| In France, minority languages are rare. Alsatian and Corsican,
despite their undeniable particularities, are still intimately connected
with the bordering languages of German and Italian. Just like Basque,
Breton owes nothing to no one.
It is thought that Breton first appeared in the 5th century, brought
to the mainland by the immigrants from the British Isles. It took precedence
over the Gallic language, but the two languages may have been distant
cousins. The discovery of Gallic inscriptions, may be proof that Continental
Celtic and Ancient Breton may have come from the same language family,
" ...From the same branch of old Celtic, quite distinct from Gaelic"
(quotation: Dictionnaire du Patrimoine Breton- Éditions Apogée - 2000).
"Original " Breton, close to Breton from the " island" of "saints and
kings ", was spoken from the 5th to the 13th centuries. It was used in
the West, on the line from Dol (Ille-et-Vilaine) to Donges (Loire-Atlantique).
Toward the East, Latin took over and the language disappeared.
From the 13th to 16th centuries, it was the vernacular language of the
Duchy. Yet the area in which it was spoken began to shrink to the area
between Saint-Nazaire and Saint-Brieuc; the limits of Lower Brittany.
It is interesting to note the great interest that clergyman showed for
the Breton language. Many works, one of which the Catholicon dictionary
(1499) Breton/French/Latin, were used by clergymen in their daily work.
The Revolutionary printing office published national decrees in the two
languages as of 1789. The Convention did not have the means to apply its
theory that "federalism and superstition speak low Breton" , " … stomp
out patois and … universalize the use of the French language" (Abbey Grégoire).
Under the 1st Republic, Breton shrank back from the mouth of the Vilaine
to Plouha (Côtes d'Armor). A small pocket of Breton speakers remained
in Guérande and Batz/Mer up until the 50s (Loire Atlantique). Jules Ferry,
and especially the 3rd Republic forbid the use of Breton in public schools,
with parental approval. The Church was the last official body to use the
language up until the Second World War.
At the beginning of the 20th century, 3/4 of the Lower Breton population
spoke Breton only, 750,000 of them did not speak a word of French (total
population 1.5 million). Today, there are no more Breton-only speakers,
but there are 240,000 bilingual Bretons.
In 1999, France signed the European Charter for Minority Languages proposed
by the European Council in 1992... but France has been a little slow to
give its ratification.
Pirmil 2001
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France :