A Concise Dictionary of Cornish Place-Names by Craig Weatherhill (1-Feb-2009) Paperback

by Craig Weatherhill

Many people first take an interest in the Cornish language because they are curious to learn more about the distinctive and fascinating place names of Cornwall. The key to understanding the meaning of these place-names is language. Most derive from the Cornish language primarily, but many of them have their roots in Old English, Middle English, French, and other languages which have left their mark on Cornwall. Through the tireless and exacting work of place-name specialists, the secrets of Cornish place-names are being unlocked for everyone. This dictionary offers in a concise format more than 3,300 place-names. It is the fruit of Craig Weatherhill's many years of research, not only of the meaning of the names themselves, but of considering the question of how best to represent those names in Revived Cornish. The recommendations in this dictio­nary preserve the authentic and attested linguistic forms while at the same time honouring the traditional orthographic forms which have been visible on the Cornish landscape for at least four centuries. The orthography used in this dictionary is compatible with the Standard Written Form (SWF), adopted by the Cornish Language Partnership for educational and official use. It is also compatible with Kernowek Standard (KS), a practical orthography which informed the development of the SWF. In turn, KS has been modified in light of the published SWF specifi­ca­tion, while adopting a few emendations to make the ortho­graphy more consistent and more like the spelling of traditional Cornish.

Paperback

First published February 1, 2009

About the author

Craig Weatherhill (1950 or 1951–2020) was a Cornish antiquarian, novelist and writer on the history, archaeology, place names and mythology of Cornwall.

Reviews

[Othy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable text that is, unfortunately, much too small and short. The text claims itself to be concise and that it is: entries are quick and sweet, though often almost too quick. Weatherhill mentions in the introduction what will eventually become Oliver Padel's "A popular dictionary of Cornish place-names" and I wonder if this is a more extensive survey of Cornish toponyms.