Go West, Young Man

Hello again friends! How was your Easter break? Full of good things, I hope. Well, we’re back from our little English trip, and thank God too, because Polska is where I like to be, i dzięki Bóg że jestem polakiem! ;)

We were staying down in Cornwall, in the south-west of the country. This part of England is the home of one of (broadly speaking) the two ancient, founding languages of modern Britain. I’m talking about Brythonic (Celtic), which loosely speaking covers ancient English, Cornish and Welsh. The other is, of course, Goidelic (Gaelic), which stems from the Gaels who populated Ireland, Scotland and various associated parts.

The Cornish are a very distinct peoples amongst the British tribes, and their melodic, lilting accent is unlike any other. The ‘West Country’ (Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset) is largely agricultural, their farmers once supplying the majority of Britain’s food (before quotas and EECs and EUs and various insane post-war government decisions). Cornwall has a strong sea-faring and fishing culture too - Daphne du Maurier immortalised Cornish tales of smugglers, piracy and adventure in the classic Jamaica Inn, and over time various ship-wrecked Spanish and French sailors integrated themselves into society down there, resulting in a superb blending over time that shows itself in an occasional swarthiness or Latin lilt in the language. I suppose it’s something like what we have in the south of Małopolska and so on, with the border communities in the mountains. At any rate, a trip to the South-West is a real pleasure on all fronts.

Linguistically, we did see a few interesting things, and I wanted to take pictures for you all but I’m a bit shy about whipping it out and waving it around (the camera, that is). Highlights include an amusingly phrased sign in a local Lidl (yes, they’re everywhere), which warned of the dangers of trying to buy alcohol by saying: ‘If you’re lucky enough to look like you’re under 18 years of age, we will ask for proof of identity, in compliance with the law, so please do not be offended.’

Another interesting bit of phrasing I noticed was on an estate agent’s advertising board, outside some newly built flats: ‘12 dwellings available!’ Here, it’s the quaint, almost Tolkien-esque use of dwellings instead of flats or apartments, which caught my eye. Most unusual.

Can’t really think of anything else relevant right now, possibly it’s the huge quantities of chocolate coursing through my system interfering with my brain, so we’ll leave it there. Tomorrow or Friday I’ll put up another word or phrasing issue which has been tickling my mind lately, and then we’ll meet again on Sunday to discuss our plans for the coming week. See you then!
 

map courtesy of Wikipedia, via http://www.planiglobe.com/omc_set.html 

photo - my own, taken on the roads of Cornwall. See? I told you it's fun down there!