Cornish Road Signage Milestone

The website “ThisIsThe WestCounntry, under the headline “Milestone Reached as 1,000th Cornish Language Street Sign Is Installed”, reports on the latest chapter in restoring  the Celtic tongue of Cornwall to everyday usage.  Although seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme,  the simple fact that the language is seen everyday by a growing number of people on their way to work or shopping gives credit to the tongue and lends it increasing  legitimacy.

According the news report, approximately 17% of the road signs throughout the Celtic nation of Cornwall are now in the Cornish language.  Efforts to introduce Cornish language road signage is part of a coordinated effort:   “Since its inception in 2010 the Place-name and Street Signage Panel of the Cornish Language Partnership  (MAGA) has provided 1,000 Cornish language translations for street names all across Cornwall.”  According to its web site linked below, MAGA is a consortium of language organisations, local authorities and a number of other organisations with the common aim of “promoting Cornish and developing it further in Cornish life.”

The website "TheWesternMorning News", under the headline “1000th Cornish Language Street Sign Unveiled”, quotes Cornwall Council member Julian German, who holds the portfolio for Economy and Culture in hailing the achievement: ”Using the Cornish Language is really important for many reasons and I would like to thank all of those involved in reaching this milestone.  It’s great to see we now have one thousand bilingual signs across Cornwall.  The Cornish language is an important part of Cornwall’s heritage .  The use of Cornish is growing in all walks of life and the opportunities to learn and use it are increasing all the time.”’

http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/1000th-Cornish-language-street-sign-...

http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/cornwall_news/11001378.print/

http://www.magakernow.org.uk/