V Tree
A large V shaped pine tree on the Antony estate near Torpoint...
Seaton Beach
Located at the bottom of the Seaton River valley this sand and shingle beach is popular with families. At low tide it joins up with Downderry around the headland...
Seaton River
The Seaton River as it flows out of the valley and through the village of the same name...
Portwrinkle
Looking down over the one time fishing village of Portwrinkle. In the background is the start of Whitsand Bay as it stretches 4 miles down the Rame Peninsula...
I would draw your attention to Issue 11, the September 10th issue of the Relubbus Roundup (if you haven't seen it - go there!) There can be absolutely no doubt about the requirement for the SWF now or we will become the laughing stock depicted in that illustrious organ.
I remember once seeing a Norwegian cartoon from around 1920 or thereabouts. There's a riot going on with people fighting in the streets, falling out of houses, carts overturned etc etc. In the forground is a Russian peasant. "Hooray!" he says, "the Revolution has reached Norway!" "Not yet", says a local, "we're still fighting over how you spell it."
And fwiw they still haven't got a Single Written Form, plans to gradually unify their two systems were eventually shelved decades ago.
So it's not just us. In fact most small languages are blessed/plagued with several spelling systems, just look around on the internet.
Here's one: Statement from the Headmaster of a school in Cornwall in which every language under the sun seems to be taught, bar Cornish:
"I can report, with some pleasure, that I passed my first Language Board Exam. Years later, when I thought of resuming my studies, I discovered that the so-called leaders of the language revival had become infected with the fearsome virus of petty academic preciousness, which had led champions of different forms of Cornish to promote "their" version of the language, as though the matter of language revival were some parlour game.
"Given the small number of Cornish speakers, we could arrive at the ridiculous situation in which each person speaks and writes their own version of the language!"
The Roundup is a bit of fun, but, like all humour, it does occasionally carry serious messages. I do think that this is one.
In relation to the Norwegian story, the obvious difference between Cornwall and Norway is that in Norway Norwegian is the daily used language, whereas in Cornwall it is Sawsnek that is spoken every day.
Kernewek needs to shed all disincentives and multiple spellings is one such.
Having looked around a bit on the internet it seems almost the norm for small and struggling languages to have multiple spellings. A common scenario seems to be (1) an ill-fitting system based on the local majority language, or the language of the missionaries/administrators etc. (2) A scientific notation devised by linguists/anthropologists to record folklore etc. which is overloaded with funny symbols and diacritics, and (3) if they're lucky someone eventually gets round to designing a made-to-measure spelling system that fits the sounds of the language and tells speakers what they need to know and no more.
Here's a prime example of no. (2) -- Micheal, eat your heart out
I think he is suggesting that Swanton's Haida, which litters the page with diacritics, looks so much like KS that you must be entirely familiar with it and probably used it as a model for KS.
Apparently a Queen Charlotte Island elder said that it was "stunningly attractive". But as Taran reminds us at (almost) every available opportunity, there's no accounting for taste.
Small languages get stuck with crap spelling systems until they improve them. Cornish was tidied up a bit by Nance and then a proper system worked out by Ken George 20-ish years ago. The SWF is NOT NEEDED. It's just a ploy to (a) waste time and money, (b) disempower the Language Board to satisify personal grudges/political aims, and (c) turn the clock back 20 years and lumber Cornish with an inefficient and crummy spelling all over again. It's not intended to take Cornish forward, it's only possible purpose is to get the language stuck in the mire.
If you want a Silly Written Form you'll have to start writing your own lessons and start all over again creating a practical teachable language. If you don't like what we've done over the years, do it yourself -- nearly all the source material is there to be seen on the web now. Most of the people who've contributed to bringing Cornish on are thoroughly pissed off with all of this, and if the SWF is brought in against their will, many of them will just walk away from the language.
You see,the SWF will not give you what you can clearly see is necessary (you're not a linguist, are you? It shows).
The point you've missed is that SWF means Standard Written Form. It does not mean Single Written Form, although it used to, before the experts realised that we needed a Multiple Written Form (like a hole in the head, but they're pretending it will be good for us).
And sure enough, the Standard Written Form is indeed a Multiple Written Form.
We used to have multiple Single Written Forms. Now we are going to have a single Multiple Written Form which we will call a Standard Written Form, although it will exist alongside the multiple Single Written Forms.
The SWF which is really an MWF is being sorted out over a number of years by language experts. They're called linguists, and they understand things you don't.
1. KS is not "littered" with diacritics. KS uses them sparingly to mark anomalous vowel length and quality. Such vowels are very much in the minority; the regular quantity rules apply to most vowels.
2. Haida is not "littered" with diacritics. Haida has many more consonants than the Latin alphabet has. How else will you write Haida?
3. Haida doesn't look like KS. This is just disingenuous.
ShelterBox team in 'good spirits'
A Cornish charity packs another 1,000 survival boxes after becoming one of the first teams into the Burmese cyclone zone.
Man hurt in 'tombstoning' plunge
A man suspected of "tombstoning" off a cliff in Cornwall is in hospital with spinal injuries
Work begins to repair canal gates
Work is under way to repair the storm-damaged lock gates of Cornwall's Bude Canal.
Brown wants more homes for young
Gordon Brown says he wants to help young people in Cornwall buy houses
Gangmaster hits back after losing licence
A gangmaster has spoken out after having his licence revoked amid claims of forced labour.
Pupil's punishment 'not enough'
A mother criticises a one-day suspension for a pupil who attacked her daughter at a Cornish school.
Prime Minister visits Eden
The Prime Minister made an impromptu visit to Cornwall today and enjoyed an extensive tour of the Eden Project.
Flora day celebrations
Thousands flocked to Helston's ancient Flora Day on Thursday and while they arrived in their droves, rain - thankfully - stayed (mostly) away.
