Fifth Anniversary of Minority Status for Cornish Sees Renewed Efforts to Bolster the Cornish Language – Cornwall Council Takes Action

April 2019 marks the 5th anniversary of the recognition of Cornish as a UK minority. Cornish, a language that is “reawakening” according to most linguists. The anniversary has seen renewed efforts to foster the Cornish language.

Cornwall Council Marks the Fifth Anniversary of the Recognition of Cornish as a UK Minority with Call for Equality with Other UK Minorities: Cornwall Council and its partners are calling on the government to go further in recognising the Cornish people as an official minority, as reported by the “Falmouth Packet”. One of council's aims is to give Cornish people the right to identify themselves as Cornish in the 2021 census. Jesse Foot, Cornwall Councillor for St Germans and Landulph, is the chair of the council-led Cornish Minority Working Group, which coordinates activity and proactively supports Cornish culture, language and heritage. He said: “Whether you identify as Cornish by birth, marriage, ancestry or some other route you have the right to be recognized…and for funding to be sought on this basis. https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/17600754.fifth-anniversary-of-cornish-people-recognised-as-a-minority/

Calls For Cornwall to Follow Lead of Other Celtic Nations – Cornish Should Take Precedence Over English in Public Places

Cornwall Councilors are making the case that more should be done to make Cornish prominent in public spaces and to end the Cornish language’s  subservience to English. The approach to language priority Wales has been cited as a model for Cornish. Councillor Mike Thomas used as an example that train station announcements in Wales are stated in Welsh before being made in English and suggested something similar could happen in Cornwall. He also said that media including radio stations should promote the Cornish language. “Cornish should come first,” said Cllr Thomas. Cllr Egerton highlighted the use of Cornish language on new street name signs and also that developers had been using the language on new developments. Council chief executive Kate Kennally said the senior management and directors at the council were all in support of promoting the language and recognised its importance.https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/17613058.calls-for-cornish-language-first/

Bid to Boost Use of Cornish – Language Plan Announced to Increase the Use of the Celtic Tongue

Cornwall Council has drawn up a new three-year plan to increase the use of Cornish language with a focus on the spoken language. The authority launched its first three-year plan in 2015 and has now published a draft plan for 2019 to 2022, as reported by Cornwall Live. The plan includes the use of Cornish language in street and building names, publicity material and communications issued by the council.

The council's Cornish language plan is part of a wider Cornish Language Strategy - a 10-year programme which launched in 2015 which has four strands: Status of Cornish language - official recognition of the language, visibility and fostering positive attitudes; Acquisition - teaching and learning the Cornish language:; Corpus - the body of research and resources that support use of the Cornish language, in particular the dictionary;Community use - everyday use of Cornish in business, social activities and in the home.https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/bid-boost-cornish-language-after-2793841