Breton belongs to the Celtic branch of Indo-European languages.
- It is part of the Brittonic (also called Brythonic) sub-group, which includes Welsh and Cornish, as well as the extinct Cumbric.
- Breton is spoken in the West Brittany region of France.
It was spoken by the upper classes until the 12th century.
- After this point, it became the language of the ‘common people’.
A huge factor in the demise of Breton is the French government’s policies favoring the use of a single national language over minority languages spoken in the country.
- Until the 1960s, teachers discouraged the use of Breton among pupils through humiliation and punishment.
- From about 1880 to the middle of the 20th century, the language was banned from French schools.
- Breton is the only surviving Celtic language not recognized on a national level as an official or minority language.
Only approximately 200,000 people speak Breton today.
- This is a sharp decline from over 1 million speakers in 1950.
- The majority are over 60 years old.
- Only about 35,000 use it as an everyday language.
Here is an example of someone speaking in Breton:
See this page for Breton language resources.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breton_language
Polyglot in Progress 