Kernewek Kemmyn is a variety of the revived Cornish language

Cornish language

Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...

.

Kernewek Kemmyn was developed, mainly by Ken George

Ken George

Kenneth J. George, writing as Ken George, is an oceanographer, poet, and linguist noted as being the originator of Kernewek Kemmyn, an orthography for the Cornish language supporters claimed to be more faithful to Middle Cornish phonology than its precursor . Kernewek Kemmyn was introduced in 1987...

, from Unified Cornish

Unified Cornish

Unified Cornish is a variety of revived Cornish. Developed gradually by Morton Nance during and before the 1930s, it derived its name from its standardisation of the variant spellings of traditional Cornish MSS...

 in 1986. It takes much of its inspiration from medieval sources, particularly Cornish passion plays, as well as Breton

Breton language

Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France. Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish, it is classified as...

 and to a lesser extent Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

. 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. Before the Standard Written Form

Standard Written Form

The Standard Written Form or SWF 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"...

 was introduced in 2008, users of KK claimed that the orthography had been taken up enthusiastically by the majority of Cornish speakers and learners, and advocates of this orthography claimed that it was especially welcomed by teachers, however a survey in 2008 indicated that KK users only made up roughly half of all Cornish speakers. After KK's introduction, many Cornish speakers chose to continue using Unified Cornish, and many moved to Revived Late Cornish.

The orthography 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.

Notably several writers have criticised George's reconstructed phonology, claiming it to be academically unsound. In 1994, Charles Penglase berated the lack of authenticity in KK resulting out of George's purely conjectural reconstruction of Middle Cornish phonology. In 1995, Nicholas Williams

Nicholas Williams

Nicholas Jonathan Anselm Williams , writing as Nicholas Williams or sometimes N.J.A...

 listed some 25 ways in which he believes the phonology and spelling of KK to be erroneous. In 1999, Jon Mills 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.

While its users claim it to be the largest, and so most successful, variety of Cornish, a survey in 2008 indicated that KK users only make up roughly half of all Cornish speakers. Despite this, it has drawn heavy criticism from some areas, particularly its rival forms, Unified Cornish

Unified Cornish

Unified Cornish is a variety of revived Cornish. Developed gradually by Morton Nance during and before the 1930s, it derived its name from its standardisation of the variant spellings of traditional Cornish MSS...

 (Unyes) and Modern Cornish

Modern Cornish

Modern Cornish is a variety of the revived Cornish language. It is sometimes called Revived Late Cornish or Kernuack Dewethas, to distinguish it from other forms of contemporary revived Cornish....

.

In 1987 Kesva an Taves Kernewek

Kesva an Taves Kernewek

Kesva an Taves Kernewek is an organisation that promotes the Cornish language. It was founded in 1967 by Gorseth Kernow and the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. It is represented on the official language body, the Cornish Language Partnership.It currently has 18 members, 13 elected and 5...

 (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

Gorseth Kernow

Gorseth Kernow is a non-political Cornish organisation, which exists to maintain the national Celtic spirit of Cornwall in the United Kingdom.-History:...

, the Cornish Gorsedd

Gorsedd

A gorsedd plural gorseddau, is a community or coming together of modern-day bards. The word is of Welsh origin, meaning "throne". It is occasionally spelled gorsedh , or goursez in Brittany....

.

Phonetics and phonology

The pronunciation of traditional Cornish is a matter of conjecture, but users of Revived Middle Cornish are more or less agreed about the phonology they use.

Consonants

This is a table of the phonology of Revived Middle Cornish (RMC) as recommended for the pronunciation of Kernewek Kemmyn orthography, using symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

	bilabial Bilabial consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...	labio- dental Labiodental consonant In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lip and the upper teeth.-Labiodental consonant in IPA:The labiodental consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...	dental Interdental consonant Interdental consonants are produced by placing the blade of the tongue against the upper incisors...	alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...	palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate...	labio-velar	velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....	glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider...
plosive	p ⟨p⟩ b ⟨b⟩			t ⟨t⟩ d ⟨d⟩			k ⟨k⟩ ɡ ⟨g⟩
nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...	m ⟨m⟩			n ⟨n⟩			ŋ ⟨ng⟩
fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or...		f ⟨f⟩ v ⟨v⟩	θ ⟨th⟩ ð ⟨dh⟩	s ⟨s⟩ z ⟨s⟩			x ⟨gh⟩	h ⟨h⟩
affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :...				tʃ ⟨ch⟩  dʒ ⟨j⟩
approximant				ɾ ⟨r⟩	j ⟨y⟩	ʍ ⟨hw⟩ w ⟨w⟩
lateral approximant Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth....				l ⟨l⟩

Vowels

These are tables of the phonology of Revived Middle Cornish as recommended for the pronunciation of Kernewek Kemmyn, using symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet

International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...

 (IPA).

	Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...	Near- front Near-front vowel A near-front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a near-front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as in a front vowel, but slightly further back in the mouth. The near-front vowels identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:*...	Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel...	Near- back Near-back vowel A near-back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a near-back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as in a back vowel, but slightly further forward in the mouth...	Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark...
Close Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the...
Near-close Near-close vowel A near-close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a near-close vowel is that the tongue is positioned similarly to a close vowel, but slightly less constricted. Near-close vowels are sometimes described as lax variants of the fully close vowels...
Close-mid Close-mid vowel A close-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned two-thirds of the way from a close vowel to a mid vowel...
Mid Mid vowel A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel...
Open-mid Open-mid vowel An open-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of an open-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned two-thirds of the way from an open vowel to a mid vowel...
Near-open Near-open vowel A near-open vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a near-open vowel is that the tongue is positioned similarly to an open vowel, but slightly more constricted. Near-open vowels are sometimes described as lax variants of the fully open vowels...
Open Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue...