In May, the BBC launched a new podcast, Learn Cornish<\/a>. It\u2019s the latest in a series of signs of growing interest in the Cornish language and culture in the 2020s. Artists such as singer-songwriter Gwenno and filmmaker Mark Jenkin (Rose of Nevada<\/a>) have been credited for attracting learners to the language<\/a> with their use of Cornish phrases and songs.<\/p>\n Recent recognition<\/a> under part III of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages commits the UK government to promoting Cornish at an official level. Cornish phrases are now regularly used in the House of Commons<\/a> by MPs representing constituencies in Cornwall.<\/p>\n But with so few Cornish speakers and such little representation in education or the media, what will this podcast actually do for the language?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n We can look across the Channel for some insight into the relationship between media visibility and linguistic vitality. In Brittany, Cornish\u2019s closest language neighbour, Breton, is in a much stronger position on both fronts.<\/p>\n Local public radio regularly broadcasts in Breton, alongside a network of five independent stations<\/a> that make Breton-language content the centre of their programming. The newest of these, Radio Naoned<\/a>, was established in 2019, demonstrating the growing success of Breton-language media.<\/p>\n Immersion education is also increasingly popular<\/a>, with more parents choosing to send their children to bilingual schools. Yet overall, the number of Breton speakers is declining rapidly<\/a>: from an estimated 214,000 speakers in 2018 to 107,000 in 2024.<\/p>\n Media presence may not be a way of growing speaker numbers, but it can have other important functions. Minoritised languages face pressures to adapt their linguistic features, particularly vocabulary, in order to deal with rapid technological change and the new words this requires.<\/p>\n Speakers often face a stark choice: should they bring in words from a dominant language like English and risk losing some of their language\u2019s distinctiveness, or should they create new words based on the language\u2019s existing resources \u2013 words that may be criticised for their artificial nature?<\/p>\n Researching for my book<\/a> Breton in Contemporary Media: Speakers, Language, Community, I found that users of the language in the media make use of several strategies to promote inclusion.<\/p>\n On the radio, a common strategy is the use of \u201cdoublets\u201d \u2013 pairs of words with the same meaning but different origins, which may appeal to different groups of speakers. A presenter may use a borrowing such as telefon<\/em> but follow this up with the more official, Celtic-based term pellgomzer<\/em>. This means that speakers who are accustomed to either of the two options will understand the discussion and feel included.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n For Cornish, despite the small number of speakers, it\u2019s just as important to respect the different kinds of language they may choose to use.<\/p>\n Those who decide to learn the language will do so for different reasons. They may be inspired by local place names and dialect words. They may wish to express a wider Celtic identity. Or they may be interested in reading medieval Cornish texts.<\/p>\n But, if the forms of Cornish they encounter don\u2019t appear to fit the purpose for which they are learning it, they may abandon the language altogether.<\/p>\nLessons from Breton<\/h2>\n
An inclusive environment<\/h2>\n
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