Editing Cornish language (section)

== Orthography ==
{{Further|International Phonetic Alphabet#Brackets and transcription delimiters}}

=== Old Cornish orthography ===
Until around the middle of the 11th century, Old Cornish scribes used a traditional spelling system shared with Old Breton and Old Welsh, based on the pronunciation of [[British Latin]].{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=495}}{{sfn|Jackson|1953|p=67}} By the time of the {{lang|la|[[Vocabularium Cornicum]]}}, usually dated to around 1100, Old English spelling conventions, such as the use of [[Thorn (letter)|thorn]] (Þ, þ) and [[eth]] (Ð, ð) for [[dental fricative]]s, and [[wynn]] (Ƿ, ƿ) for /w/, had come into use, allowing documents written at this time to be distinguished from Old Welsh, which rarely uses these characters, and Old Breton, which does not use them at all.{{sfn|Jackson|1953|pp=67-68}} Old Cornish features include using initial ⟨ch⟩, ⟨c⟩, or ⟨k⟩ for /k/, and, in internal and final position, ⟨p⟩, ⟨t⟩, ⟨c⟩, ⟨b⟩, ⟨d⟩, and ⟨g⟩ are generally used for the phonemes /b/, /d/, /ɡ/, /β/, /ð/, and /ɣ/ respectively, meaning that the results of Brittonic [[lenition]] are not usually apparent from the orthography at this time.{{sfn|Jackson|1953|p=68}}{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=495}}

=== Middle Cornish orthography ===
Middle Cornish orthography has a significant level of variation, and shows influence from Middle English spelling practices.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bock |first=Albert |date=2010 |title=Nucleus Length and Vocalic Alternation in Cornish Diphthongs |journal=Die Sprache |volume=48 |issue=1–2 |pages=34–43|doi=10.13173/SPR.48.1-2.034 }}</ref> [[Yogh]] (Ȝ ȝ) is used in certain Middle Cornish texts, where it is used to represent a variety of sounds, including the dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/, a usage which is unique to Middle Cornish and is never found in Middle English.{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|p=496}}<ref name="Mills 1999">{{cite book |last=Mills |first=Jon |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1078438372 |title=Reconstructive Phonology and Contrastive Lexicology: Problems with the Gerlyver Kernewek Kemmyn |date=1999 |publisher=[[University of Exeter Press]] |oclc=1078438372}}</ref> Middle Cornish scribes tend to use ⟨c⟩ for /k/ before back vowels, and ⟨k⟩ for /k/ before front vowels, though this is not always true, and this rule is less consistent in certain texts.{{sfn|Williams|2016}} Middle Cornish scribes almost universally use ⟨wh⟩ to represent /ʍ/ (or /hw/), as in Middle English. Middle Cornish, especially towards the end of this period, tends to use orthographic ⟨g⟩ and ⟨b⟩ in word-final position in stressed monosyllables, and ⟨k⟩ and ⟨p⟩ in word-final position in unstressed final syllables, to represent the reflexes of late Brittonic /ɡ/ and /b/, respectively.<ref>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Nicholas |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1017761062 |title=The Cornish consonantal system: Implications for the revival |date=2016 |publisher=Evertype |isbn=9781782011859 |oclc=1017761062}}</ref>

=== Late Cornish orthography ===
Written sources from this period are often spelled following English spelling conventions since many of the writers of the time had not been exposed to Middle Cornish texts or the Cornish orthography within them. Around 1700, Edward Lhuyd visited Cornwall, introducing his own partly phonetic orthography that he used in his {{lang|la|Archaeologia Britannica}}, which was adopted by some local writers, leading to the use of some Lhuydian features such as the use of [[circumflex]]es to denote long vowels, ⟨k⟩ before front vowels, word-final ⟨i⟩, and the use of ⟨dh⟩ to represent the voiced dental fricative /ð/.{{sfn|Ball|Müller|2009|pp=496–497}}<ref name="Mills 1999" />

=== Revived Cornish orthography ===
After the publication of Jenner's ''Handbook of the Cornish Language'', the earliest revivalists used Jenner's orthography, which was influenced by Lhuyd's system. This system was abandoned following the development by Nance of a "unified spelling", later known as [[Unified Cornish]], a system based on a standardization of the orthography of the early Middle Cornish texts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davies-Deacon |first=Merryn |date=28 August 2017 |title=Names, Varieties and Ideologies in Revived Cornish |journal=Studia Celtica Posnaniensia |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=85 |doi=10.1515/scp-2017-0005 |s2cid=171451822 |issn=2451-4160 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Nance's system was used by almost all Revived Cornish speakers and writers until the 1970s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Nicholas |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/38886149 |title=Clappya Kernowek: an introduction to Unified Cornish Revised |date=1997 |publisher=Agan Tavas, the Society for the Promotion of the Cornish Language |isbn=1901409015 |pages=5 |oclc=38886149}}</ref> Criticism of Nance's system, particularly the relationship of spelling to sounds and the phonological basis of Unified Cornish, resulted in rival orthographies appearing by the early 1980s,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Davies-Deacon |first=Merryn |date=28 August 2017 |title=Names, Varieties and Ideologies in Revived Cornish |journal=Studia Celtica Posnaniensia |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=81–95 |doi=10.1515/scp-2017-0005 |s2cid=171451822 |issn=2451-4160 |doi-access=free}}</ref> including Gendal's [[Modern Cornish]], based on Late Cornish native writers and Lhuyd, and Ken George's [[Kernewek Kemmyn]], a mainly [[Morphophonology|morphophonemic]] orthography based on George's reconstruction of Middle Cornish {{circa|1500}}, which features a number of orthographic, and phonological, distinctions not found in Unified Cornish.<ref name="J. 1986">{{cite book |last=George |first=Ken |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/868707844 |title=The pronunciation and spelling of revived Cornish. |date=1986 |publisher=[[Kesva an Taves Kernewek]] |oclc=868707844}}</ref><ref name="Mills 1999" /> Kernewek Kemmyn is characterised by the use of universal ⟨k⟩ for /k/ (instead of ⟨c⟩ before back vowels as in Unified); ⟨hw⟩ for /hw/, instead of ⟨wh⟩ as in Unified; and ⟨y⟩, ⟨oe⟩, and ⟨eu⟩ to represent the phonemes /ɪ/, /o/, and /œ/ respectively, which are not found in Unified Cornish. Criticism of all of these systems, especially Kernewek Kemmyn, by Nicolas Williams,<ref>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Nicholas |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/80332199 |title=Cornish today: an examination of the revived language |date=2006 |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |isbn=9781904808077 |edition=3rd |location=Westport, Co. Mayo |oclc=80332199}}</ref> resulted in the creation of Unified Cornish Revised, a modified version of Nance's orthography, featuring: an additional phoneme not distinguished by Nance, "ö in German {{lang|de|schön}}", represented in the UCR orthography by ⟨ue⟩; replacement of ⟨y⟩ with ⟨e⟩ in many words; internal ⟨h⟩ rather than ⟨gh⟩; and use of final ⟨b⟩, ⟨g⟩, and ⟨dh⟩ in stressed monosyllables.{{sfn|Williams|1997|p=12–13}} A [[Standard Written Form]], intended as a compromise orthography for official and educational purposes, was introduced in 2008, although a number of previous orthographic systems remain in use and, in response to the publication of the SWF, another new orthography, [[Kernowek Standard]], was created, mainly by Nicholas Williams and Michael Everson, which is proposed as an amended version of the Standard Written Form.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Nicholas |last=Williams |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/793690262 |title=Desky kernowek: a complete guide to Cornish |date=2012 |page=xx-xxi |publisher=[[Michael Everson#Publishing at Evertype|Evertype]] |isbn=9781904808992 |oclc=793690262}}</ref>