Standard Written Form

The Standard Written Form or SWF (Cornish: Furv Skrifys Savonek) 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 UK government and 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]}

In June 2009, the Gorseth Kernow voted overwhelmingly to adopt the Standard Written Form.^[3]

Orthography

Cornish has, broadly speaking, two dialects - medieval Cornish and late Cornish. RMC refers to the former, and is based on a hypothetical orthography devised by Ken George in the 1980s on what he thought Cornish might have sounded like at around 1500. RLC refers to the latter, which goes by Edward Lhuyd's written account of how Cornish was spoken when he visited Cornwall around 1700.

Consonants

Vowels

Monophthong vowels

Diphthong vowels

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 - a hypothetical medieval pronunciation of around the 1500s, or the pronunciation recorded by Edward Lhuyd around 1700. The different pronunciations are known as Revived Middle Cornish (or Medieval Cornish), Revived Late Cornish, and Tudor Cornish, which is in between the two. 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.

Umbrella graphs

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

Variant graphs

Variant graphs represent the differences in pronunciation between Revived Middle 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.

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.

Example text

The following is an example of how a text by William Bodinar looks in the Standard Written Form. The first shows the SWF's late varieties, with traditional forms, and is the closest variant to Bodinar's original text. The second shows the SWF's more medieval choice, with "main" forms.

Late Cornish

Middle Cornish

References

External links

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