Breton language

1794

In 1794, Bertrand Barère submitted his "report on the patois" to the Committee of Public Safety in which he said that "federalism and superstition speak Breton". 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.

1897

Grammaire du breton, (extensive Breton grammar in French, with glossed examples and typological comparisons), IKER, CNRS, 2009 > 2017]. Bible Ar Bibl Santel (Jenkins) 1897 (JEN1897).

1925

In 1993, parents were finally legally allowed to give their children Breton names. ==Revival efforts== In 1925, Professor Roparz Hemon founded the Breton-language review Gwalarn.

1946

In 1946, Al Liamm replaced Gwalarn.

1950

Welsh and the extinct Cumbric, both Western Brittonic languages, are more distantly related. Having declined from more than 1 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.

Teachers humiliated students for using their regional languages, and such practices prevailed until the late 1960s. 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.

By 1950, there were only 100,000 monolingual Bretons, and this rapid decline has continued, with likely no monolingual speakers left today.

1960

Teachers humiliated students for using their regional languages, and such practices prevailed until the late 1960s. 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.

1977

Other Breton-language periodicals have been published, which established a fairly large body of literature for a minority language. In 1977, Diwan schools were founded to teach Breton by immersion.

The Toubon Law implemented the amendment, asserting that French is the language of public education. The Diwan schools were founded in Brittany in 1977 to teach Breton by immersion.

1979

Breton-language schools do not receive funding from the national government, though the Brittany Region may fund them. Another teaching method is a bilingual approach by Div Yezh ("Two Languages") in the State schools, created in 1979.

1990

Dihun ("Awakening") was created in 1990 for bilingual education in the Catholic schools. ===Statistics=== In 2018, 18,337 pupils (about 2.00% of all pupils in Brittany) attended Diwan, Div Yezh and Dihun schools, and their number has increased yearly.

1993

In 1993, parents were finally legally allowed to give their children Breton names. ==Revival efforts== In 1925, Professor Roparz Hemon founded the Breton-language review Gwalarn.

1994

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.

1997

A statistical survey in 1997 found around 300,000 speakers in Lower Brittany, of whom about 190,000 were aged 60 or older.

1999

Since commercial signage usually has limited physical space, most businesses have signs only in French. Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg, the Breton language agency, was set up in 1999 by the Brittany region to promote and develop the daily use of Breton.

2001

The first edition contained about 10,000 words, and the second edition of 2001 contains 20,000 words. In the early 21st century, the Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg ("Public Office for the Breton language") began a campaign to encourage daily use of Breton in the region by both businesses and local communes.

2004

In 2004, the Breton Wikipedia started, which now counts more than 65,000 articles.

2006

However, the number of children attending bilingual classes rose 33% between 2006 and 2012 to 14,709. __TOC__ ==History and status== Breton is spoken in Lower Brittany (Breizh-Izel), roughly to the west of a line linking Plouha (west of Saint-Brieuc) and La Roche-Bernard (east of Vannes).

2007

In March 2007, the Ofis ar Brezhoneg signed a tripartite agreement with Regional Council of Brittany and Microsoft for the consideration of the Breton language in Microsoft products.

The goal of Jean-Yves Le Drian (president of the Regional Council) of 20,000, and of “their recognition” for “their place in education, public schools, and public life”, by 2010, was not achieved, but he describes being encouraged by their progress. In 2007, some 4,500 to 5,000 adults followed such a Breton language course as an evening or correspondence one.

2009

Grammaire du breton, (extensive Breton grammar in French, with glossed examples and typological comparisons), IKER, CNRS, 2009 > 2017]. Bible Ar Bibl Santel (Jenkins) 1897 (JEN1897).

2010

The goal of Jean-Yves Le Drian (president of the Regional Council) of 20,000, and of “their recognition” for “their place in education, public schools, and public life”, by 2010, was not achieved, but he describes being encouraged by their progress. In 2007, some 4,500 to 5,000 adults followed such a Breton language course as an evening or correspondence one.

In 2010, nearly 5,000 students in Brittany were reported to be taking this option.

2012

However, the number of children attending bilingual classes rose 33% between 2006 and 2012 to 14,709. __TOC__ ==History and status== Breton is spoken in Lower Brittany (Breizh-Izel), roughly to the west of a line linking Plouha (west of Saint-Brieuc) and La Roche-Bernard (east of Vannes).

2014

In October 2014, Facebook added Breton as one of its 121 languages after three years of talks between the Ofis and Facebook. ==Geographic distribution and dialects== 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.

2015

On 27 October 2015, the Senate rejected a draft constitutional law ratifying the charter. ===Region=== Regional and departmental authorities use Breton to a very limited extent.

2017

Grammaire du breton, (extensive Breton grammar in French, with glossed examples and typological comparisons), IKER, CNRS, 2009 > 2017]. Bible Ar Bibl Santel (Jenkins) 1897 (JEN1897).

2018

Dihun ("Awakening") was created in 1990 for bilingual education in the Catholic schools. ===Statistics=== In 2018, 18,337 pupils (about 2.00% of all pupils in Brittany) attended Diwan, Div Yezh and Dihun schools, and their number has increased yearly.




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