Translation Service

Say it in Cornish!

Would you like to use some Cornish in your business, your workplace, leisure activities – in fact anywhere? Cornwall is special, and the use of our own language emphasises that distinctiveness. Lots of people are using Cornish at home and in business to show their pride in the place in which they live and work – why not join them? It isn’t difficult and there is help at hand.

Q. I’d like to think about using Cornish – where do I start?

A. Think about how you would like to use Cornish, decide what you would like to have translated and contact MAGA for advice and help.

Q. Aren’t there different forms of Cornish around?

A. There are a few different ways of spelling Cornish but don’t let that put you off. None of these is incorrect and it is up to you which one you wish to use.

Q. What are the different forms and why are they different?

A. Put simply, the written sources we have span several centuries and reflect different periods in the life of the language. In reviving Cornish, spelling systems have been devised which reflect different ideas on how we should use this knowledge to take Cornish forward into the future. The majority of Cornish literature appeared in the 1400s to 1500s and took the form of religious plays. Prose writings in Cornish date from 1550 to the end of the 1700s. The different dialects of Cornish put varying weights on this corpus of historic Cornish. A very simple guide to each one follows:

1. Standard Written Form
This standardised spelling of Cornish was established in 2008 to bring together users of all forms of Cornish and to be used primarily in education and public life.

2. Unified Cornish
This was introduced in the 1920s and was based on the grammar and spelling of the literature of the medieval period.

3. Common Cornish
Common Cornish was developed from Unified Cornish during the 1980s, following a long period of discussion and research into traditional texts. The greatest changes were made to the orthography or written form. Common Cornish is phonemic – what most people would call phonetic – in that each sound in the spoken language is represented uniquely by a letter or group of letters.

4. Unified Cornish Revised
A revision of Unified Cornish, UCR has amended the spelling to avoid potential confusions and to reflect further research. UCR takes as its source the Cornish of the Tudor texts rather than the mediaeval texts.

5. Modern Cornish Modern Cornish aims to pick up the project of those who tried to save spoken Cornish in its latest phase. It is based on the period when prose writings appeared and on the pronunciation of the early 1700s. There are therefore some differences in both pronunciation and spelling between Modern Cornish and the three other dialects

All forms, however, are mutually intelligible in the same way as dialects within English.

If you are unsure which form to use, translations will be provided by default in the Standard Written Form.

Q. What now?

A. If you wish to use Cornish and need a translation, MAGA can help in the following ways.

If you have a small translation of under 40 words, send it to MAGA using the Online Translation Request Service and it will be processed free of charge. You should receive your completed translation within a week of sending it.

If it is a larger piece of work please contact MAGA either by phone on 01872 323497 or by e-mail at [email protected] to discuss your requirements. We will then be able to assign a translator to complete your work. Depending on the complexity and size of the translation it may take longer than a week to process.

Q. Does it cost?

A. Short translations of under 40 words are provided as a service free of charge.

For larger pieces there may be a charge, to be negotiated with the translator. As with all translation, this will depend on the length and complexity of the translation and we will discuss it with you when we receive your request.

Q. How long will it take?

A. Translations usually take up to a week to process as they are checked by a second translator before being sent out. More complex translations may take longer than this, but we will advise you of this at the time.

Please note that translations received over the Christmas period will not be completed until the office re-opens early in January.

Further information

For further help or discussion, please contact MAGA via the Contact us page or if you have a short translation of less than 40 words you can use the Online Translation Request Service.