The Cornish language is reviving on the back of psych-pop and Covid | Cornwall

The ancient Cornish language has been declared dehwelans dhyworth an marow – back from the dead – amid a surge in popularity due to Covid-19 and a critically acclaimed psych-pop star.

There has been a significant increase in the number of people learning English since the pandemic lockdown forced courses online, according to volunteer network An Rosweyth.

“We’ve got people in America, we’ve got people in Australia, Mexico, Spain, Turkey,” said Emma Jenkin, its support officer, who said her last online lesson had “a few people in Cornwall – but most people are dotted across all. the place”.

Jenkin added that there had been a “huge influx” of people wanting to learn Cornish during the pandemic and interest had continued to grow – not just from overseas who are largely of Cornish heritage, she said.

Young people are taking lessons as a result of its recent resurgence in popular culture. Singer-songwriter Gwenno’s second album, Le Kov, was written and performed entirely in Cornish, and her follow-up, Tresor, was nominated for a Mercury Prize. Comedian Edward Rowe, better known as Kernow King, also helped popularize the language.

The sudden popularity is a turnaround for a language that was described as “extinct” by Unesco’s world language atlas just over a decade ago. The UN Heritage Agency now classifies Cornish – Kernewek – as “endangered”, being reclassified as “critically endangered” in 2010.

Only 557 people described themselves as fluent Cornish speakers in the most recent UK census. However, experts say this is likely to be a significant underestimate as it refers to the number of people who speak it as a first language, when in reality most Cornish speakers use English in their everyday lives.

Cornwall Council estimates that between 2,000 and 5,000 people can speak basic Cornish, and this number is growing.

A report in Language magazine last year claimed that more than 4,000 people are learning Cornish across the county. According to evidence given to a parliamentary committee, more than 2,000 people were learning the language using the Memrise app, while another 200 were taking formal adult education courses.

While these courses were once the preserve of retirees and hobbyists, Jenkin said, they are now becoming popular with a younger generation.

More than two dozen primary schools, representing more than 9,000 pupils, have started learning the language as part of the Go Cornish scheme.

That created its own problem: there are not enough Cornish teachers to meet the demand. Jenkin said: “There is only one school support officer for the whole of Cornwall – and she only works part-time – so they (Go Cornish) have a waiting list because they can’t do more than what they do.”

Denzil Monk, chief executive of independent production company Bosena, said artists such as Gwenno and films such as Bait and Bafta-winning director Mark Jenkin’s Enys Men were part of a revival of Cornwall’s cultural scene.

“When I was growing up (Cornish) was seen as a historical thing and there were only a small number of people learning it,” Monk said. “But it’s become something that’s easy to slip into and accept as something fun and an important part of our cultural life.”

The revival did not take place as a result of increased funding from central government, which officially recognized Cornish as a national minority in law in 2014.

But recognition alone “is not enough to support a minority language going into decline”, Cornwall Council said in a presentation to MPs last year, describing the language as “a British cultural asset that is at risk”.

Monk, who is leading an effort to promote more Cornish-language films, said he had never considered the language extinct – “perhaps deep asleep” – but that its recent resurgence in popular culture reflected what was happening on the ground.

More people use basic Cornish fragments – such as dydh yes for greeting, or grated pear because thank you – in everyday life, he said. The language with roots dating back thousands of years is now seen as “interesting, culturally relevant and contemporary, rather than something from the past”.

Useful Cornish words

Good morning – Myttin yes
Hello – Dohajydh yes
Thank you – Shaved apple
Please – I’m leaving
More cake – Moy tensen
How’s it going? – fatla lashes?
Very good – Pure dha
bad/terrible – Euthycus
I would like to – Mine is a vinnsa
how are you my beauties – Fatla genowgh hwi ow thekteryow?