| Also Known As: Brezhoneg,Breton
Description:
The Breton language (Brezhoneg) is a Celtic language spoken by the Breton people of Brittany (Breizh/Bretagne) in France.
Breton is descended from the Brythonic branch of Insular Celtic languages brought by Romano-British and other Brythons to Armorica, perhaps from the end of the 3rd century onwards. The modern-day language most closely related to Breton is Cornish, followed by Welsh. (The other regional language of Brittany, Gallo, is a Langue d'oïl derived from Latin.)
Breton is spoken in Lower Brittany, roughly to the west of a line linking Plouha and La Roche-Bernard (east of Vannes). It comes from a Celtic language community (see image) between Great Britain and Armorica (present-day Brittany), and even Galicia. It was the language of the elite until the 12th century. However, afterwards it was only the language of the people of West Brittany (Breizh Izel), and the nobility, then successively the bourgeoisie, adopted French. As a written language, the Duchy of Brittany used Latin, switching to French in the 15th century. There exists a limited tradition of Breton literature. Old Breton has left some vocabulary which has served in the present day to produce philosophical and..... full article at Wikipedia |