Editing Cornish language (section)

== Geographic distribution and number of speakers ==
[[File:Penzance - CrossCountry 221130 in platform 4.JPG|thumb|Cornish can be seen in many places in [[Cornwall]]; this sign is at Penzance railway station.]]
Speakers of Cornish reside primarily in [[Cornwall]], which has a population of 563,600 (2017 estimate). There are also some speakers living outside Cornwall, particularly in the countries of the [[Cornish diaspora]], as well as in other [[Celtic nations]]. Estimates of the number of Cornish speakers vary according to the definition of a speaker, and is difficult to determine accurately due to the individualised nature of language take-up. Nevertheless, there is recognition that the number of Cornish speakers is growing.<ref name="Diarmuid O'Neill 240" /><ref>{{Cite web |title='Significant rise' in number of people learning Cornish |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0xx6170z8vo |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=www.bbc.com |date=16 June 2024 |language=en-GB}}</ref> From before the 1980s to the end of the 20th century there was a sixfold increase in the number of speakers to around 300.<ref name=":ekeltoi1">{{cite journal |last=Ferdinand |first=Siarl |date=2 December 2013 |title=A Brief History of the Cornish Language, its Revival and its Current Status |url=https://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol2/2_6/ferdinand_2_6.html |journal=E-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies |volume=2 |pages=199–227 |issn=1540-4889 |access-date=11 July 2018}}</ref> One figure for the number of people who know a few basic words, such as knowing that "Kernow" means "Cornwall", was 300,000; the same survey gave the number of people able to have simple conversations as 3,000.<ref>{{cite book |title=Rebuilding the Celtic Languages: Reversing Language Shift in the Celtic Countries |first=Diarmuid |last=O'Neill |page=242 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6PFckH-GBKAC&q=%22Predennek%22&pg=PA212 |publisher=Y Lolfa |isbn=0862437237 |date=2005 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref>

The Cornish Language Strategy project commissioned research to provide quantitative and qualitative evidence for the number of Cornish speakers: due to the success of the revival project it was estimated that 2,000 people were fluent (surveyed in spring 2008), an increase from the estimated 300 people who spoke Cornish fluently suggested in a study by [[Kenneth MacKinnon]] in 2000.<ref name="BBC BBC/British Council">{{cite news |title='South West: TeachingEnglish: British Council: BBC |url=http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/uk-languages/south-west |access-date=9 February 2010 |date=2010 |work=TeachingEnglish.orgn |publisher=[[BBC]] / British Council |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108190250/http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/uk-languages/south-west |archive-date=8 January 2010}}</ref><ref name="Walesonline creche">{{cite news |title=First Cornish-speaking creche is inspired by example set in Wales |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/01/16/first-cornish-speaking-creche-is-inspired-by-example-set-inwales-91466-25612689/ |access-date=18 January 2010 |date=16 January 2010 |work=[[WalesOnline]] |publisher=Welsh Media Ltd}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web |url=http://www.gosw.gov.uk/497666/docs/254795/mode_of_use.doc |title=Mode of Use |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327121248/http://www.gosw.gov.uk/497666/docs/254795/mode_of_use.doc |archive-date=27 March 2009}}</ref>

Jenefer Lowe of the [[Cornish Language Partnership]] said in an interview with the BBC in 2010 that there were around 300 fluent speakers.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-11935464 |title=Cornish language no longer extinct, says UN |work=[[BBC News]] |date=7 December 2010}}</ref> [[Bert Biscoe]], a councillor and bard, in a statement to the ''[[Western Morning News]]'' in 2014 said there were "several hundred fluent speakers".<ref name="brooks">{{cite web |last=Brooks |first=Richard |title=The Cornish Language: In Danger or Flourishing? |work=K International |url=https://www.k-international.com/blog/cornish-language-danger-flourishing/ |access-date=23 July 2019 |date=18 November 2014}}</ref> [[Cornwall Council]] estimated in 2015 that there were 300–400 fluent speakers who used the language regularly, with 5,000 people having a basic conversational ability in the language.<ref>{{cite news |last=Harley |first=Nicola |title=Council splashes out £180,000 to try to stop the Cornish language dying out |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11976596/Council-splashes-out-180000-to-try-to-stop-the-Cornish-language-dying-out.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11976596/Council-splashes-out-180000-to-try-to-stop-the-Cornish-language-dying-out.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=1 July 2017 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=5 November 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

A report on the 2011 Census published in 2013 by the [[Office for National Statistics]] placed the number of speakers at somewhere between 325 and 625.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/language/articles/languageinenglandandwales/2013-03-04 |title=Language in England and Wales: 2011 |via=ons.gov.uk |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |access-date=7 April 2017 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140729112455/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census-analysis/language-in-england-and-wales-2011/rpt---language-in-england-and-wales--2011.html?format=print |archive-date=29 July 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2017 the [[Office for National Statistics|ONS]] released data based on the 2011 Census that placed the number of speakers at 557 people in England and Wales who declared Cornish to be their main language, 464 of whom lived in Cornwall.<ref name="ons_gov_uk" /> The 2021 census listed the number of Cornish speakers at 563.<ref>{{cite web |title=Main language (detailed) |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS024/editions/2021/versions/3 |website=ONS.gov.uk |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |access-date=18 August 2023}} (UK 2021 Census)</ref>

A study that appeared in 2018 established the number of people in Cornwall with at least minimal skills in Cornish, such as the use of some words and phrases, to be more than 3,000, including around 500 estimated to be fluent.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ferdinand |first=Siarl |title=The Promotion of Cornish in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly: Attitudes towards the Language and Recommendations for Policy |date=2018 |journal=Studia Celtica Fennica |volume=19 |pages=107–130 |doi=10.33353/scf.79496 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The Institute of Cornish Studies at the [[University of Exeter]] is working with the Cornish Language Partnership to study the Cornish language revival of the 20th century, including the growth in number of speakers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Celtic Revival |url=http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/history/research/centres/ics/projects/celtic_revival/ |website=Humanities.Exeter.ac.uk |publisher=[[University of Exeter]] |access-date=3 July 2018}}</ref>