Diacritical Marks

Pronunciation – Diacritical Marks 

There is not unanimous agreement on the use of Diacritical Marks as part of the Cornish language, however a significant number of Cornish linguists have used then to assist with pronunciation and are also used their dictionaries. 

In Cornish 6 of the 26 letters can use Diacritical Marks;

ȃ - as the vowel sound in “cat” or “hat”

 à - a lengthened vowel sound as in “cat” and “hat”

 ê - as the vowel sound in “pet” and “get”

 è - as the vowel sound in “there” 

ё - as the vowel sounds in “ê” or “î” (as preferred)

 î - as the vowel sound in “me” and “he”

ȏ - between the vowel soond in “cot” and “cut”

ò - as the vowel sound in “core” and “more”

û - as the vowel sound in “could” and “would”

ù - as the vowel sound in “coo” but also the “yoo” sound in “use” in some borrowed words

ÿ – as the vowels sounds in “ê” or “î” (as preferred)

 It is a personal choice whether to use the marks or not, but Standard Cornish does use the marks to assist with pronunciation. It does add an additional element to spelling and learning and it is suggested to practice by using the marks from the beginning of the learning cycle in written work.

More information on this can be found in the “Pronunciation Guide” in this section