b b b biwos 'alive' bɪw bɪw bɪw bew
β[lower-alpha 6][56] β v v ab-on- 'river' aβon aβon avon avon
d d[lower-alpha 4][57] d d d dekam 'ten' dɛg dɛg dɛg dɛg
ð[lower-alpha 6][57] ð ð ð roudos 'red' ryð ryð ryð rið
g g[lower-alpha 4][58] g g g gabros 'goat' gaβr gaβr gavr gavr
ɣ[lower-alpha 6][57] ∅ ∅ ∅ slougos 'troop, army' lyɣ ly ly liw
ɣ[lower-alpha 10][57] x x (h) argantom 'silver' arɣant arxant arxans ar(h)ans
gʷ gw[lower-alpha 4][59][60] gw gw gw gʷeltā 'grass' gwɛlt gwɛlt gwɛls gwɛls
s h[61] h h h satom 'seed' had had haz haz
∅[62] ∅ ∅ ∅ wesu 'worthy' gwiw gwiw gwiw gwiw
s[61] s s s s sagitta 'arrow' saɣɛθ sɛθ sɛθ sɛθ
ɸ ∅[63] ∅ ∅ ∅ ɸlānos 'full' lo̜n lœn lœn len
l l[64][65] l l l talu- 'forehead' tal tal tal tal
r r[64][66] r r r garanos 'crane' garan garan garan garan
n n[64] n n n nemos 'heaven' nɛμ nɛβ nɛv nɛv
m m[64][67] m m m meli 'honey' mɛl mɛl mɛl mɛl
μ[64] β v v samos 'summer' haμ haβ hav hav
b b b b mrogis 'territory' broɣ bro bro bro
ll ll[68][69] ll ll ll dallos 'blind' dall dall dall dall
rr rr[70][71] rr rr rr karros 'wagon' karr karr karr karr
nn nn[72][73] nn nn ᵈn kʷenno- 'head' pɛnn pɛnn pɛnn pɛᵈn
mm mm[72][74] mm mm ᵇm mammā 'mother, mum' mamm mamm mamm maᵇm
pp f[75] f f f kippus 'pole, log' kɪf kɪf kɪf kɪf
tt θ[76] θ θ θ kattos 'cat' kaθ kaθ kaθ kaθ
kk x[76] x x h brokkos 'badger' brox brox brox broh

Notes

  1. final a-affection
  2. final i-affection
  3. internal i-affection
  4. initially
  5. eg i_V
  6. intervocallic
  7. in *nt, *lt
  8. absolute final
  9. rarely
  10. after *l, *r

Possibly already in Proto-Celtic
  • *ē > *ī
  • *ei > *ē
  • *eu > *ou

Changes from Proto-Celtic to Proto-Brittonic c. 1000—1 BC
Main article: Brittonic languages
  • *kʷ > *p
  • *skʷ > *sw (initially)
  • *gʷ > *w (initially, before vowels)
  • *gʷ > *g (initially, or before *r)
  • *ɸ > ∅ (in most contexts)
  • *sɸ > *f (initially)
  • *sr > *fr (initially)
  • *ml > *bl
  • *mr > *br

Changes from Proto-Brittonic to Late (SW) Brittonic c. 1 — 800 AD
  • Accent shifts:
    • from initial syllable to penultimate syllable (perhaps after c. 200AD)
    • to final syllable c. 550AD (after loss of Brittonic final syllables, formerly penultimate syllables become final)
  • In most cases, initial *s > *h, with the exception of most Latin loanwords.
  • Initially, *sw > *hw
  • *s > ∅ (intervocalic)
  • *ou (< *eu, *ou) > *ō > *ū > *ǖ
  • *oi > *ū > *ǖ
  • *ai > *ɛ̄ > *ɛi > *oi
  • *ē > *ei > *ui
  • *au, *ā > *ō̜
  • *ū > *ǖ > *ī
  • *j > *ð (intervocalic)
  • final a-affection: final *ā (and perhaps also *ă) lowers *ĭ and *ŭ in the preceding syllable:
    • *ĭ > *ĕ
    • *ŭ > *ŏ
  • lenition
    • voiced plosives become voiced fricatives in some contexts:
      • *b > *β
      • *d > *ð
      • *g > *ɣ
    • *m > *β̃
    • voiceless plosives are voiced in some contexts:
      • *p > *b
      • *t > *d
      • *k > *g
  • final i-affection c. 450 — 500: *ī or *j in final syllables causes certain sounds in the preceding syllable to be fronted:
    • *e > *e̝
    • *a > *e̝
    • *o > *ɵ
    • *u > *ʉ
  • *mb > *mm
  • *nd > nn
  • *ɣ > ∅ (some contexts)
  • *ɣ > *u̯ (some contexts)
  • *lɣ, *rɣ > *lx, *rx
  • *ŭ > *ŏ̝
  • loss of final syllables c. 500—550 AD
  • syncope of unstressed syllables and composition vowels
  • provection
    • voiceless geminate plosives become voiceless fricatives:
      • *pp > *f
      • *kk > *x
      • *tt > *θ
    • single voiceless plosives become voiceless fricatives after liquids:
      • *lp > *lf
      • *lk > *lx
      • *rp > *rf
      • *rt > *rθ
      • *rk > *rx
  • *ĭ > *ɪ
  • *ĕ > *ɛ
  • the new quantity system c. 600 AD - loss of phonemic vowel length
  • internal i-affection: *i, *ɪ, *j, and any sound produced by final i-affection in any syllable causes certain sounds in the preceding syllable to be fronted:
    • *a > *e̝
    • *ɛ > *ɪ
    • *o > *ɵ
    • *ŏ̝ > *ɵ

Old Cornish c. 800 — 1200 AD
  • c. 850 AD: svarabhakti - an epenthetic vowel developed in words which ended in either vowel + resonant + *w or vowel + consonant + resonant e.g. /ladr/ 'thief' > /ladɛr/[77]
  • c. 900 *w > *gw or *g (initially)[26]
  • *o̝ ( < PCelt. *ŭ) > *o (except in final syllables)[77]
  • *ʉ > *ɵ
  • *o̜ (< PCelt. *ā, *au) > *œ[77]
  • c. 1000 accent shift: stress retracted to penultimate syllables[78]
  • *œ > *ɛ (unstressed final syllables)[79]
  • c. 1100 *β̃ > *β (loss of nasality)[78]
  • *e̝, *ɵ, *ɛ > *ɛ[77]
  • *e̝i, *ɵi, *ei > *ei[77]
  • *e̝u, *ɵu, *eu, *œu > *eu[77]
  • *ui, *oi > *ui[77]
  • before c. 1100 *ai > *a (unstressed syllables)[80]
  • *ɣ > ∅ (usually)
  • *lɣ, *rɣ > *lx, *rx[81]
  • Assibilation of dental stops:
    • c. 1050 (Jackson), c. 1275 (George) *lt, *nt > *ls, *ns[78]
    • c. 1100 (Jackson), c. 1325 (George) *d > *z (internally and finally, except before vowel + resonant)[78]
  • *β > *v[82]
Consonants
Bilabial Labio-
dental		 Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Labial-
velar		 Glottal
Nasal /mm/ /nn/ /n/ [ŋ]
Stop /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /ɡ/
Fricative /β/ /f/ /θ/ /ð/ /s/ /x/ /ɣ/ /h/
Nasalized fricative /β̃/
Approximant /j/ /ʍ/ /w/
Lateral /ll/ /l/
Rhotic /rr/ /r/
  • [ŋ] was an allophone of *n before *k.
  • Whether *ʍ should be classed as a phoneme, rather than a realisation of *hw, is disputed. Chaudhri (2007) lists it as a separate phoneme.[1]
  • Wmffre (1999) speculates that *x may have been phonetically a uvular [χ].[83]
  • The precise realizations of *r and *rr are unknown. Chaudhri (2007) speculates that an apical realization is perhaps the most likely.[84]
Vowels
Front Central Back
Close /i/ /y/ /u/
Near-close /ɪ/
Open-mid /ɛ/ /œ/ /o/
Open /a/
Diphthongs
i-diphthongs u-diphthongs
/ai/ /au/
/œi/
/ou/
/ɛi/ /ɛu/
/ɪu/
/iu/
/ui/

Middle Cornish c.1200 — 1600 AD
  • *t > *tʃ (initially, in /tʃi/ 'house')[85]
  • c. 1200 *œ > *ɛ, *i > *ɪ, *y > *ɪ (unstressed, closed syllables)[79]
  • c. 1350 *ai > *ɛ[80]
  • c. 1350 *ui > *o̝ (George, Schrijver).[80] However, Williams argues that *o̝ (from the Old Cornish diphthong *ui) merged with either *o (from original Common Brittonic *ŏ) or *u (a rare phoneme in native words, from Common Brittonic words beginning with e.g. *wi-) depending on dialect before the Middle Cornish period.[86]
  • c. 1350 *uia > *o[80]
  • *ai (< Middle English loans)[80]
  • *uiw > *yu (disputed)
  • secondary enhanced i-affection in *a > *ɪ in a few words
  • *ɛ > *a (c. 1475 unstressed absolute final, c. 1525 unstressed closed final)[87]
  • c. 1600 *ɛ > *ǝ > ∅ (pretonic syllables)[87]
  • c. 1525 *o > *a (final unstressed syllables)[26]
  • *o > *ǝ (pretonic syllables)
  • *j, *w > ∅ (initially, perhaps dialectical)
  • *ssj > *ʃ
  • *tj > *tʃ
  • *zw > *z (> *dʒ)
  • *ç (< loan-words of French origin)[88]
  • Williams (2006a) argues that *ɪ merged with either *ɛ or *i (depending on dialect) before the Middle Cornish period. George (2019) argues that this merger took place gradually through a process of lexical diffusion throughout the Middle Cornish Period.
  • According to George (2009a), new geminate phonemes *pp, *tt, *kk, *ff, *θθ, *ss, and *xx develop to accommodate English loan-words to the Cornish quantity system.[27] These phonemes are not generally accepted.[89][90] They may however have existed as allophones, especially in comparatives, superlatives and certain verb tenses.
Consonants
Bilabial Labio-
dental		 Dental Alveolar Palato-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Labial-
velar		 Glottal
Nasal /mm/ /m/ /nn/ /n/ [ŋ]
Stop (/pp/) /p/ /b/ (/tt/) /t/ /d/ (/kk/) /k/ /ɡ/
Affricate /tʃ/ /dʒ/
Fricative (/ff/) /f/ /v/ (/θθ/) /θ/ /ð/ (/ss/) /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /ʒ~dʒ/ /ç/ (/xx/) /x/ /h/
Approximant /j/ /ʍ/ /w/
Lateral /ll/ /l/
Rhotic /rr/ /r/


Vowels
Front Central Back
Close /i/ /y/ /u/
Near-close (/ɪ/)
Close-mid /o̝/
Open-mid /ɛ/ /œ/ /o/
Open /a/
  • In George's view, the *o̝ phoneme is realized as [ɤ] when short, and [o] when long or half-long.[92] Also, he states that *o is realized as [ɔ]
Diphthongs
i-diphthongs u-diphthongs
/ai/ /au/
/oi/ /ou/
/ɛi/ /ɛu/
/(ɪu)/
/iu/
/(yu)/
  • *ɪu is rare according to George, who has now removed it from many words,[93] and its continued existence at all in Middle Cornish is disputed by Williams[94] and Toorians (2014:15)
  • *yu, the supposed reflex of Old Cornish /uiu/ according to George, is based on rhyme evidence and etymology, but only occurs in a few words, and is disputed.

Late Cornish c.1600 — 1800 AD
  • *i > *ǝi (final, stressed)[95]
  • *ɪ > *iː (final, stressed)[87]
  • *ɪ > *eː (stressed, long)[87]
  • *o, *o̝ (= [ɤ]) > [ɤ] (short, stressed syllables)[87]
  • *uː > *au (possibly)
  • *o̝ː > *uː (when long, stressed syllables, some exceptions)
  • c. 1600 *œ > *eː[96]
  • *y > *iu (finally, or before x)
  • *y > *iː
  • *ɪ > *e (unstressed)
  • breakdown of new quantity system c. 1625 - return to phonemic vowel length
  • *eu > *ou
  • *ɪu > *eu
  • *au > *oː or smoothed (stressed syllables)
  • *ou > *ǝ (final, unstressed syllables)
  • *-rθ, *-lθ > *-rh, *-lh (or lost)
  • *-θ > ∅ (final, unstressed syllables)
  • *-rð- > *-rr-
  • *ɪx > *iː (stressed syllables)
  • *-x > *-h
  • *lx, *rx > *lθ, *rθ or *la, *ra
  • *-rx- > *-rr-
  • *z > *r (sporadic)
  • *s > *dʒ (sporadic)
  • c. 1550 pre-occlusion[72]
    • *nn, *mm > *ᵈn, *ᵇm
  • *ns, *nz > *s, *z (unstressed)
  • "new lenition"
Consonants
Bilabial Labio-
dental		 Dental Alveolar Palato-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Labial-
velar		 Glottal
Nasal /ᵇm/ /m/ /ᵈn/ /n/ [ŋ]
Stop /p/ /b/ /t/ /d/ /k/ /ɡ/
Affricate /tʃ/ /dʒ/
Fricative /f/ /v/ /θ/ /ð/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ /h/
Approximant /j/ /ʍ/ /w/
Lateral /ll/ /l/
Rhotic /rr/ /r/
  • By this time, *x was merging with *h (or disappearing) in all environments.[97]
  • By 1600, historical *mm and *nn were generally being realised as [ᵇm] and [ᵈn] in stressed final and penultimate syllables (and occasionally as [b] and [d] in penultimate syllables), respectively.[97]
  • There is a tendency for final fricatives to be lost or confused with one another[97][98]
  • Whatever their phonetic realisation, the distinction between *rr and *r may have been lost at this stage, if not earlier. Alternatively, /rr/ and /ll/ may have been realized as devoiced or aspirated sounds, in contrast to their historical singleton counterparts.
  • Tendency to replace *ʍ with *w from the Middle Cornish period onwards becomes more frequent.
  • Old Cornish *d now consistently merged with either *z or *dʒ, or rarely *r (< *z < *d), except when followed by a vowel and *n, *l, or *r, where original *d remains.
Vowels[83]
Front Central Back
Close /iː/ /uː/
Near-close /ɪ/ /ʊ/
Close-mid /eː/ /oː/
Mid [ə]
Open-mid /ɛ/ (/ɛː/) /ɔ/
Near-open /æ/ /æː/
Open (/ɒː/)
  • Lhuyd's description of Late Cornish phonology, as well as contemporary pronunciation of Cornish placenames, may indicate the raising of *a to [æ].[99]
  • Wmffre (1999) disputes the recordings of Lhuyd (1707) in regards to *ɒ/ as a distinct vowel and claims that the lower realization of Cornish long *o (perhaps as [ɔː]) may have led him to make a distinction that did not exist.[100]
Diphthongs
i-diphthongs u-diphthongs
au
ɔi ɔu
ɛu
əi
iu
(ui)
  • *ui seems to be found in only a few words such as /mui/ ('more') and /ui/ ('egg').[100]

Recent Modern Cornish c. 1904 – present

Cornish ceased to be spoken as a community language around 1800. The revival of the language is generally dated to the publication of Henry Jenner's Handbook of the Cornish Language (1904). Jenner's work aims to pick up where the language left off and, as such, is mainly based upon Late Cornish vernacular and Lhuyd. Since this time, a variety of other recommended phonologies have been proposed, based upon various target dates and different theoretical reconstructions.

  • Jenner's system

Jenner's system is largely based on the phonology of late Cornish, and therefore is characterised by pre-occlusion, the loss of the rounded front vowels, and the raising of /a/ to [æ]. This system was used by the earliest revivalists, until it was replaced by Nance's Unified Cornish.

  • Unified Cornish

Robert Morton Nance developed what came to be known as Unified Cornish from the 1930s. Nance based his system more on the earliest Middle Cornish texts, Pascon Agan Arluth and the Ordinalia. With a target date of around 1500, Nance's system is characterised by the addition of the rounded front vowel /y/ and a recommendation not to use pre-occluded forms.

  • Revived Late Cornish

Mainly associated with Richard Gendall, who began to promote this system in the early 1980s, Revived Late Cornish again seeks to base its phonology upon an analysis of Lhuyd and the other Late Cornish sources.

  • Kernewek Kemmyn

Developed mainly by Ken George following the publication of his thesis, A Phonological History of Cornish (1985), Kernewek Kemmyn again returns to a Middle Cornish target date. This system has a number of differences from Nance's reconstruction, including the addition of a second rounded front vowel /œ/, an additional vowel /o/, and a phonemic contrast between /i/ and /ɪ/. Also Kernewek Kemmyn is characterised by phonemic consonant length, half-long vowels in stressed penultima of polysyllables where appropriate, and a number of diphthongs which are not used in other systems. The following tables are based on George (2009b).

Consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal mmː nnː (ŋ)
Stop voiceless ppː ttː tʃ kkː
voiced b d dʒ ɡ
Fricative voiceless ffː θθː ssː ʃ xxː h
voiced v ð z (ʒ~dʒ)
Approximant llː j w
Rhotic ɾrː
Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i y u
Near-close ɪ
Close-mid o
Open-mid ɛ œ ɔ
Open a
  • Unified Cornish Revised

Following the publication of Williams (2006a), Nicholas Williams published his revision of Nance's system in the form of a grammar, Clappya Kernowek, and an English-Cornish Dictionary. UCR is notable for the absence of George's /o/ and /ɪ/ phonemes, lack of half-length, and a phonemic contrast between long and short vowels rather than consonants. However, it retains the /œ/ vowel of KK, which Unified Cornish does not use.

  • Standard Written Form
Main article: Standard Written Form

The Standard Written Form, agreed in May 2008, was developed with the intention of allowing all users of previous systems to write as they pronounce the language. It attempts to represent the pronunciation systems of UC, UCR, KK and RLC in a single orthography. As such, it does not represent a single phonology, but seeks to cover a range of pronunciations based on a period of several hundred years.

  • Kernowek Standard (KS)

Kernowek Standard is an orthography and recommended pronunciation developed mainly by Nicholas Williams and Michael Everson in response to perceived problems with the SWF. Like the SWF, it attempts to represent a diverse range of pronunciations, with the exception of KK, the recommended phonology of which is not catered for. Although it mainly differs from the SWF orthographically, it has a number of phonological features which distinguish it from the SWF.

Consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n
Stop p b t d k ɡ
Affricate tʃ dʒ
Fricative f v θ ð s z ʃ x h
Rhotic ɾ ~ ɹ
Approximant central j ʍ w
lateral l
Vowels
Front Central Back
short long short long
Close ɪ ʏiː yːʊuː
Mid ɛ œeː øːəɤ~ɔoː
Open a~ææːɒɒː

Notes
  1. Chaudhri 2007, pp. 2–3.
  2. George 2009a, p. 488.
  3. McCone 1996.
  4. Jackson 1953, p. 21.
  5. Chaudhri 2007, pp. 5–15.
  6. Russell, Paul, February 23- (1995). An introduction to the Celtic languages. London: Longman. p. 222. ISBN 0-582-10082-8. OCLC 31606588.
  7. Schrijver 1995, p. 682-9.
  8. Jackson 1953, p. 265.
  9. Jackson 1953, pp. 682–9.
  10. George 2009a, p. 506.
  11. Jackson 1953, pp. 338–339.
  12. Morris-Jones 1913, pp. 65–73.
  13. Williams 2006a, p. 4.
  14. George 2009b, p. 29.
  15. Williams 2006a, p. 17.
  16. George 1985, pp. 251–2.
  17. Williams 2006a, p. ?.
  18. Williams 2006b, p. 29.
  19. Chaudhri 2007, p. 28.
  20. Chaudhri 2007, p. 46.
  21. Bock & Bruch 2010, p. 36.
  22. Williams 2006a, p. 36.
  23. Bock & Bruch 2012.
  24. Dunbar & George 1997, p. 108.
  25. Bock & Bruch 2012, pp. 60–61.
  26. George 2009a, p. 504.
  27. George 2009a, p. 505.
  28. Chaudhri 2007, pp. 150, 314.
  29. George, Kenneth. "Assibilation and Palatalization in Cornish" (PDF).
  30. Williams 1990, pp. 251–252.
  31. Schrijver 1995, p. 26.
  32. Schrijver 1995, p. 255.
  33. Matasović 2009, p. 134.
  34. Jackson 1953, p. 595.
  35. Chaudhri 2007, p. 67.
  36. Jackson 1953, p. 592.
  37. George 2009a, p. 500.
  38. Matasović 2009, p. 52.
  39. Jackson 1953, pp. 592–593, 595.
  40. Jackson 1953, p. 586.
  41. Matasović 2009, pp. 84–85.
  42. Schrijver 1995, p. 192.
  43. Schrijver 1995, p. 193.
  44. Matasović 2009, p. 258.
  45. Schrijver 1995, p. 280.
  46. Matasović 2009, p. 434.
  47. Schrijver 1995, p. 282.
  48. Schrijver 1995, p. 325.
  49. Schrijver 1995, p. 326.
  50. Schrijver 1995, p. 349.
  51. Jackson 1953, p. 394.
  52. Schrijver 1995, p. 350.
  53. Matasović 2009, p. 384.
  54. Chaudhri 2007, pp. 296–297.
  55. Chaudhri 2007, p. 211.
  56. Schrijver 1995, p. 351.
  57. Schrijver 1995, p. 352.
  58. Schrijver 1995, pp. 352–353.
  59. Schrijver 1995, pp. 348–349.
  60. Matasović 2009, p. 146.
  61. Schrijver 1995, p. 377.
  62. Schrijver 1995, p. 387.
  63. Schrijver 1995, pp. 196, 211.
  64. Schrijver 1995, p. 460.
  65. Matasović 2009, p. 367.
  66. Matasović 2009, p. 151.
  67. Matasović 2009, p. 263.
  68. Jackson 1953, p. 471.
  69. Matasović 2009, p. 87.
  70. Jackson 1953, p. 474.
  71. Matasović 2009, pp. 191–192.
  72. Chaudhri 2007, p. 26.
  73. Matasović 2009, p. 177.
  74. Matasović 2009, p. 255.
  75. Jackson 1953, p. 565.
  76. Koch 1989, pp. 122–123.
  77. George 2009a, p. 499.
  78. Jackson 1953, p. 699.
  79. George 2009a, p. 501.
  80. George 2009a, p. 502.
  81. Jackson 1953, pp. 466–467.
  82. Chaudhri 2007, p. 23.
  83. Wmffre 1999, p. 9.
  84. Chaudhri 2007, p. 160.
  85. Chaudhri 2007, p. 298.
  86. Williams 2006a, p. 59.
  87. George 2009a, p. 503.
  88. Chaudhri 2007, pp. 23, 122, 149.
  89. Chaudhri 2007, p. 34.
  90. Toorians 2014, p. 20.
  91. Williams 1990, p. 244.
  92. George 2009b, p. 30.
  93. George, Kenneth (2016). "Disentangling five Cornish diphthongal phonemes" (PDF). CornishLanguage.info. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-07. Retrieved 2020-01-10.
  94. Williams 1990, p. 121.
  95. Wmffre 1999, p. 4.
  96. Schrijver 1995, p. 198.
  97. Chaudhri 2007, p. 24.
  98. Williams 2016, p. ?.
  99. Wmffre 1999, pp. 10–11.
  100. Wmffre 1999, p. 11.

References
  • Bock, Albert; Bruch, Benjamin (2010). "Nucleus length and vocalic alternation in Cornish diphthongs". Die Sprache. 48: 34–43.
  • Bock, Albert; Bruch, Benjamin (2012). "New perspectives on vocalic alternation in Cornish". Keltische Forschungen. 5: 55–97.

Further reading
  • Ball, Martin J. (2009). The Celtic Languages (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-282-28399-2. OCLC 742294980.
  • Ball, Martin J.; Fife, James; Poppe, Erich; Rowland, Jenny, eds. (1990). Celtic Linguistics/Ieithyddiaeth Geltaidd: Readings in the Brythonic languages/Festschrift for T. Arwyn Watkins. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. ISBN 9027235651. OCLC 470822408.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.