The Cornish Dialect
Cornwall (the country of Kernow) is the most south westerly region of Great Britain, with over 200 miles of coastline exposed to the sea and with the River Tamar as another boundary it makes the area where Cornish dialect is spoken more distinctly defined than any other area.
The Cornish are Celts and one of the six Celtic nations and this is probably the time to mention that the Cornish language or Kernewek comes from the Brythonic group of Celtic languages Welsh, Cornish and Breton. Some of the words used in Cornish dialect survived or derived from Kernewek when the language was considered to be lost.
Today when the term Cornish dialect is referred to, it is understood it is a dialect of the English language spoken by a Celtic people in a Celtic territory. Sadly the days are gone when one small area in Cornwall talked in a different dialect and accent from another Cornish area. Many residents at this time could be identified with their dialect or accent as being from a certain part of Cornwall.
Today Cornish dialect speakers agree it is a case of use it or lose it. The poems that follow have been written phonetically in the hope that when read aloud the sound of the dialect will be heard.
Les Merton 2006.
Title: Arfurr
Author: Les Merton
Ee wuz fo-wur fut nuthun,
eed go ta a do un sey,
'Who wuz tha tallust bloke
furr I cum un.'
Ee cud thraw
a shapt six ench nale
un tha treb-bul twen-nee
uftur drinkun a gallun ov slops.
Bahck long twuz oall tha ra-age
furr Arfurr ta ate flew-wurs
graw-un longside tha rawd
furr es crouse.
Ee evun swal-lad a worm
furr devil-ment, aftur ee sud,
'Tha worm ee cum owt
ell ov alot biggur yew. '
Teday Arfurr uz en es coffun
wid tha lid nailt tight.
Tis decked owt wid flew-wurs
dreckly tha'll git eaved un tha tip
Twiz pla-ane ta see
en nixt ta naw time
tha worms uz goin
ta git tha awn bahck un Arfurr.
Les Merton
(This poem won the Gorseth Kernow Dialect Verse Competition in 1998)
Title: Uz Thay Saay
Author: Les Merton
’onest uz tha daay es long,
Esme jis caan’t raysist taaken ’ome
oall tha complay-mentray paakets
ov sugur, saalt, peppur, saauces
left fur custmur conven-yance.
Strate uz a die,
Esme who oall-waays seems ta find
lost pursus, walluts,
oall sorts ov pens ’n’ pencils.
Nevur manages ta find tha ownhurs
findurs keepurs uz thay saay.
Gud uz gold,
Esme who ’elps char-it-tay
weth fund raysun, coffay mornuns,
jumbull saales an’ bring ’n’ buy stoalls.
Keepun a lit-till bahck ta covur ’xpensus
Litnun tha loaad,
Esme who ’elps oall tha penshunners,
seck ’n’ desabull’d weth theere shop-pun
nevur quite ’avun nuff chaange
ta geve em wen tha job es dun.
Waittun fur ’er boat ta cum en
Esme who baaleeves tha Lord
’elps tham thet ’elps thamselves.
Les Merton
(This poem won the Gorseth Kernow Dialect Verse Competition in 2000)
Title: I WAON’T TELL A SAWL
Author: Les Merton
Decky Bray tha odd job man
uz got a windaw cleanun roun
fram midnite til fower n tha mornun.
I waon't tell a sawl,
thou I mus saay ee’s lookun wisht.
I knaw thet. I urd es gwaine weth
tha widow wemmen, yew knaw
tha wan thet wears oall thet maake-up.
I knaw zackly who yew mane
muttun dress’d uz lamb, I saay.
Thay saay er laast uzban ax-sid-ent-lay
died fram aten poisun mushrooms
an tha wan bayfower ee fell down tha well.
Giss on weth ee,
wat evur es tha wurld cummun ta.
Tes true, an tidden tha furst time
Decky Bray es stray’d fram ome.
back long, ee wen fishun fer a month.
Deary me, an ees missus is church gwaine
sha wudden saay boo ta a goose
Nearur my God ta thee, sha sid ta me
thus momun. Aftur sha stay’d tha nite
nursun tha parson, ef yew knaw wat I mean.
I do mae dear, I do,
an ee shud naw bettur en es job.
Iss ee shud. Yew knaw nutthun
evur appens roun ere, ef et ded,
nawbody wud talk bout et.
Tha's true tain't thet sort ov a plaace.
Mus git on, see ef mae naybers ome.
Les Merton
(This poem won the Gorseth Kernow Dialect Verse Competition in 2001)