Vocabularium cornicum
OLD CORNISH (Medieval Cornish)
A long time ago, about a thousand years ago, Cornish and Welsh were much more alike. As time went on, they grew apart because they were separated from each other and influenced by other languages.
In fact, in the early Norman period, Cornish and Welsh (esp southern Welsh) were so similar that a 12th-century list of Cornish words, known as the 'Cottonian Vocabulary’, ‘Old Cornish Vocabulary,’ or ‘Vocabularium Comicum,’ was initially mistaken for Welsh.
THE OLD CORNISH VOCABULARY
The ‘Vocabularium Comicum,’ is essentially a list of Cornish words with their Latin translations. It covers various topics like body parts, animals, plants, church terms, and more. It even includes a Cornish calendar and provides some information about Cornish and Welsh saints.
This ‘Cottonian Vocabulary,’ now housed in the British Museum, is incredibly important because it’s one of the oldest surviving pieces of Old Cornish from the twelfth century.
Interestingly, this manuscript wasn’t recognized as Cornish for a long time. It was originally thought to be a Welsh vocabulary because it had the words ‘Vocabularium Wallicum’ (Welsh vocabulary) written at the end. It wasn’t until the early 1700s when a man named Mr. John Antis discovered it in the Cottonian Library that its true nature came to light. He questioned the classification and reached out to Edward Lhuyd, a well-known Celtic scholar. Lhuyd quickly realised that it was, in fact, Cornish and said…
‘When I had seen the book I knew very well that it was not a Welsh vocabulary as it appeared by the Latin title ‘Vocabularium Wallicum’ written at the end of it, but a Cornish vocabulary.’
This manuscript is a valuable resource for anyone interested in studying Cornish because it’s one of the earliest and longest texts in the language. It helps us understand how Cornish changed over time and how it’s related to other Celtic languages. It also provides insights into the culture and religion of Medieval Cornwall."
| Old Cornish | English Translation (originally in Latin) |
|---|---|
| ancredwur mor | viking [lit. ‘sea-unbeliever’] |
| bahet | boar |
| baneu | sow |
| barth hirgorn | trumpeter [lit. ‘long horn bard’] |
| bat | coin |
| benen rid | womankind |
| caid prinid | bought slave |
| caur march | camel (lit. ‘giant horse’] |
| chefuidoc | almighty |
| chelioc redan | grasshopper [lit. ‘cock of the bracken’] |
| chereor | shoemaker |
| chetua | assembly |
| guenoin | poison |
| guiden | tree |
| guinfellet | vinegar (lit. ‘spoiled wine’] |
| gulat | country |
| hichhewoil | vigilant [lit. ‘highly watching’] |
| hihsommet | bat [lit. ‘high flitter’] |
| huchot | upwards |
| huhelwur | noble [lit. ‘high man’] |
| leid | tribe |
| leu | lion |
| manteilu | matriarch [lit. ‘mother of household’] |
| much | daughter |
| nenbren | roofbeam [lit. ‘ceiling tree’] |
| oleubren | olive tree [lit. ‘oil tree’] |
| saithor | archer |
| scolheic | scholar |
| tiogou | farmers |
| tolcorn | clarion (lit. ‘hole horn’] |
| wedresif | newt |
Notes
- The ‘Cottonian Vocabulary’ is a 12th-century manuscript with Cornish words and Latin translations
- It was based on an earlier work by Aelfric, the ‘English-Latin Lexicon’
- It was wrongly labelled as a Welsh vocabulary until Mr Antis found it in the Cottonian Library and showed it to Edward Lhuyd, a Celtic scholar
- Lhuyd confirmed that it was a Cornish vocabulary and studied it from 1701 to 1707
- The manuscript has seven pages of Cornish nouns related to various topics, such as human body, nature, religion, etc.
- It also has a calendar with Cornish words and the lives of Cornish and Welsh saints
- This manuscript is very important for the history of the Cornish language as it is almost the only source of ‘Old Cornish’.
The Cottonian Library was a huge collection of books and manuscripts that belonged to Sir Robert Cotton, a famous book lover. He had many rare and ancient texts, that he saved from being lost or destroyed. His library was one of the first to become part of the British Museum, and now it is in the British Library.