CORNISH LANGUAGE

a member of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages, formerly spoken in Cornwall in southwestern Britain; it became extinct in the 18th or early 19th century as a result of displacement by English. Cornish was most closely related to Breton, the Celtic language of Brittany in northwestern France. Cornish was strongly influenced by English even in medieval times, and later its orthography and vocabulary showed many English elements. By 1600 it was spoken only in the farthest western part of Cornwall; and by 1800, or shortly thereafter, it had no speakers at all. Modern revivalists have constructed a unified Cornish, in which some works have been written. Although a few enthusiasts have learned to speak it, it shows no signs of establishing itself.