Professor Richard Roscow Morris "Dick" Gendall (12 April 1924 – 12 September 2017) was a British expert on the

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or , ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh language, Welsh and Breton language, Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, ...

. He was the third of four children and the only son of the Reverend Philip Parsons Gendall and Mary EB Hand. His father was a minister who worked in a number Following National Service in the Royal Navy during World War II, he studied linguistics and music in the University of Leeds. Then he began to learn Cornish from R. Morton Nance and A.S.D. Smith but he was disappointed that the language was not being spoken. He began a campaign to revive Cornish as a spoken language. In 1952 he founded the Cornish language magazine An Lef (The Voice), but resigned the editorship after a year to E.G.R Hooper. He also founded the learners' magazine Hedhyu which lasted from 1956 - 1961. Through his efforts Kesva an Taves Kernewek (the Cornish Language Board) was established in 1967. He was the founder of "Modern Cornish"/''Curnoack Nowedga'', which split off during the 1980s. Whereas

Ken George Kenneth John George is a British oceanographer, poet, and linguist. He is noted as being the originator of Kernewek Kemmyn, an orthography for the revived Cornish language which he claims is more faithful to Middle Cornish phonology than its pre ...

mainly went to Medieval Cornish as the inspiration for his revival, Gendall went to the last surviving records of Cornish, such as

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and Nicholas Boson, in the eighteenth-century. He taught at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

. He was also a folk musician, and made several recordings with

Brenda Wootton Brenda Wootton (née Ellery) (10 February 1928 – 11 March 1994) was a Cornish folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th- ...

(e.g. ''Crowdy Crawn''), as well as a poet and writer in Cornish itself under the

bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh language, Welsh term bardd ('poet') originally referred to the Welsh poets of the M ...

of "Gelvinak". Gendall founded Teere ha Tavaz, an organisation which seeks to promote the Cornish language in its ''Modern Cornish'' or ''Curnoack Nowedga'' variety. It is also a small publisher on, and in, the Cornish language. He died in

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; ) is an ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) east of Bodmin. Th ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

in September 2017 at the age of 93. For many years he taught French and Spanish at Helston Grammar School.

Bibliography

* ''Kernewek Bew (Living Cornish)''. 1972 * ''The Pronunciation of Cornish''. Teere ha Tavaz, Mahunyes, 1991. * ''A Students' Grammar of Modern Cornish''. Cussel an Tavas Kernuack, Mahunyes, 1991. * ''1000 Years of Cornish (Second edition)''. Teere ha Tavaz, Mahunyes, 1994 * ''Dictionary of Modern Cornish''. Teere ha Tavaz, Mahunyes, 1992–1997. * ''Tavaz a Ragadazow – The Language of my Forefathers.'' Teere ha Tavaz, Mahunyes. 2000. * ''Practical Modern Cornish''. Teer ha Tavaz, Mahunyes. 2003. * ''The Language of our Cornish Forefathers''.

Cornish Language Partnership The Cornish Language Partnership ( , ) was a representative body that was set up in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, in 2005 to promote and develop the use of the Cornish language. and was dissolved in 2015. It was a public and voluntary secto ...

. 2009.

References

1924 births 2017 deaths Celtic studies scholars Cornish folk musicians Cornish folk singers Writers from Cornwall Cornish language activists Cornish-language writers Cornish-speaking people Alumni of the University of Leeds 20th-century British folk musicians 21st-century British folk musicians English folk musicians {{Cornwall-stub

Bibliography

See also

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