The Ancient Language, and the Dialect of Cornwall, with an Enlarged Glossary of Cornish Provincial Words

Published in 1882, this fascinating annotated glossary of the Cornish dialect of English illuminates Cornwall's history, literature and culture.

This glossary contains around 3,700 words in the Cornish dialect of English as spoken up to the time of its publication in 1882. Frederick W. P. Jago (1817–92) also presents a history of Cornish and the Cornish dialect, and the life of Dolly Pentreath, the last native speaker of Cornish.The Cornish dialect stemmed from the influence of English on the declining Cornish language, and contained words from both languages. This glossary was published in 1882 by Frederick W. P. Jago (1817–92) in an effort to describe and preserve the dialect as it too declined. Containing around 3,700 dialect words from both Cornish and English, and annotated with examples, etymological information and literary citations, the work is an invaluable record of a disappearing dialect and way of life. The word list is supplemented by a history of Cornish and the Cornish dialect, showing similarities with the vocabulary of Chaucer, as well as with Welsh and Greek. Also included is an appendix with information about Dolly Pentreath, the last native speaker of Cornish, and a list of writers who had worked on the Cornish language and dialect. Jago's English-Cornish Dictionary (1887) is also reissued in this series.