Breton language

Breton
Breton
Brezhoneg
Native to	France
Region	Brittany
Native speakers	206,000 (2007)
Language family	Indo-European Celtic Insular Celtic Brythonic Breton; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-1	br
ISO 639-2	bre
ISO 639-3	Variously:; bre – Modern Breton; xbm – Middle Breton; obt – Old Breton
Linguist List	xbm Middle Breton
	obt Old Breton
ELP	Breton
Linguasphere	50-ABB-b (varieties: 50-ABB-ba to -be)

Breton (Brezhoneg, in Breton) is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany, in the north-west of France. Breton is closely related to the Cornish language of Cornwall spoken in south-west Great Britain. It is less closely related to Welsh and even less to the Goidelic languages of Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. Breton has about 240,000 speakers,^[2]¹¹¹ but that number is falling very quickly because the government of France has a policy of using French. As such, Breton is considered to be an endangered language.

Example

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Breton:
Dieub ha par en o dellezegezh hag o gwirioù eo ganet an holl dud. Poell ha skiant zo dezho ha dleout a reont bevañ an eil gant egile en ur spered a genvreudeuriezh.^[3]

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.^[4]

References

↑ Fañch Broudic, 2009. Parler breton au XXIe siècle – Le nouveau sondage de TMO-Régions. (including data from 2007: 172,000 speakers in Lower Brittany; slightly under 200,000 in whole Brittany; 206,000 including students in bilingual education)
↑ O'Reilly, Camille (2001). Language, Ethnicity and the State: Minority languages in the European Union, Volume 1. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 033392925X. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
↑ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
↑ "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". United Nations.

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[Broudic2009-1] Fañch Broudic, 2009. Parler breton au XXIe siècle – Le nouveau sondage de TMO-Régions. (including data from 2007: 172,000 speakers in Lower Brittany; slightly under 200,000 in whole Brittany; 206,000 including students in bilingual education)

[2] O'Reilly, Camille (2001). Language, Ethnicity and the State: Minority languages in the European Union, Volume 1. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 033392925X. Retrieved 31 March 2011.

[3] "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

[4] "Universal Declaration of Human Rights". United Nations.

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