Standard Written Form

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The Standard Written Form (Cornish: Furv Scrifys Savonek or SWF) of the Cornish language is an orthography standard that is designed to "provide public bodies and the educational system with a universally acceptable, inclusive, and neutral orthography".^[1] The acronym SWF is pronounced by some as [swʌf] and at the 2009 MAGA meeting in Lostwithiel, Jenefer Lowe mentioned a new verb swufhe 'to render into the SWF' had attained some currency.^{[citation needed]}

The new form was agreed in May 2008 after two years of negotiations between proponents of different varieties of Cornish. The SWF was influenced by Unified Cornish, Kernewek Kemmyn, Unified Cornish Revised, Revived Late Cornish, Kernewek Dasunys, and Kernowek Standard. The agreement means that Cornish will become officially accepted and funded, with support from the European Union.^[2] In a need for stability, the Standard Written Form will not be altered until 2013.

The negotiating teams comprised Andrew Climo, Rod Lyon, Bernard Deacon, Mina Dresser, Pol Hodge, Loveday Jenkin, George Ansell and Polinn Prees. The negotiations were chaired by Trond Trosterud, and supported by Albert Bock, Ben Bruch and Jenefer Lowe.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Orthography 1.1 Consonants 1.1.1 Sonorants 1.1.2 Stops 1.1.3 Semivowels 1.1.4 Affricates 1.1.5 Fricatives 1.2 Vowels 1.2.1 Monophthong vowels 1.2.2 Diphthong vowels 1.3 Orthographic variations 1.3.1 Umbrella graphs 1.3.2 Variant graphs 1.3.3 Traditional graphs 2 Example text 2.1 Main form 2.2 Traditional form 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Orthography

[edit] Consonants

[edit] Sonorants Graph RMC RLC and TC <l> [l] [l] <ll> [lː] [lʰ] <m> [m] [m] <mm>, <bm> [mː] [bm] <n> [n] [n] <nn>, <dn> [nː] [nʰ dn] <r> [r] [ɹ] <rr> [rː] [rʰ] [edit] Stops Graph RMC RLC and TC <b> [b] [b] <ck> [kː k] [k] <d> [d] [d] <g> [ɡ] [ɡ] <k>, <c>, <q> [k] [k] <kk> [kː] [k] <p> [p] [p] <pp> [pː] [p] <t> [t] [t] <tt> [tː] [t] [edit] Semivowels Graph RMC RLC and TC <w> [w] [w] <y> [j] [j]

[edit] Affricates Graph RMC RLC and TC <ch> [tʃ] [tʃ] <j> [ʤ] [ʤ] <ks>, <x> [ks ɡz] [ks ɡz] [edit] Fricatives Graph RMC RLC and TC <c> [s] [s] <dh> [ð] [ð] <f> [f] [f v] <ff> [fː] [f] <gh> [xː x] [h] <h> [h] [h] <hw>, <wh> [ʍ] [ʍ] <s> [s z] [z s] <ss> [sː s] [s] <sh> [ʃ] [ʃ] <th> [θ] [θ] <tth> [θː] [θ] <z> [z] [z]

[edit] Vowels

[edit] Monophthong vowels

Graph	RMC	RLC and TC
<a>, <oa>	[a(ː)]	[æ(ː)], [ɒː]
<e>	[ɛ(ː)]	[eː ɛ]
<eu>	[oe(ː)]	[eː ɛ]
<i>, <-ei>	[i(ː)]	[i(ː) ɪ], [-əɪ]
<y>	[ɪ(ː)]	[iː ɪ eː ɛ]
<o>	[ɔ(ː) ɤ]	[oː ɔ ɤ]
<oo>	[oː uː]	[uː]
<ou>	[u(ː)]	[uː ʊ]
<u>	[y(ː)]	[i(ː) ɪ]
<oa> (RLC only)	[aː]	[ɒː] (in a small group of words)

[edit] Diphthong vowels

Graph	RMC	RLC and TC
<aw>	[aʊ]	[æʊ]
<ew>	[ɛʊ]	[ɛʊ]
<iw>	[iʊ]	[ɪʊ]
<yw>	[ɪʊ]	[ɛʊ]
<ow>	[ɔʊ]	[ɔʊ], [uː] (in hiatus)
<uw>	[yʊ]	[ɪʊ]
<ay>	[aɪ]	[əɪ]
<ey>	[ɛɪ]	[əɪ]
<oy>	[ɔɪ]	[ɔɪ]
<-ei> (RLC only)	[iː]	[-əɪ] (word-finally and in hiatus)

[edit] Orthographic variations

Over the course of the Cornish revival, different ways of pronouncing Cornish have formed, based on which period in the history of the language the speaker prefers. The different pronunciations are known as Revived Modern Cornish, Revived Late Cornish, and Tudor Cornish. In order to reflect this, and remain inclusive of all Cornish speakers' preferences, the Standard Written Form has had to include variations in its orthography. The Cornish speaker can choose which variation they use, based on their preferred way of speaking.

[edit] Umbrella graphs

The Standard Written Form has four umbrella graphs, which give one sound for speakers of Revived Modern Cornish (RMC) and another for speakers of Revived Late Cornish (RLC).

Graph	RMC	RLC	Example	RMC	RLC
<u>	[y(ː)]	[i(ː)]	rudh	[ryːð]	[riːð]
<eu>	[œ(ː)]	[e(ː)]	keus	[kœːz]	[keːz]
<oo>	[o(ː)]	[u(ː)]	koos, coos	[koːz]	[kuːz]
<gh>	[x]	[h], [ʰ]	flogh	[flɔːx]	[floːh]

[edit] Variant graphs

Variant graphs represent the differences in pronunciation between Revived Modern Cornish and Revived Late Cornish that are too great to be bridged by an umbrella graph. Speakers of Tudor Cornish can pick the spelling that matches their pronunciation the closest.

RMC	RLC	Examples	Meaning
<a>	<oa> [ɒː]	bras, broas	big
<ew>	<ow>	tewlel, towlel	throw
<-i>	<-ei> [-əɪ]	chi, chei	house
<mm>	<bm>	tamm, tabm	piece
<nn>	<dn>	penn, pedn	head
<s>	<j>	kerensa, kerenja	love
<y>	<e>	bys, bes	world

[edit] Traditional graphs

Some Cornish writers prefer to use the graphs found in traditional Cornish writings, rather than the changes introduced by Kernewek Kemmyn in the 1980s. These traditional graphs are represented in the Standard Written Form, but unlike variant graphs, they don't have equal status with their main form counterparts, and will not be found in school textbooks or official public body documents.

Main form graph	Traditional graph	Examples	Meaning	Notes
<hw>	<wh>	hwegh, whegh	six
<-y>	<-i>	kelli, kelly	lose	Not used in stressed syllables
<k>	<c>	koos, coos	wood	Used before <a o u l r>
<ks>	<x>	boks, box	box
<kw>	<qw>	kwit, qwit	quite

[edit] Example text

The following is an example of how a text by William Bodinar looks in the Standard Written Form. Both the main and traditional forms are given, for the purpose of showing the minor differences between the two.

[edit] Main form

“

Bloodh vy ew trei ugens ha pymp. Th ero’vy den bohojek an puskes. My rug dyski Kernowek y’n termyn my veu maw. My veu dhe mor gen sira vy ha pymp den moy y’n kok. My rug skant lowr klowes udn ger Sowsnek kowsys y’n kok rag seythen warbar’. Na rug evy byskath gweles lyver Kernowek. My rug dyski Kernowek o’ mos dhe mor gen tus koth. Nag eus moy ’vel pajar po pymp y’n drev nei ’ell klappya Kernowek lebmyn, pobel koth pajar ugens bloodh. Kernowek ew oll nakevys gen pobel younk.

”

[edit] Traditional form

“

Bloodh vy ew trei ugens ha pymp. Th ero’vy den bohojek an puskes. My rug dysky Kernowek y’n termyn my veu maw. My veu dhe mor gen sira vy ha pymp den moy y’n cok. My rug scant lowr clowes udn ger Sowsnek cowsys y’n cok rag seythen warbar’. Na rug evy byscath gweles lyver Kernowek. My rug dysky Kernowek o’ mos dhe mor gen tus coth. Nag eus moy ’vel pajar po pymp y’n drev nei ’ell clappya Kernowek lebmyn, pobel coth pajar ugens bloodh. Kernowek ew oll nakevys gen pobel younk.

”

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• An Outline of the Standard Written Form of Cornish - final June 2008 specification
• Emendations to the Specification, November 2008

v • d • e Cornish language Topics Cornish language · Literature Orthographies Standard Written Form · Kernewek Kemmyn · Kernowek Standard · Revived Late Cornish (Modern) · Unified Cornish · Unified Cornish Revised Organisations Cornish Language Partnership · Agan Tavas · Cussel an Tavas Kernuack · Kesva an Taves Kernewek · Kowethas an Yeth Kernewek · Dalleth Key figures Henry Jenner · Robert Morton Nance · Edward Lhuyd · Louis Lucien Bonaparte · William Borlase · Dolly Pentreath · Chesten Marchant · Richard Carew · Alison Treganning · Richard Gendall · Ken George · Tim Saunders · Nicholas Williams · Related topics Prayer Book Rebellion · Gorseth Kernow · West Country dialects · Mebyon Kernow · Celtic Congress · Celtic League · Brythonic languages · Celtic languages · Southwestern Brythonic protolanguage