# Breton/Level 1/Lesson 4

Mutations to soften ("dre vlotaat")
Initial
KGGwPBMTD
Mutation
GC’hWBVVDZ
Soft mutation happens in the following cases :
after a, da, daou, div, dindan, diwar, dre, e (possessive), eme, en em, en ur, hanter, holl, na, ne, pa, pe, re, war...
after the article for the feminine singular words and the related adjective
after the article for the masculine plural person names (except when the plural is in -où) and the related adjective
Soft Mutation will be noted (S!)
Following letters are affected:
B becomes V
D becomes Z
K becomes G
G becomes C'H
GW becomes W
P becomes B
M becomes V
T becomes D
Examples :
Breur (brother) gives Da vreur
Dant (tooth) gives Da zant
Glin (kneel) gives Da c'hlin
Mutations after the article (simplified)
This lesson does not treat of the following exceptions (the next lesson on mutations gives the corresponding rules) :
Plac'h (girl)
Dor (door)
Bag (boat), tra (thing)
Tadoù (fathers), testoù (witnesses), priedoù (husbands), mestroù (chiefs)
Here is a summary for mutations after the article :
Here is a presentation of the rules regarding the mutations after the article :
Go to the Quiz
Mutations of the adjective epithet (simplified)
This lesson does not treat of the following exceptions (the next lesson on mutations gives the corresponding rules) :
Plac'h (girl)
Dor (door)
Bag (boat), tra (thing), amzer (weather), avel (wind), c'hwezh (odour)
Labour (work)
Person names
Tadoù (fathers), testoù (witnesses), priedoù (husbands), mestroù (chiefs)
Here is a summary for mutations of the adjective epithet :
Here is a presentation of the rules regarding the mutations of the adjective epithet :
Go to the Quiz :
Mutations to harden ("dre galetaat")
Initial
BDG
Mutation
PTK
Hard mutation happens in the following cases :
Possessive "ho" (yours)
After "az, "ez", "'z" (you - sg.)
After "da'z ..." (to yours ...)
After "ez" (in yours ...)
Hard Mutation will be noted (H!)
Following letters are affected:
B becomes P
D becomes T
G becomes K
Examples :
Breur (brother) gives Ho preur
Dant (tooth) gives Ho tant
Glin (kneel) gives Ho klin :
Mixed mutations
Initial
BDGGWM
Mutation
VTC'HWV
Mixed mutation happens in the following cases :
Present participe
Formed by "o" + Verb.
After verb particle "e"
After "ma" (That)
Mixed Mutation will be noted (M!)
Following letters are affected:
B becomes V
D becomes T
G becomes C'H
GW becomes W
M becomes V
Examples :
Deskiñ (to learn) gives O teskiñ
Gortoz (to wait) gives O c'hortoz :
Spirant mutations
Initial
PTK
Mutation
FZC'H
Spirant mutation happens in the following cases :
After "ma" or "va" (mine)
After "he" (Hers)
After "o" (Theirs)
After numbers : tri, teir, pevar, peder, nav
Spirant Mutation will be noted (Sp!)
Following letters are affected:
P becomes F
T becomes Z
K becomes C'H
Examples :
Penn (head) gives Va fenn
Kador (chair) gives Va c'hador :
* Exercises
* Go to the Quiz
Local variations , frequent errors
The rules presented above match the most common usage.
However, in some cases, local forms exist that are different.
Also, errors in mutations are frequent ...
Mutation variants
Usage ratio (Google estimate)
Precise Google request
Comment
Ar Brezhoneg
99500
"Ar Brezhoneg"
Ar Vrezhoneg
723
"Ar Vrezhoneg"
Clearly a mistake !
Ma mamm
557
"Ma mamm"
Ma vamm
8
"Ma vamm"
Va mamm
264
"va mamm" zo mat
Va vamm
None
"va vamm" zo mat
Ma tad
129
"Ma tad" mab
Ma dad
None
"Ma dad" mab
Ma zad
358
"Ma zad" mab
Va zad
314
"Va zad" zo mat
Ar mamm
40
"Ar mamm" zo mat
Ar vamm
786
"Ar vamm" zo mat
An tad
988
"An tad" zo mat
An dad
29
"An dad" zo mat
Ar zad
None
"Ar zad" zo
Caution : Some Google matches may not be in Breton but in some other language ! The figures are an approximation ! :