Unified Cornish


Unified Cornish is a variety of the Cornish language of the Cornish revival. Developed gradually by Robert Morton Nance during and before the 1930s, it derived its name from its standardisation of the variant spellings of traditional Cornish MSS. Nance's recommended spelling and grammar, based on Middle Cornish, soon supplanted Henry Jenner's system, which had been based largely on Late Cornish. Most of the older generation of Cornish users alive today would have started under this system. It was also the form originally used by Gorsedh Kernow, although they now use the new Standard Written Form.

Criticism

In the 1980s, Unified Cornish came under heavy criticism, leading to the creation of Kernewek Kemmyn and Modern Cornish. Some Cornish speakers continued to employ Unified Cornish nonetheless.

Unified Cornish, Revised

In the 1990s, yet another variety emerged when Unified Cornish Revised was devised by Nicholas Williams.

Adoption of the Standard Written Form

In May 2008 the Cornish Language Partnership agreed on a single written form of Cornish to be known as the Standard Written Form to be used by Cornwall Council authorities for the purposes of education and public life. The Cornish Language Partnership has specified that Furv Skrifys Savonek is the SWF translation for Standard Written Form. Users of UCR and KS prefer the term Form Screfys Standard.
In September 2008 Agan Tavas reaffirmed its support for Unified Cornish, as well as for the SWF and for Kernowek Standard.