by An Peebur Discree-jikk, An Barthikk Disbarthekk, An Gariadorer Dislettrice et al.
Building on the remarkable work started by Dr. Djennedh Kordj, we boldly take her ideas for "Phonemic Cornish" (Kernuewekk Sonyeythekk) right into the twenty-first century—and beyond! Such "Cornish For The Future!!!" inevitably involves the use of computers, as She Herself has revealed to us in her widely (at least, outside scholastic circles) celebrated and revered studies on the Cornish language.
This new computer-readable form of the language shall be called Kernuewekk Kenpollekk Kemminn, or Kenpollekk or K3 for short. As we can see from the sample transcription below, its aesthetic impact on the eye is even more striking than that of bog-standard Kernuewekk Kemminn (K2, or 'Djennewekk' as some of its aficionados call it), which should ensure its ready acceptance by all progressive speakers of Cornish. Surely here we see the long sought-after Single Written Form, and one which is computer-compatible moreover—no small matter in this era of the Information Autobahn! We predict that K3 will take over the torch carried by Unified, Late and K2 Cornish before it, and lead the Language Revival forward into a Brave New Future!
Naturally, we feel that K3 should supersede those other forms of Cornish we were recommending in our earlier writings on KAK (Kernowek Amendys Kemyn) q.v.. They, like K2 before them, are now shown in their true light as mere passing phases of linguistic juvenilia: K3 is the real deal: Perfect Cornish—at last!
We note that DK's pioneering work was sufficient to gain her a Doctorate, and one that has been remarked on by her academic peers (at least, outside scholastic circles). It would seem only fitting that since we have so comprehensively completed the labours she herself started, so the three (or more) of us should be able likewise to bask in the glory of having those coveted letters after our names. It would invite invidious comparison were we to look towards Brittany for our vellum, so we thought of one of those convenient institutions in the American South, which can be so obliging for a 'fistful of dollars'. Now, is a D.Litt. (Uni. of Deadwood) more stylish than yer workaday PhD? . . . or maybe a D.Phil. (Little Big Horn Military Academy) has more bling factor . . . hmmm, wonder how much a Professorship would cost, or a 'Noble Prize' ?
We also note with envy, by the way, that the Great Reformer has been honoured by her German-speaking fellow Celticists with an admiring nickname. They have dubbed her 'Die Grösste Philologin aller Zeiten' [The Hugest Philologist of All Time], or Gröphaz* for short. This is in recognition both of her unique linguistical analyses, and of the way in which her work leapt into the limelight after the remarkable 1987 Truro Bierkeller Putsch, better known by its protagonists as Deth an Tavasow Felsys (The Day of the Forked Tongues) and, by its victims, as Deth an Keynow Gwenys (The Day of Stabbed Backs).
[*with apologies to Helmut F. Kaplan, Austrian Vegetariererphilosoph,
and any others who might happen to have borne this name]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -and any others who might happen to have borne this name]
There was a recent request by a member of the CornishOrthography group for recordings of varying speech realizations of Cornish. In response to that, we can do no better than have the trio An Cyber-Canoryon give us their Canu Plygain rendition of a famous poem (transcribed into Kenpollekk Kemminn), which was composed in UC by a lettered friend of ours in acknowledgement of the achievements of the Great Language Reformer Herself. The first of these two MP3 files (Arleeth an Yeythow (K3).mp3) in the 'Recordings' folder of the group features the voices of the PCs of Prof. Peebur Discree-jikk, Ms., Ph.D., Dr. Barthikk Disbarthekk, Ms., D.Litt., and Dr. Gariadorer Dislettrice, Ms., D.Phil.
Arleeth an Yeythow (K3).
Teer yeyth ragg an Gurnoo-yon in dann an nayff,
Een ragg an Arleeth doo war ee drone more ayff,
In vroaoa Voredor lay ma grow-weth an skayz.
Een yeyth th'aga rool-ya ol;
Een yeyth th'aga hafoss-ee;
Een yeyth th'aga dree ol, hagg in chewll-der aga hellmey.
In vroaoa Voredor lay ma grow-weth an skayz.
Teer yeyth ragg an Gurnoo-yon in dann an nayff,
Een ragg an Arleeth doo war ee drone more ayff,
In vroaoa Voredor lay ma grow-weth an skayz.
Een yeyth th'aga rool-ya ol;
Een yeyth th'aga hafoss-ee;
Een yeyth th'aga dree ol, hagg in chewll-der aga hellmey.
In vroaoa Voredor lay ma grow-weth an skayz.
For comparison, here is the original draft form of the poem in Unified Cornish, so that you can see what an improvement is made with the new K3. We have uploaded another MP3 file (Arluth an Yethow (UC).mp3) of one or our PCs reading this version as well, and making rather a hash of it. This proves how superior K3 is to UC, and you can hear the proof of that with your own ears!
Arluth an Yethow (UC).
Tyr yeth rag an Gernewyon yn-dan an nef,
Un rag an Arluth-du war y dron mor ef,
Y'n vro Vordor le may groweth an skes.
Un yeth dh'aga rewlya oll,
Un yeth dh'aga hafos-y,
Un yeth dh'aga dry oll hag y'n tewlder aga helmy,
Y'n vro Vordor le may groweth an skes.
Tyr yeth rag an Gernewyon yn-dan an nef,
Un rag an Arluth-du war y dron mor ef,
Y'n vro Vordor le may groweth an skes.
Un yeth dh'aga rewlya oll,
Un yeth dh'aga hafos-y,
Un yeth dh'aga dry oll hag y'n tewlder aga helmy,
Y'n vro Vordor le may groweth an skes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
You might wish to copy these transcriptions onto your computer, and see for yourself how your text-to-speech program renders the two versions given below.
No comments:
Post a Comment