Kernewek Kemmyn

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Kernewek Kemmyn (Common Cornish or "KK") is a variety of the revived Cornish language.

Kernewek Kemmyn was developed, mainly by Ken George, from Unified Cornish in 1986. It takes much of its inspiration from medieval sources, particularly Cornish passion plays, as well as Breton and to a lesser extent Welsh. It was subsequently adopted by the Cornish Language Board as their preferred system. It retained a Middle Cornish base but made the spelling more systematic by applying phonemic orthographic theory, and for the first time set out clear rules relating spelling to pronunciation. The revised system is claimed to have been taken up enthusiastically by the majority of Cornish speakers and learners, and advocates of this orthography claim that it was especially welcomed by teachers. Nevertheless, many Cornish speakers chose to continue using Unified Cornish, and many moved to Revived Late Cornish.

Some have claimed that it is the most widely used, and so arguably most successful, Cornish orthography. Despite this, it has drawn heavy criticism from some areas. Since the publication of the Gerlyver Kernewek Kemmyn (dictionary), several writers have condemned the new orthography (Penglase 1994; Williams 1996; Mills 1999). Some supporters of KK claim that its phonetic spelling makes it easier to teach, and that its reconstructed phonology is grounded in the historic corpus of medieval Cornish literature - however, these claims are hotly debated.

Notably several writers have criticised George's reconstructed phonology, claiming it to be academically unsound. In 1994, Charles Penglase^[1] berated the lack of authenticity in KK resulting out of George's purely conjectural reconstruction of Middle Cornish phonology. In 1995, Nicholas Williams^[2] listed some 25 ways in which he believes the phonology and spelling of KK to be erroneous. In 1999, Jon Mills^[3] gives examples of numerous inaccuracies in George's data and shows how the English translation equivalents and neologisms given in the Gerlyver Kernewek Kemmyn entail a contrastive lexicology that is at odds with traditional practice as attested in the historical corpus of Cornish.

Another issue, which has caused controversy is that of Cornish placenames. In many instances, there are multiple, conflicting etymologies and possible meanings, but KK has tended to respell these according to one theory or another. This respelling not only can obscure an alternative origin or meaning, but is not always in line with the practice of other forms of revived Cornish.

Its users claim it to be the largest, and so most successful, variety of Cornish, and a large number of speakers are outside Cornwall itself, as far afield as United States of America and Australia. Despite this, it has drawn heavy criticism from some areas, particularly its rival forms, Unified Cornish (Unyes) and Modern Cornish. Despite later criticism by Nicholas Williams, Kernewek Kemmyn has retained the support of perhaps 55% of active Cornish speakers.

In 1987 Kesva an Taves Kernewek (Cornish Language Board) voted to adopt the Kernewek Kemmyn form of Cornish as its standard.

While the various varieties of revived Cornish have had a rocky relationship with one another, this has had the positive effect of creating a publishing and writing boom in Cornish. All of them have been used in constructing the Cornish language wikipedia, and also in Gorseth Kernow, the Cornish Gorsedd.

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