Why the Bretons of Brittany Speak a Celtic Language - Celtic Breton Explained
Channel: Celtic History Decoded
Date: 2021-07-04

Why do the Bretons of France Speak a Celtic Language? Celtic Breton Explained - Celtic languages are spoken in many parts of the British Isles today. These include Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish and the Manx language native to the Isle of Man. 

Across the water in north-western France however, a Celtic language is still spoken in parts of Brittany, known as Breton. The language was introduced into the region of Armorica, known as Brittany today, by migrants from ancient Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. 

Simply put, Celtic languages can be divided into two broad categories: insular Celtic languages of the British Isles and older continental Celtic languages, such as Gaulish. Insular Celtic languages are sub-divided into two categories: Goidelic languages, such as Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx; and Brythonic languages, such as Breton, Cornish, and Welsh. As an insular Celtic Brythonic language, Breton is most closely related to Cornish than any other Celtic language. 

Today, Breton is still spoken along with French in western Brittany, whereas in eastern Brittany, the Romance language of Gallo is the more common minor language. In Brittany, there is also a Breton custom of bands playing bagpipes, thought to be Scottish-inspired tradition. Such a band is known as a bagad (Breton pronunciation: [ˈbɑːɡat]).

A 2011 estimate suggested that 250,000 people could speak Breton, a significant drop from the 2 million speakers at the start of the 20th century. It is listed as a severely endangered language by UNESCO, and many of its speakers are elderly, although there has been an increase in recent years of children attending bilingual (Breton/French) classes.  

Sources:

Breton language, Per Denez https://www.britannica.com/topic/Breton-language 

Breton language, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breton_language#History_and_status 

Celtic languages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_languages 

Breton, UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
 http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/index.php 

25 endangered languages you need to listen to before they disappear https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/endangered-languages-dead-listen-speakers-audio-belarusian-wiradjuri-cornish-a8268196.html 

Busuu Blog Breton, The language of Brittany's medieval upper class https://blog.busuu.com/breton-the-language-of-brittanys-medieval-upper-class/ 

Creative Commons Imagery:

Celtic language family tree. Elevatorrailfan https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Celtic_language_family_tree.svg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en 

Map of Celtic Nations. QuartierLatin1968 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Celtic_Nations-flag_shades.svg  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Celtic_Nations-flag_shades.svg 

Anglo.Saxon.migration. Claude Zygiel Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anglo.Saxon.migration.5th.cen.jpg 

Michel Briand https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20_Moulin_vert.JPG  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en 

TheAurelieb BAGAD PENHARS/ Lorient 2011 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkTAGizC9YM Creative Commons Attribution licence (reuse allowed)