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. It is a List of revived languages, revived language, having become Extinct language, extinct as a livin ...

. He was the founder of "Modern Cornish"/''Curnoack Nowedga'', which split off during the 1980s. Whereas Ken George mainly went to Medieval Cornish as the inspiration for his revival, Gendall went to the last surviving records of Cornish, such as John and

Nicholas Boson Nicholas Boson (1624–1708) was a writer in, and preserver of, the Cornish language. He was born in Newlyn to a landowning and merchant family involved in the pilchard fisheries. Nicholas's mother had prevented their neighbours and servants spe ...

, in the eighteenth-century. He taught at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

. He was also a folk musician, and made several recordings with Brenda Wootton (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 term bardd ("poet") originally referred to the Welsh poets of the Middle Ages, who 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,

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in September 2017 at the age of 93. He belonged to a Penzance family which moved to St Blazey when he was very young and later to St Winnow. After wartime service in the Royal Navy he studied linguistics and music at the University of Leeds; then he was able to acquire some knowledge of the Cornish language from R. Morton Nance and A. S. D. Smith but was disappointed that it was no longer spoken. He started a campaign for the revival of Cornish as a spoken language.Wootton, Brenda & Gendall, Richard (1971) ''Crowdy Crawn''. Sentinel Records SENS 1016 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 Menheniot (pronounced Men-en-yut; kw, Mahynyet) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is southeast of Liskeard. The meaning of the name is "sanctuary of Neot" (from ''minihi'' and ''Neot''). Menheniot ...

, 1991. * ''A Students' Grammar of Modern Cornish''. Cussel an Tavas Kernuack,

, 1991. * ''1000 Years of Cornish (Second edition)''. Teere ha Tavaz,

, 1994 * ''Dictionary of Modern Cornish''. Teere ha Tavaz,

, 1992–1997. * ''Tavaz a Ragadazow – The Language of my Forefathers.'' Teere ha Tavaz,

. 2000. * ''Practical Modern Cornish''. Teer ha Tavaz,

. 2003. * ''The Language of our Cornish Forefathers''.

Cornish Language Partnership The Cornish Language Partnership ( kw, Keskowethyans an Taves Kernewek , ) is a representative body that was set up in Cornwall, England, UK in 2005 to promote and develop the use of the Cornish language. It is a public and voluntary sector part ...

. 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 {{Cornwall-stub

Bibliography

See also

References