Editing Cornish language (section)

=== Late Cornish ===
[[File:Lether Bodinar.jpg|thumb|right|upright|William Bodinar's letter, dated 3 July 1776]]
By the middle of the 17th century, the language had retreated to [[Penwith]] and [[Kerrier]], and transmission of the language to new generations had almost entirely ceased. In his ''Survey of Cornwall'', published in 1602, [[Richard Carew (antiquary)|Richard Carew]] writes:<blockquote>[M]ost of the inhabitants can speak no word of Cornish, but very few are ignorant of the English; and yet some so affect their own, as to a stranger they will not speak it; for if meeting them by chance, you inquire the way, or any such matter, your answer shall be, "{{lang|cnx|Meea navidna caw zasawzneck}}," "I [will] speak no Saxonage."<ref name="Carew1811">{{cite book |last=Carew |first=Richard |title=Carew's Survey of Cornwall: to which are added, notes illustrative of its history and antiquities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhTOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA152 |access-date=13 February 2013 |date=1811 |publisher=T. Bensley for J. Faulder |page=152 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref></blockquote>
The Late Cornish ({{lang|kw|Kernewek Diwedhes}}){{sfn|George|2009|p=343}} period from 1600 to about 1800 has a less substantial body of literature than the Middle Cornish period, but the sources are more varied in nature, including songs, poems about fishing and curing [[Sardine|pilchards]], and various translations of verses from the Bible, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer and the Creed.{{sfn|Chaudhri|2007|pp=10-11}} Edward Lhuyd's [[Archæologia Britannica|''Archaeologia Britannica'']], which was mainly recorded in the field from native speakers in the early 1700s, and his unpublished field notebook are seen as important sources of Cornish vocabulary, some of which are not found in any other source.{{sfn|Chaudhri|2007|p=9}} ''Archaeologia Britannica'' also features a complete version of a traditional folk tale, ''John of Chyanhor'', a short story about a man from [[St Levan]] who goes far to the east seeking work, eventually returning home after three years to find that his wife has borne him a child during his absence.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lhuyd |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Lhuyd |title=Archaeologia Britannica |volume=1: ''Glossography'' |date=1707 |pages=251–253}}</ref>

In 1776, William Bodinar, who describes himself as having learned Cornish from old fishermen when he was a boy, wrote a letter to [[Daines Barrington]] in Cornish, with an English translation, which was probably the last prose written in the traditional language. In his letter, he describes the sociolinguistics of the Cornish language at the time, stating that there are no more than four or five old people in his village who can still speak Cornish, concluding with the remark that Cornish is no longer known by young people.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pool |first=P. A. S. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/927038181 |title=William Bodinar's letter, 1776 |date=1975 |journal=Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall |oclc=927038181}}</ref> However, the last recorded traditional Cornish literature may have been the ''[[Cranken Rhyme]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Zafar |first=Chaudhri Talat |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1119992761 |title=Studies in the consonantal system of Cornish |pages=17 |oclc=1119992761}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lipoński |first=Wojciech |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/986071821 |title=Landmarks in British History and Culture: A Monograph of Selected Issues |date=2016 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM / Adam Mickiewicz University |series="Seria Filologia Angielska" No. 47 |isbn=9788323231103 |edition=2nd |location=Poznań |pages=54 |oclc=986071821}}</ref> a corrupted version of a verse or song published in the late 19th century by [[John Hobson Matthews]], recorded orally by [[John Davey (Cornish speaker)|John Davey]] (or Davy) of [[Boswednack]], of uncertain date but probably originally composed during the last years of the traditional language. Davey had traditional knowledge of at least some Cornish.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Payton |first=Philip |date=1 May 2011 |title=Introduction |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/10.1386/corn.19.1.1_2 |journal=Cornish Studies |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1386/corn.19.1.1_2 |issn=1352-271X}}</ref> John Kelynack (1796–1885), a fisherman of Newlyn, was sought by [[Philology|philologists]] for old Cornish words and technical phrases in the 19th century.<ref>{{cite news |title=Death of Mr John Kelynack, of Newlyn |work=[[The Cornishman (newspaper)|The Cornishman]] |issue=356 |date=14 May 1885 |page=5}}</ref>