Alan Stivell
The western part of Brittany has its own language – Breton. It is a Celtic language quite closely related to Welsh and Cornish, and was probably brought over to Brittany from the British Isles around 500AD by people who re-settled the region after the collapse of the Roman empire.
The Heyday of Breton
The Breton language prospered throughout the middle ages and over the course of time acquired very distinct regional variations, so that there was a version of Breton spoken around Vannes, another in the Quimper region, and another in the Morlaix region, etc. Furthermore, there were turns of phrase, and way of saying things, that were particular to each parish, or even to particular villages. One of the distinguishing features of Breton was that it was intimately connected to the life that people led, so that round the coast it revolved around fishing and the sea, whilst inland it was a language of farming and country crafts.
The Suppression
Brittany effectively lost its independence in the early 1500s and from that time onwards the existence of a Breton-speaking community was seen as a nuisance, and potential threat, by the people in charge. Official antipathy to Breton was increased after the French Revolution, and in the nineteenth century an organised programme was put in place to teach Breton children to read and write French in schools. The Breton language withstood this onslaught for as long as the lifestyle that had given rise to it survived – this was the case particularly in the centre, where small-scale farms remained at the heart of local life right up until the 1960s. The Breton language did, however, start to disappear from the beginning of the Twentieth century in the administrative centres such as Vannes, Morlaix, Brest, and Quimper, where significant numbers of people were working for the government, and were required to speak French.
The common agricultural policy, introduced in the aftermath of World War 2, brought about the final demise of traditional Breton farming: small farms were amalgamated to make modern farming units, and large numbers of young Bretons left the countryside to work in the towns, where there was no opportunity to speak Breton.
Breton Today
There is still a small native population of Breton speakers, but they are predominantly farmers from the post-war era, and most of them are now in their late seventies or eighties, which effectively means that the language is dieing out.
There has been an endeavour to maintain the Breton language independently from the rural lifestyle that created and nurtured it. Over the past fifty or sixty years a ‘unified’ version has been agreed which has a standard grammar, standardised spelling, and a standard vocabulary. It does not have any of the local variations which were an integral part of the culture of the original language. It is now taught in schools, and used in bi-lingual signposting across Brittany, but it is not a language spoken in the workplace, and, perhaps even more significantly, it is not a language spoken in the countryside by farmers or at local markets. It tends to be most popular in towns and cities, where many people, dissatisfied with the current state of affairs are seeking to rediscover a Breton identity.
Speaking Breton
In the centre of Brittany there are still bars in the small villages where some of the original Breton dialects are still spoken. If you have a reasonable ear for languages, it is possible to speak phrases of the unified Breton, and for the people there will fill you in on the local equivalent.
To get started, CBJ Online Breton Course
- Lesson 1: Greetings Part 1
- Lesson 2: Greetings Part 2
- Lesson 3: In the Cafe
- Lesson 4: Conversation Part 1
- Lesson 5: Conversation Part 2, Do You Speak Breton?
- Lesson 6: Place names
- Lesson 7: Days of the Week
- Lesson 8: Numbers
Please add comments below about any extra lessons that you would like to see added:
In think this analysis of the Breton language is biased and disconnected from the reality of the language .
“There has been an endeavor to maintain the Breton language independently from the rural lifestyle that created and nurtured it.”
The 19th and early 20th century rural lifestyle certainly maintained and brought some sort of evolution to the language but it certainly did not create it! Along with the rural language there has always been a literary form to the Breton language from the 8th century (Leyden Manuscript) to poetry and plays even an operetta in the 18th century up to a modern literature after the end of the 19th century.
«Over the past fifty or sixty years a ‘unified’ version has been agreed which has a standard grammar, standardized spelling, and a standard vocabulary.»
Sorry, there is no such thing as a «unified» version of Breton; as there is no such thing as a French Academy for the Breton language! The Breton language was one of the first European languages to adopt a written form along with welsh and Irish, and like any other European language (like English French or German ) had a kind of «standard form» which went along with local dialects. The first dictionary was written in the 15th century and grammars and teaching books have been very common since the 17th century…. Now it is true that a standard spelling was adopted over the past sixty years but what would a ‘standard vocabulary’ mean? The vocabulary is just having an evolution, as nowadays you are more likely to use words such as «computer» rather than «scythe».
“It does not have any of the local variations which were an integral part of the culture of the original language.”
The language of the rural areas in 19th century was different from the language of the 20th century as new dialect forms appeared when the language became use in local circles only, French being used with strangers. This trend has changed again as speakers live now in different parts of Brittany, they also hear it on TV and Radio so it is quite natural that the accent would get more standardized.
“It is now taught in schools, and used in bi-lingual signposting across Brittany, but it is not a language spoken in the workplace, and, perhaps even more significantly, it is not a language spoken in the countryside by farmers or at local markets. ”
Now it is true that most of the younger generation acquired Breton as a second language. As such a lot of speakers have now developed some sort French accent that the native speakers had not!
Now you are right cities are the place were most of the people live and were Breton speakers communities can exist today.