New website for Cornish language

Between 300 and 400 people are though to speak fluent Cornish

A new website has been launched to promote the Cornish language.

The site, Maga Kernow, will act as a portal for information about Cornish, recognised in 2002 under a EU Charter.

The site, which is run by the Cornish Language Partnership (CLP), will include music, film and interactive learning resources as well as news.

Jenefer Lowe, from Cornwall County Council, said she hoped it would "provide a really vibrant... presence for Cornish on the internet".

The site includes topical phrases, which users can hear as well as read and text can also be submitted for translation.

It also links to other Cornish language sites and sites run by members of the CLP.

Cornish, or Kernewek, is the sister language of Welsh and Breton, but it almost died out in the late 19th Century.

However, interest in the language later increased and in 2002 it was formally recognised under Part II of the Council of Europe's Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

The number of people who speak fluent Cornish is thought to be between 300 and 400 with estimates of more than 5,000 people having some knowledge of the language.