2007-04-09 09:53:41 · 2 answers · asked by magpie 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
The two languages are similar to each other and are both descended from an ancient Celtic language which historical linguists call "Old British" or "Gallo-British," but they are still not mutually intelligible. It's a relationship comparable to that between say, Spanish and Italian, Russian and Ukrainian, Estonian and Finnish etc.
Another language in this group is Breton (Brezhoneg), spoken in northwestern France. Bretons traveling to Wales do business claim that they cannot understand the Welsh language but still recognize a lot of Welsh words as being similar to many of their own words. For example, they both use 'penn / pen' for "head," 'ty / ti' for "house," and 'bara' for "bread." So did Cornish.
2007-04-09 19:21:36 · answer #1 · answered by Brennus 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Welsh and Cornish are indeed similar, both being members of the Celtic family. More specifically, they are both Brythonic languages; Brythonic being the Welsh word for Briton as opposed to Anglo-Saxon or Gael. Neither language is spoken widely anymore.
2007-04-09 18:37:51 · answer #2 · answered by Ben 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋