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 dictio-nary 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 specifi-ca-tion, while adopting a few
emendations to make the ortho-graphy more consistent and more like the
spelling of traditional Cornish.
