Breton language: Difference between revisions
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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox language Breton (Template:IPAc-en, Template:Respell, Template:IPA; Template:Langx Template:IPA<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> or Template:IPA in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language group spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albeit as a member of the insular branch instead of the extinct continental grouping.<ref>Diamond, Jared (2012) The World Until Yesterday New York: Viking. p.399. Template:Isbn</ref>
Breton was brought from Great Britain to Armorica (the ancient name for the coastal region that includes the Brittany peninsula) by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages, making it an Insular Celtic language. Breton is most closely related to Cornish, another Southwestern Brittonic language.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Welsh and the extinct Cumbric, both Western Brittonic languages, are more distantly related, and the Goidelic languages (Irish, Manx, Scottish Gaelic) have a slight connection due to both of their origins being from Insular Celtic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Having declined from more than one million speakers around 1950 to about 200,000 in the first decade of the 21st century, Breton is classified as "severely endangered" by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.<ref name="cite UNESCO Atlas">Template:Cite UNESCO Atlas</ref> However, the number of children attending bilingual classes rose 33% between 2006 and 2012 to 14,709.<ref name="Broudic2009" /><ref name="ofis-stats" />
History and status
[edit]Breton is spoken in Lower Brittany (Template:Langx), roughly to the west of a line linking Plouha (west of Saint-Brieuc) and La Roche-Bernard (east of Vannes). It comes from a Brittonic language community that once extended from Great Britain to Armorica (present-day Brittany) and had even established a toehold in Galicia (in present-day Spain). Old Breton is attested from the 9th century.<ref>Benjamin W. Fortson IV, Indo European Language and Culture, chapter 14 paragraph 63.</ref> It was the language of the upper classes until the 12th century, after which it became the language of commoners in Lower Brittany. The nobility, followed by the bourgeoisie, adopted French. The written language of the Duchy of Brittany was Latin, switching to French in the 15th century. There exists a limited tradition of Breton literature. Some philosophical and scientific terms in Modern Breton come from Old Breton. The recognized stages of the Breton language are: Old Breton – Template:Circa to Template:Circa, Middle Breton – Template:Circa to Template:Circa, Modern Breton – Template:Circa to present.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The French monarchy was not concerned with the minority languages of France, spoken by the lower classes, and required the use of French for government business as part of its policy of national unity. During the French Revolution, the government introduced policies favouring French over the regional languages, which it pejoratively referred to as Template:Lang. The revolutionaries assumed that reactionary and monarchist forces preferred regional languages to try to keep the peasant masses under-informed. In 1794, Bertrand Barère submitted his "report on the Template:Lang" to the Committee of Public Safety in which he said that "federalism and superstition speak Breton".<ref name="breizh"/>
Since the 19th century, under the Third, Fourth and now Fifth Republics, the French government has attempted to stamp out minority languages—including Breton—in state schools, in an effort to build a national culture. Teachers humiliated students for using their regional languages, and such practices prevailed until the late 1960s.<ref name="breizh">Template:Cite web</ref>
In the early 21st century, due to the political centralization of France, the influence of the media, and the increasing mobility of people, only about 200,000 people are active speakers of Breton, a dramatic decline from more than 1 million in 1950. The majority of today's speakers are more than 60 years old, and Breton is now classified as an endangered language.<ref name="Broudic2009" />
At the beginning of the 20th century, half of the population of Lower Brittany knew only Breton; the other half were bilingual. By 1950, there were only 100,000 monolingual Bretons, and this rapid decline has continued, with likely no monolingual speakers left today. A statistical survey in 1997 found around 300,000 speakers in Lower Brittany, of whom about 190,000 were aged 60 or older. Few 15- to 19-year-olds spoke Breton.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1993, parents were finally legally allowed to give their children Breton names.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Revival efforts
[edit]
In 1925, Professor Roparz Hemon founded the Breton-language review Template:Lang. During its 19-year run, Template:Lang tried to raise the language to the level of a great international language.<ref>Francis Favereau, "Anthologie de la littérature bretonne au XXe siècle : 1919–1944", "Tome 2 : Breiz Atao et les autres en littérature", Skol Vreizh, 2003, Template:ISBN.</ref> Its publication encouraged the creation of original literature in all genres, and proposed Breton translations of internationally recognized foreign works. In 1946, Template:Lang replaced Template:Lang. Other Breton-language periodicals have been published, which established a fairly large body of literature for a minority language.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1977, Diwan schools were founded to teach Breton by immersion. Since their establishment, Diwan schools have provided fully immersive primary school and partially immersive secondary school instruction in Breton for thousands of students across Brittany. This has directly contributed to the growing numbers of school-age speakers of Breton.
The Asterix comic series has been translated into Breton. According to the comic, the Gaulish village where Asterix lives is in the Armorica peninsula, which is now Brittany. Some other popular comics have also been translated into Breton, including The Adventures of Tintin, Template:Lang, Titeuf, Hägar the Horrible, Peanuts and Yakari.
Some original media are created in Breton. The sitcom, Template:Lang, is in Breton.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal Pdf.</ref> Radio Kerne, broadcasting from Finistère, has exclusively Breton programming. Some movies (Lancelot du Lac, Shakespeare in Love, Marion du Faouet, Sezneg) and TV series (Columbo, Perry Mason) have also been translated and broadcast in Breton. Poets, singers, linguists, and writers who have written in Breton, including Yann-Ber Kallocʼh, Roparz Hemon, Añjela Duval, Xavier de Langlais, Pêr-Jakez Helias, Youenn Gwernig, Glenmor, Vefa de Saint-Pierre and Alan Stivell are now known internationally.
Today, Breton is the only living Celtic language that is not recognized by a national government as an official or regional language.
The first Breton dictionary, the Catholicon, was also the first French dictionary. Edited by Jehan Lagadec in 1464,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> it was a trilingual work containing Breton, French and Latin. Today bilingual dictionaries have been published for Breton and languages including English, Dutch, German, Spanish and Welsh. A monolingual dictionary, Template:Lang was published in 1995. The first edition contained about 10,000 words, and the second edition of 2001 contains 20,000 words.
In the early 21st century, the Template:Lang ("Public Office for the Breton language") began a campaign to encourage daily use of Breton in the region by both businesses and local communes. Efforts include installing bilingual signs and posters for regional events, as well as encouraging the use of the Spilhennig to let speakers identify each other. The office also started an Internationalization and localization policy asking Google, Firefox<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and SPIP to develop their interfaces in Breton. In 2004, the Breton Wikipedia started, which counts more than 85,000 articles as of August 2024. In March 2007, the Template:Lang signed a tripartite agreement with Regional Council of Brittany and Microsoft<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> for the consideration of the Breton language in Microsoft products. In October 2014, Facebook added Breton as one of its 121 languages<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> after three years of talks between the Template:Lang and Facebook.
France has twice chosen to enter the Eurovision Song Contest with songs in Breton; once in 1996 in Oslo with "Template:Lang" by Dan Ar Braz and the fifty piece band Héritage des Celtes, and most recently in 2022 in Turin with "Template:Lang" by Alvan Morvan Rosius and vocal trio Ahez. These are two of five times France has chosen songs in one of its minority languages for the contest, the others being in 1992 (bilingual French and Antillean Creole), 1993 (bilingual French and Corsican), and 2011 (Corsican).
Geographic distribution and dialects
[edit]
Breton is spoken mainly in Lower Brittany, but also in a more dispersed way in Upper Brittany (where it is spoken alongside Gallo and French), and in areas around the world that have Breton emigrants.
The four traditional dialects of Breton correspond to medieval bishoprics rather than to linguistic divisions. They are Template:Lang (Template:Lang, of the county of Léon), Template:Lang (Template:Lang, of Trégor), Template:Lang (Template:Lang, of Template:Lang), and Template:Lang (Template:Lang, of Vannes).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Template:Lang was spoken up to the beginning of the 20th century in the region of Guérande and Batz-sur-Mer. There are no clear boundaries between the dialects because they form a dialect continuum, varying only slightly from one village to the next.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:Lang, however, requires a little study to be intelligible with most of the other dialects.<ref name=kergoat>Kergoat, Lukian. "Breton Dialects" in Celtic Culture, pp. 250 ff. ABC-CLIO (Sta. Barbara), 2006.</ref>
| Region | Population | Number of speakers | Percentage of speakers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basse Bretagne | 1,300,000 | 185,000 | 14.2% |
| Centre Ouest Bretagne | 112,000 | 20,000 | 20% |
| Trégor-Goelo | 127,000 | 25,000 | 20% |
| Pays de Brest | 370,000 | 40,000 | 11% |
| Pays de Cornouaille | 320,000 | 35,000 | 11.5% |
| Pays de Lorient | 212,000 | 15,000 | 7.3% |
| Pays de Vannes | 195,000 | 11,000 | 5.5% |
| Pays de Guingamp | 76,000 | 12,000 | 17% |
| Pays de Morlaix | 126,000 | 15,000 | 12% |
| Pays de St Brieuc | 191,000 | 5,000 | 3% |
| Pays de Pontivy | 85,000 | 6,500 | 8% |
| Pays d'Auray | 85,000 | 6,500 | 7.6% |
| Haute Bretagne | 1,900,000 | 20,000 | 2% |
| Pays de Rennes | 450,000 | 7,000 | 1.5% |
| Loire-Atlantique | 1,300,000 | ||
| Pays de Nantes | 580,000 | 4,000 | 0.8% |
| TOTAL | 4,560,000 | 216,000 | 4.6% |
Official status
[edit]
Nation
[edit]French is the sole official language of France. Supporters of Breton and other minority languages continue to argue for their recognition, and for their place in education, public schools, and public life.<ref name="Hoopes">Template:Cite news</ref>
Constitution
[edit]In July 2008, the legislature amended the French Constitution, adding article 75-1: Template:Lang (the regional languages belong to the heritage of France).
The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, which obliges signatory states to recognize minority and regional languages, was signed by France in 1999 but has not been ratified. On 27 October 2015, the Senate rejected a draft constitutional law ratifying the charter.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Region
[edit]Regional and departmental authorities use Breton to a very limited extent. Some bilingual signage has also been installed, such as street name signs in Breton towns.
Under the French law known as Toubon, it is illegal for commercial signage to be in Breton alone. Signs must be bilingual or French only. Since commercial signage usually has limited physical space, most businesses have signs only in French.Template:Citation needed
Template:Lang, the Breton language agency, was set up in 1999 by the Brittany region to promote and develop the daily use of Breton.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It helped to create the Template:Lang campaign, to encourage enterprises, organisations and communes to promote the use of Breton, for example by installing bilingual signage or translating their websites into Breton.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Education
[edit]
In the late 20th century, the French government considered incorporating the independent Breton-language immersion schools (called Template:Lang) into the state education system. This action was blocked by the French Constitutional Council based on the 1994 amendment to the Constitution that establishes French as the language of the republic. Therefore, no other language may be used as a language of instruction in state schools. The Toubon Law implemented the amendment, asserting that French is the language of public education.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>
The Diwan schools were founded in Brittany in 1977 to teach Breton by immersion. Since their establishment, Diwan schools have provided fully immersive primary school and partially immersive secondary school instruction in Breton for thousands of students across Brittany. This has directly contributed to the growing numbers of school-age speakers of Breton. The schools have also gained fame from their high level of results in school exams, including those on French language and literature.<ref>Template:In lang Diwan FAQ, #6.</ref> Breton-language schools do not receive funding from the national government, though the Brittany Region may fund them.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Another teaching method is a bilingual approach by Template:Lang<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> ("Two Languages") in the State schools, created in 1979. Template:Lang<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> ("Awakening") was created in 1990 for bilingual education in the Catholic schools.
Statistics
[edit]In 2018, 18,337<ref name="ofis-stats" /> pupils (about 2% of all students in Brittany) attended Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang schools, and their number has increased yearly. This was short of the goal of Jean-Yves Le Drian (president of the Regional Council), who aimed to have 20,000 students in bilingual schools by 2010, and of "their recognition" for "their place in education, public schools, and public life"; nevertheless he describes being encouraged by the growth of the movement.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2007, some 4,500 to 5,000 adults followed an evening or correspondence one Breton-language course.Template:Vague The transmissionTemplate:Vague of Breton in 1999 was estimated to be 3 percent.<ref name="ofis-stats" />
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Municipalities
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Other forms of education
[edit]In addition to bilingual education (including Breton-medium education) the region has introduced the Breton language in primary education, mainly in the department of Finistère. These "initiation" sessions are generally one to three hours per week, and consist of songs and games.
Schools in secondary education (Template:Lang and Template:Lang) offer some courses in Breton. In 2010, nearly 5,000 students in Brittany were reported to be taking this option.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, the University of Rennes 2 has a Breton language department offering courses in the language along with a master's degree in Breton and Celtic Studies.
Phonology
[edit]Vowels
[edit]Vowels in Breton may be short or long. All unstressed vowels are short; stressed vowels can be short or long (vowel lengths are not noted in usual orthographies as they are implicit in the phonology of particular dialects, and not all dialects pronounce stressed vowels as long). An emergence of a schwa sound occurs as a result of vowel neutralization in post-tonic position, among different dialects.
All vowels can also be nasalized,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> which is noted by appending an 'n' letter after the base vowel, or by adding a combining tilde above the vowel (most commonly and easily done for a and o due to the Portuguese letters), or more commonly by non-ambiguously appending an Template:Angle bracket letter after the base vowel (this depends on the orthographic variant).
| Front | Central | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | ||
| Close | i Template:IPAslink | u Template:IPAslink | ou Template:IPAslink | ||
| Close-mid | e Template:IPAslink | eu Template:IPAslink | o Template:IPAslink | ||
| Open-mid | e Template:IPAslink | eu Template:IPAslink | o Template:IPAslink | ||
| Open | a Template:IPAslink | a Template:IPAslink | |||
Diphthongs are Template:IPA.
Consonants
[edit]- The pronunciation of the letter Template:Angbr varies nowadays: Template:IPA is used in the French-influenced standard language and, generally speaking, in the central parts of Lower Brittany (including the south of Trégor, the west of Vannetais and virtually all parts of Cornouaille) whereas Template:IPA is the common realisation in Léon and often in the Haut-Vannetais dialect of central Morbihan (in and around the city of Vannes and the Pays de Pontivy), though in rapid speech mostly a tapped Template:IPA occurs. In the other regions of Trégor Template:IPA or even Template:IPA may be found.
- The voiced dental fricative (Template:IPAslink) is a conservative realisation of the lenition (or the "spirant mutation" in cases where the phenomenon originates from the mutation of Template:IPA, respectively) of the consonants Template:IPA and Template:IPA which is to be found in certain varieties of Haut-Vannetais. Most of the Breton dialects do not inherit the sound and thus it is mostly not orthographically fixed. The Peurunvan, for instance, uses Template:Angbr for both mutations, which are regularly and more prominently pronounced Template:IPA in Léonais, Cornouaillais, Trégorrois and Bas-Vannetais. In traditional literature written in the Vannetais dialect, two different graphemes are employed for representing the dental fricative, depending on the scripture's historical period. There once was a time when Template:Angbr was used to transcribe the sound, but today mostly the regular Template:Angbr is instead used, and this practice can be traced back to at least the end of the 17th century.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The area this phenomenon has been found to be evident in encompasses the towns of Pontivy and Baud and surrounding smaller villages like Cléguérec, Noyal-Pontivy, Pluméliau, St. Allouestre, St. Barthélemy, Pluvigner and also parts of Belle-Île. The only known place where the mutation occurs outside of the Vannes country is the Île de Sein, an island located off Finistère's coast. Some scholars also used Template:IPA as the symbol for the sound to indicate that it was rather an "infra-dental" consonant than a clear interdental, which is the sound the symbol Template:IPA is usually describes. Other linguists, however, did not draw that distinction, either because they identified the sound to actually be an interdental fricative (such as Roparz Hemon in his phonetic transcription of the dialect used in Pluméliau or Joseph Loth in his material about the dialect of Sauzon in Belle-Île) or due to the fact that they attached no importance to it and ascertained that their descriptions were not in need of a further clarification of the sound's phonetic realisation as it was a clearly distinguishable phoneme.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
- The digraph zh represents a variable sound that may exhibit as Template:IPA, Template:IPA, or Template:IPA, and descends from a now-extinct sound Template:IPA, which is still extant in Welsh as th.
Grammar
[edit]Nouns
[edit]Breton nouns are marked for gender and number. While Breton gender is fairly typical of gender systems across western Europe (with the exception of Basque and modern English), Breton number markers demonstrate rarer behaviors.
Gender
[edit]Breton has two genders: masculine (Template:Lang) and feminine (Template:Lang), having largely lost its historic neuter (Template:Lang) as has also occurred in the other Celtic languages as well as across the Romance languages. Certain suffixes (-ach/-aj,<ref name=BallGender/> -(a)dur,<ref name=BallGender/> -er, -lecʼh, -our, -ti, -va<ref name="Stephens"/>) are masculine, while others (-enti, -er, -ez, -ezh, -ezon, -i, -eg, -ell, and the singulative -enn) are feminine.<ref name="Stephens">Template:Cite book</ref> The suffix -eg can be masculine or feminine.<ref name=BallGender/>
There are certain non-determinant factors that influence gender assignment. Biological sex is applied for animate referents. Metals, time divisions (except for Template:Lang "hour", Template:Lang "night" and Template:Lang "week") and mountains tend to be masculine, while rivers, cities and countries tend to be feminine.<ref name=BallGender>Template:Cite book</ref>
However, gender assignment to certain words often varies between dialects.<ref name=BallGender/>
Number
[edit]Number in Breton is primarily based on an opposition between singular and plural.<ref name=BallNumber>Template:Cite book</ref> However, the system is full of complexities<ref name=Fortson/> in how this distinction is realized.
Although modern Breton has lost its ancestral dual number marker, relics of its use are preserved in various nouns pertaining to body parts, including the words for eyes, ears, cheeks, legs, armpits, arms, hands, knees, thighs, and wings. This is seen in a prefix (formed in Template:Lang, Template:Lang or Template:Lang) that is etymologically derived from the prefixation of the number two.<ref name=BallNumber/><ref name=Fortson/> The dual is no longer productive, and has merely been lexicalized in these cases rather than remaining a part of Breton grammar. The (etymologically) already dual words for eyes (Template:Lang) and ears (Template:Lang) can be pluralized "again" to form Template:Lang and Template:Lang.<ref name=BallNumber/><ref name=Stephens/>
Like other Brythonic languages, Breton has a singulative suffix that is used to form singulars out of collective nouns, for which the morphologically less complex form is the plural. Thus, the singulative of the collective Template:Lang "mice" is Template:Lang "mouse".<ref name=BallNumber/> However, Breton goes beyond Welsh in the complications of this system. Collectives can be pluralized to make forms which are different in meaning from the normal collective-- Template:Lang "fish" (singular) is pluralized to Template:Lang, singulativized to Template:Lang, referring to a single fish out of a school of fish, and this singulative of the plural can then be pluralized again to make Template:Lang "fishes".<ref name=Fortson/>
On top of this, the formation of plurals is complicated by two different pluralizing functions. The "default" plural formation is contrasted with another formation which is said to "emphasize variety or diversity" – thus two semantically different plurals can be formed out of Template:Lang: Template:Lang "parks" and Template:Lang "various different parks".<ref name=Fortson/> Ball reports that the latter pluralizer is used only for inanimate nouns.<ref name=BallNumber/> Certain formations have been lexicalized to have meanings other than that which might be predicted solely from the morphology: Template:Lang "water" pluralized forms Template:Lang which means not "waters" but instead "rivers", while Template:Lang now has come to mean "running waters after a storm". Certain forms have lost the singular from their paradigm: Template:Lang means "news" and Template:Lang is not used, while Template:Lang has become the regular plural,<ref name=BallNumber/> 'different news items'.
Meanwhile, certain nouns can form doubly marked plurals with lexicalized meanings – Template:Lang "child" is pluralized once into Template:Lang "children" and then pluralized a second time to make Template:Lang "groups of children".<ref name=Fortson/>
The diminutive suffix Template:Lang also has the somewhat unusual property of triggering double marking of the plural: Template:Lang means "little child", but the doubly pluralized Template:Lang means "little children"; Template:Lang boat has a singular diminutive Template:Lang and a simple plural Template:Lang, thus its diminutive plural is the doubly pluralized Template:Lang.<ref name=Fortson/><ref name=BallNumber/>
As seen elsewhere in many Celtic languages, the formation of the plural can be hard to predict, being determined by a mix of semantic, morphological and lexical factors.
The most common plural marker is Template:Lang, with its variant Template:Lang;<ref name=BallNumber/> most nouns that use this marker are inanimates but collectives of both inanimate and animate nouns always use it as well.<ref name=BallNumber/>
Most animate nouns, including trees, take a plural in Template:Lang.<ref name=BallNumber/> However, in some dialects the use of this affix has become rare. Various masculine nouns including occupations as well as the word Template:Lang ("Englishman", plural Template:Lang) take the suffix Template:Lang, with a range of variants including Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang.<ref name=BallNumber/>
The rare pluralizing suffixes Template:Lang/Template:Lang and Template:Lang are used for a few nouns. When they are appended, they also trigger a change in the vowel of the root: Template:Lang triggers a vowel harmony effect whereby some or all preceding vowels are changed to Template:Lang (Template:Lang "cousin" → Template:Lang "cousins"; Template:Lang "crow" → Template:Lang "crows"; Template:Lang "partridge" → Template:Lang "partridges"); the changes associated with Template:Lang/Template:Lang are less predictable.<ref name=BallNumber/>
Various nouns instead form their plural merely with ablaut: Template:Lang or Template:Lang in the stem being changed to Template:Lang: Template:Lang "wing" → Template:Lang "wings"; Template:Lang "tooth" → Template:Lang "teeth"; Template:Lang "rope" → Template:Lang "ropes".<ref name=BallNumber/>
Another set of nouns have lexicalized plurals that bear little if any resemblance to their singulars. These include Template:Lang "girl" → Template:Lang, Template:Lang "pig" → Template:Lang, Template:Lang "cow" → Template:Lang, and Template:Lang "dog" → Template:Lang.<ref name=BallNumber/>
In compound nouns, the head noun, which usually comes first, is pluralized.<ref name=BallNumber/>
Verbal aspect
[edit]As in other Celtic languages as well as English, a variety of verbal constructions is available to express grammatical aspect, for example: showing a distinction between progressive and habitual actions:
| Breton | Cornish | Irish | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | I am talking to my neighbour |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | I talk to my neighbour (every morning) |
Inflected prepositions
[edit]As in other modern Celtic languages, Breton pronouns are fused into preceding prepositions to produce a sort of inflected preposition. Below are some examples in Breton, Cornish, Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx, along with English translations.
| Breton | Cornish | Welsh | Irish | Scottish Gaelic | Manx | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Interlinear | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | I have a book |
| Template:Interlinear | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | you have a drink |
| Template:Interlinear | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | he has a computer |
| Template:Interlinear | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | she has a child |
| Template:Interlinear | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | we have a car |
| Template:Interlinear | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | you have a house |
| Template:Interlinear | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | they have money |
In the examples above the Goidelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx) use the preposition meaning at to show possession, whereas the Brittonic languages use with. The Goidelic languages, however, do use the preposition with to express "belong to" (Irish Template:Lang, Scottish Template:Lang, Manx Template:Lang, The book belongs to me).
The Welsh examples are in literary Welsh. The order and preposition may differ slightly in colloquial Welsh (Formal Template:Lang, North Wales Template:Lang, South Wales Template:Lang).
Initial consonant mutations
[edit]Template:Main Breton has four initial consonant mutations: though modern Breton lost the nasal mutation of Welsh (but for rare words such the word "door": "dor" "an nor"), it also has a "hard" mutation, in which voiced stops become voiceless, and a "mixed" mutation, which is a mixture of hard and soft mutations.
| Unmutated consonant |
Mutations | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hard | Mixed | Soft | Aspirant | |
| m Template:IPA | v Template:IPA | v Template:IPA | ||
| b Template:IPA | p Template:IPA | v Template:IPA | v Template:IPA | |
| p Template:IPA | b Template:IPA | f Template:IPA | ||
| g Template:IPA | k Template:IPA | cʼh Template:IPA | cʼh Template:IPA | |
| k Template:IPA | g Template:IPA | cʼh Template:IPA | ||
| d Template:IPA | t Template:IPA | t Template:IPA | z Template:IPA | |
| t Template:IPA | d Template:IPA | z Template:IPA | ||
| gw Template:IPA | kw Template:IPA | w Template:IPA | w Template:IPA | |
Word order
[edit]Template:Expand section Normal word order, like the other Insular Celtic languages, is at its core VSO (verb-subject-object), which is most apparent in embedded clauses. However, Breton finite verbs in main clauses are additionally subject to V2 word order in which the finite main clause verb is typically the second element in the sentence.<ref name="V2">Template:Cite journal</ref> That makes it perfectly possible to put the subject or the object at the beginning of the sentence, largely depending on the focus of the speaker. The following options are possible (all with a little difference in meaning):
- the first places the verbal infinitive in initial position (as in (1)), followed by the auxiliary Template:Lang 'to do'.
- the second places the Auxiliary verb Template:Lang 'to be' in initial position (as in (2)), followed the Subject, and the construction Template:Lang + infinitive. At the end comes the Object. This construction is an exception to verb-second.
- the third places the construction Template:Lang + infinitive in the initial position (as in (3)), followed by the Auxiliary verb Template:Lang, the Subject, and the Object.
- the fourth option places the Object in initial position (as in (4)), followed by an inflected verb, followed by the Subject.
- the fifth, and originally least common, places the Subject in initial position (as in (5)), followed by an inflected verb, followed by the Object, just like in English (SVO).
Vocabulary
[edit]Breton uses much more borrowed vocabulary than its relatives further north; by some estimates a full 40% of its core vocabulary consists of loans from French.<ref name=Fortson>Fortson, Benjamin W. 2005. Indo-European Language and Culture. Page 295: "Breton has also borrowed much more heavily from French throughout its history than any of the other British Celtic languages ever have from English, to the extent that two-fifths of the ordinary vocabulary is of French origin, according to some extents".</ref>
Orthography
[edit]The first extant Breton texts, contained in the Leyde manuscript, were written at the end of the 8th century: 50 years prior to the Strasbourg Oaths, considered to be the earliest example of French. Like many medieval orthographies, Old- and Middle Breton orthography was at first not standardised, and the spelling of a particular word varied at authors' discretion. In 1499, however, the Catholicon, was published; as the first dictionary written for both French and Breton, it became a point of reference on how to transcribe the language. The orthography presented in the Catholicon was largely similar to that of French, in particular with respect to the representation of vowels, as well as the use of both the Latinate digraph Template:Vr—a remnant of the sound change Template:IPA > Template:IPA in Latin—and Brittonic Template:Vr or Template:Vr to represent Template:IPA before front vowels.
As phonetic and phonological differences between the dialects began to magnify, many regions, particularly the Vannes country, began to devise their own orthographies. Many of these orthographies were more closely related to the French model, albeit with some modifications. Examples of these modifications include the replacement of Old Breton -Template:Vr with -Template:Vr to denote word-final Template:IPA (an evolution of Old Breton Template:IPA in the Vannes dialect) and use of -Template:Vr to denote the initial mutation of Template:IPA (today this mutation is written Template:Vr).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and thus needed another transcription.
In the 1830s Jean-François Le Gonidec created a modern phonetic system for the language.
During the early years of the 20th century, a group of writers known as Template:Lang elaborated and reformed Le Gonidec's system. They made it more suitable as a super-dialectal representation of the dialects of Cornouaille, Leon and Trégor (known as from Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang in Breton). This KLT orthography was established in 1911. At the same time writers of the more divergent Vannetais dialect developed a phonetic system also based on that of Le Gonidec.
Following proposals made during the 1920s, the KLT and Vannetais orthographies were merged in 1941 to create an orthographic system to represent all four dialects. This Template:Lang ("wholly unified") orthography was significant for the inclusion of the digraph Template:Vr, which represents a Template:IPA in Vannetais and corresponds to a Template:IPA in the KLT dialects.
In 1955 François Falcʼhun and the group Template:Ill proposed a new orthography. It was designed to use a set of graphemes closer to the conventions of French. This Template:Lang ("University Orthography", known in Breton as Template:Lang) was given official recognition by the French authorities as the "official orthography of Breton in French education." It was opposed in the region and today is used only by the magazine Template:Lang and the publishing house Emgléo Breiz.
In the 1970s, a new standard orthography was devised – the Template:Lang or Template:Lang. This system is based on the derivation of the words.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Today the majority of writers continue to use the Peurunvan orthography, and it is the version taught in most Breton-language schools.
Alphabet
[edit]Breton is written in the Latin script. Peurunvan, the most commonly used orthography, consists of the following letters:
- a, b, ch, cʼh, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, v, w, y, z
The circumflex, grave accent, trema and tilde appear on some letters. These diacritics are used in the following way:
- â, ê, î, ô, û, ù, ü, ñ
Differences between Template:Lang and Template:Lang
[edit]Both orthographies use the above alphabet, although Template:Vr is used only in Template:Lang.
Differences between the two systems are particularly noticeable in word endings. In Peurunvan, final obstruents, which are devoiced in absolute final position and voiced in sandhi before voiced sounds, are represented by a grapheme that indicates a voiceless sound. In OU they are written as voiced but represented as voiceless before suffixes: Template:Lang "big", Template:Lang "bigger".
In addition, Peurunvan maintains the KLT convention, which distinguishes noun/adjective pairs by nouns written with a final voiced consonant and adjectives with a voiceless one. No distinction is made in pronunciation, e.g. Template:Lang "Breton language" vs. Template:Lang "Breton (adj)".
| Template:Lang (1975) | Template:Lang (1941) | Template:Lang (1956) | English gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | rain |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | who |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | book |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | for |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | with |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | of her |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | add |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | most beautiful |
| Template:Lang | Template:Lang | Template:Lang | where |
Pronunciation of the Breton alphabet
[edit]Notes:
- Template:Note Vocative particle: Template:Lang / Template:Lang "O Brittany".
- Template:Note Word-initially.
- Template:Note Word-finally.
- Template:Note Unwritten lenition of Template:Vr and spirantization of Template:Vr > Template:Vr Template:IPA.
- Template:Note Unstressed Template:Vr represent Template:IPA in Leoneg but Template:IPA in the other dialects. The realisations Template:IPA appear mainly before Template:Vr (also less often before Template:Vr), semivowels Template:IPA, consonant clusters beginning with Template:Vr or Template:Vr. Stressed long Template:Vr represent Template:IPA.
- Template:Note In Gwenedeg velars are palatalized before Template:Vr and Template:Vr, i.e. Template:Vr, Template:Vr, Template:Vr, Template:Vr, Template:Vr, Template:Vr, Template:Vr represent Template:IPA. In the case of word-final Template:Vr and Template:Vr palatalization to Template:IPA also occurs after Template:Vr.
- Template:Note Before a vowel other than Template:Vr the digraph Template:Vr is written instead of Template:Vr, e.g. Template:Lang "to drive", radical Template:Lang, 1PS preterite Template:Lang, 3PS preterite Template:Lang.
- Template:Note Silent in words such as Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang and Template:Lang. Always silent in Gwenedeg and Leoneg.
- Template:Note Template:Vr is realized as Template:IPA when it precedes or follows a vowel (or when between vowels), but in words such as Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang it represents Template:IPA (in orthography Template:Vr may be used: Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang).
- Template:Note Template:Vr represents Template:IPA when it follows a vowel, after a consonant it represents Template:IPA. But before a vowel other than Template:Vr, Template:Vr is written instead of Template:Vr, e.g. Template:Lang "to follow", radical Template:Lang, 1PS preterite Template:Lang, 3PS preterite Template:Lang. In some regions Template:IPA may be heard instead of Template:IPA.
- Template:Note Word-finally after a cluster of unvoiced consonants.
- Template:Note In front of Template:Vr.
- Template:Note The digraph Template:Vr is realized like Template:Vr when preceded or followed by a vowel (or when between vowels), but in words such as Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang it represents Template:IPA.
- Template:Note The digraph Template:Vr represents plural endings. Its pronunciation varies by dialect: Template:IPA rating geographically from Northwest Leon to Southeast Gwened.
- Template:Note Template:Vr usually represents Template:IPA, but word-finally (except in word-final Template:Vr) it represents Template:IPA in KLT, Template:IPA in Gwenedeg and Template:IPA in Goëlo. The pronunciation Template:IPA is retained word-finally in verbs. In words Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang it represents Template:IPA in KLT, Template:IPA in Gwenedeg and Template:IPA in Goëlo. Word-finally following Template:Vr it represents Template:IPA.
- Template:Note But silent in words such as Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, 'Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:LangTemplate:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang. Template:Vr is generally silent in Kerneweg, Tregerieg and Gwenedeg, but in Leoneg Template:Vr is always pronounced.
- Template:Note Used to distinguish words such as Template:Lang "river", Template:Lang "heir", Template:Lang "town" (also written Template:Lang) from Template:Lang "sense", Template:Lang "bold", Template:Lang "dear".
- Template:Note Used to distinguish Template:Lang "circuit/tour" from Template:Lang "foot".
- Template:Note In northern dialects (mainly in Leoneg), there is a tendency to voice Template:Vr between vowels. Template:IPA also appears as the lenition of Template:Vr and mixed mutation of Template:Vr.
- Template:Note The lenition of Template:Vr and the spirantization of Template:Vr are both represented by Template:Vr is mainly pronounced Template:IPA although in certain regions Template:IPA (especially for the spirantization of Template:Vr in Cornouaille) and Template:IPA (in some Haut-Vannetais varieties)Template:Ref also occur.
- Template:Note The pronunciation of Template:Vr varies by dialect, nowadays uvular Template:IPA (or Template:IPA) is standard; Template:IPA occurs in Leoneg, Template:IPA or Template:IPA in Tregerieg, and Template:IPA in Gwenedeg.
- Template:Note In Gwenedeg an unstressed Template:Vr often represents Template:IPA.
- Template:Note Lenited varieties of Template:Vr may appear word-initially in case of soft mutation.
- Template:Note In Leoneg Template:IPA in front of a nasal.
- Template:Note In Leoneg Template:Vr represents Template:IPA before Template:Vr.
- Template:Note In Leoneg Template:Vr represents Template:IPA or Template:IPA before Template:Vr.
- Template:Note In Leoneg Template:Vr represents Template:IPA.
- Template:Note Before a vowel.
- Template:Note Forms of the indefinite article.
- Template:Note A conservative realisation of the initial mutation of Template:Vr and Template:Vr, used in certain parts of the Vannes country.
Sample texts
[edit]Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
| Breton: Template:Lang<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
English: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |
Lord's Prayer
[edit]- Hon Tad,
- cʼhwi hag a zo en Neñv,
- ra vo santelaet hocʼh anv.
- Ra zeuio ho Rouantelezh.
- Ra vo graet ho youl war an douar evel en neñv.
- Roit dimp hiziv bara hor bevañs.
- Distaolit dimp hon dleoù
- evel m'hor bo ivez distaolet d'hon dleourion.
- Ha n'hon lezit ket da vont gant an temptadur,
- met hon dieubit eus an Droug.
Words and phrases in Breton
[edit]
Visitors to Brittany may encounter words and phrases (especially on signs and posters) such as the following:
| Breton | English |
|---|---|
| Template:Lang | welcome |
| Template:Lang | you're welcome |
| Template:Lang | Brittany |
| Template:Lang | Breton (language) |
| Template:Lang, "ty" | house |
| Template:Lang | town hall |
| Template:Lang | town centre |
| Template:Lang | all directions |
| Template:Lang | school |
| Template:Lang | university |
| Template:Lang | pipe band (nearly) |
| Template:Lang | lit. "night festival", a Template:Lang or "day festival" also exists |
| Template:Lang | goodbye |
| Template:Lang | pancakes (a pancake = Template:Lang) |
| Template:Lang | cider |
| Template:Lang | Breton mead |
| Template:Lang | Cheers! |
| Template:Lang | always at sea |
| Template:Lang | rich butter and sugar cake |
Language comparison
[edit]Borrowing from Breton by other languages
[edit]The English words Template:Lang and Template:Lang have been borrowed from French, which took them from Breton. However, this is uncertain: for instance, Template:Lang is Template:Lang or Template:Lang ("long stone"), Template:Lang ("straight stone") (two words: noun + adjective) in Breton. Dolmen is a misconstructed word (it should be Template:Lang). Some studies state<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> that these words were borrowed from Cornish. Template:Lang can be directly translated from Welsh as "long stone" (which is exactly what a Template:Lang or Template:Lang is). The Cornish surnames Mennear, Minear and Manhire all derive from the Cornish Template:Lang Template:Lang ("long stone"), as does Template:Lang "settlement by the long stone".
The French word Template:Lang ("to jabber in a foreign language") is derived from Breton Template:Lang ("bread") and Template:Lang ("wine"). The French word Template:Lang ("large seagull") is derived from Breton Template:Lang, which shares the same root as English "gull" (Welsh Template:Lang, Cornish Template:Lang).
.bzh
[edit].bzh is an approved Internet generic top-level domains intended for Brittany and the Breton culture and languages.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2023, the Breton internet extension .bzh had more than 12,000 registrations. Alongside the promotion of the .bzh internet extension, the www.bzh association promotes other services to develop Brittany's image on the web: campaign for a Breton flag emoji (File:Flag of Brittany (Gwenn ha du).svg),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and email service.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
.svg){kind=link}
See also
[edit]- Armoricani
- Gaelic revival, Irish language revival
- Julian Maunoir, 17th-century Breton language orthographer
- List of Celtic-language media
- Template:Lang an association promoting the language
References
[edit]Notes Template:Reflist
Further reading
- Overviews
- Historical development
- Hemon, Roparz. A Historical Morphology and Syntax of Breton. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1975.
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Grammars and handbooks
- Template:Cite book
- Template:Cite book
- Favereau, Francis. Grammaire du breton contemporain. Morlaix: Skol Vreizh, 1997.
- Hemon, Roparz. Breton Grammar, 3rd edn. Trans. & rev'd by Michael Everson. Westport: Evertype, 2011.
- Template:Cite book
- McKenna, Malachy. A handbook of modern spoken Breton. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1988 (repr. 2015).
- Template:Cite book (repr. 2011).
- Press, Ian & Hervé Le Bihan. Colloquial Breton: the complete course for beginners. London: Routledge, 2004 (repr. 2007, 2015).
External links
[edit]Template:Commons category Template:InterWiki Template:WikisourceWiki Template:Wikiquote Template:Wikibooks Template:Sister project Template:Wiktionary category
- Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg official website.
- Template:Citation, the public Breton TV channel.
- Template:Citation: an essay about the situation of the Breton language.
- Template:Citation
- Template:Citation: news in Breton.
- Template:Citation: Brittany information, articles about Breton.
- Template:Citation.
- Template:Citation.
Dictionaries
- English online dictionary and grammar for Breton
- A multilingual dictionary containing many Breton words alongside those of other languages
Learning
- Breton site including online lessons
- Audio CD, workbooks, software in English to learn Breton
- Breton site with learners' forum and lessons (mostly in French with some English)
- Jouitteau, M. Grammaire du breton, (extensive Breton grammar in French, with glossed examples and typological comparisons), IKER, CNRS, 2009 > 2017].
Bible
Template:Celtic languages Template:Languages of France Template:Celts Template:Languages of Europe