Breton
[aka Brezhoneg,]Classification: Indo-European
·at risk
Language metadata
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Brezhoneg |
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Indo-European, Celtic, Brythonic |
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ISO 639-3 |
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bre |
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As csv |
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Language information by source
Information from: “Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)” . M. Paul Lewis · SIL International
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At risk
20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
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500,045
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There are 500,000 speakers in France (1989 International Committee for the Defense of the Breton Language). There are "1,200,000 [speakers who] know Breton [but] who do not regularly use it."
- PLACES
- USA; France;
Information from: “The World Atlas of Language Structures” . Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer · Oxford University Press
Information from: “Breizheire” .
- LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS
"Monolingual and bilingual private schools (Diwan, Dihun, Divyezh) now offer classes in Breton for either full or part time. Some public schools in Brittany also offer Breton as an optional foreign language class."
Information from: “Language, Culture and Identity in Brittany: The Sociolinguistics of Breton” (712-752 ch. 15) . Timm, Lenora A. (2009) , Ball, Martin J. and Nicole Müller · Routledge
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Endangered
60 percent certain, based on the evidence available
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257,000
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INSEE survey: 257,000 Breton adults report using Breton sometimes to converse with intimates; 111,600 report using English in such situations.
- DATE OF INFO
- 1999
- TRANSMISSION
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- LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS
Institutions offering support: Office de la Langue Breton (Ofis ar Brezhoneg); Institut Culturel de la Bretagne (ICB); The International Committee for the Defence of the Breton Language; The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML).
> 11,000 students receive up to half of their instruction in Breton (< 2% of school-age population of Brittany)
Information from: “Teaching languages for a multilingual Europe – minority schools as examples of best practice? The Breton experience of Diwan” . Vetter, Eva (2020) De Gruyter Mouton
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13% of the inhabitants of Lower Brittany speak Breton, which comes to under 200,000 speakers. Most are over 60.
- LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS
Some limited Breton is taught in French schools. Diwan schools were founded in the late 1970s and teach elementary levels through Breton total immersion and teach primary and secondary levels bilingually with Breton and French. Since the 1980s there have been state options for bilingual education, including Breton. Catholic Dihun schools also teach Breton.