 Answer: all of us!
 Liskeard! Penzance! Truro!
Pendennis! Penryn! Tintagel!
 Can you think of any other Cornish place names?
 Even today the Cornish language is all around you!

 Cornish is a Celtic language (like Welsh or Gaelic) that was spoken in Cornwall and Devon (up to Exeter).
 Over time it was pushed further and further West.
 By the early 1700s only people in the far
West (e.g. Penzance) could speak it fluently – and most of those people spoke English too.
 It died out but was revived in the early
1900s.

 You’re going to use an old Cornish dictionary, an Ordnance Survey map and a new Cornish dictionary to look at
Cornish place names.
 William Borlase wrote his dictionary in the late 1700s and Oliver Padel wrote his about 200 years later, in 1988.
 People often try to work out the meanings behind place names – this will be your task!

 In the late 1700s William Borlase wrote a dictionary which included a list of Cornish place names.
 In your groups, have a look at the extracts with your magnifying glasses.
 How many names do you recognise?
 How many meanings can you spot?

 Match the modern day spellings of the place names to Borlase’s.
 Then match them both to Borlase’s definitions.
 If you’re struggling with the meanings, Padel’s dictionary will help you.
 BEWARE: the meanings in Padel and Borlase’s dictionaries differ so you can only use them as a guide.
 Thinking point: Why might the meanings differ?

= Portreath: the cove of the sandy beach
= Penhale: Head of the River, or Moor
= Penryn: Head or edge of the promontory
= Pendennis: Head of the fortification

= Polgooth: old pool /the goose pool
=Liskeard: a court or town hall for trade
=Penzance:
Holy head
= Marazion: the Jew’s market

 Using your maps and Padel’s dictionary, complete the worksheets in front of you in your groups.
 Did you spot any other Cornish names?
 Did any parts of words keep cropping up?
 E.g. ‘By Tre Pol and Pen shall ye know all
Cornishmen!’

 You can learn parts of a language through place names (e.g. Tre means homestead).
 However, because place names often date before written records, people have differing opinions on what they mean.
 Thinking Point: is it easier to find
Cornish place names in the West or the
East of the county? Why might this be?