page_title: Breton language
hierarchical_section_title: Breton language
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Nombre de locuteurs par pays dans l'ensemble de la Bretagne. Source&#160;: sondage TMO-Régions pour le Conseil régional de Bretagne – 2018 et OPLB pour le nombre d'élèves bilingues
context_page_description: Breton is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family, spoken in Brittany.
  Breton was brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages, making it an Insular Celtic language. It is closely related to the Continental Celtic Gaulish language, which was spoken in pre-Roman Gaul. Breton is most closely related to Cornish, another Southwestern Brittonic language. Welsh and the extinct Cumbric, both Western Brittonic languages, are more distantly related.
  The other regional language of Brittany, Gallo, is a Romance language descended from Latin. As a langue d'oïl, Gallo is a close relative of standard French. Neither Gallo nor Breton are nationally recognized by the French state.
  Having declined from more than 1 million speakers around 1950 to about 200,000 in the first decade of the 21st century, Breton is classified as "severely endangered" by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. However, the number of children attending bilingual classes has risen 33% between 2006 and 2012 to 14,709.
context_section_description: Breton (/ˈbrɛtən/; French: [bʁətɔ̃]; brezhoneg [bʁeˈzõːnɛk] (listen) or [brəhõˈnek] in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family, spoken in Brittany.
  Breton was brought from Great Britain to Armorica (the ancient name for the coastal region that includes the Brittany peninsula) by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages, making it an Insular Celtic language. It is closely related to the Continental Celtic Gaulish language, which was spoken in pre-Roman Gaul. Breton is most closely related to Cornish, another Southwestern Brittonic language. Welsh and the extinct Cumbric, both Western Brittonic languages, are more distantly related.
  The other regional language of Brittany, Gallo, is a Romance language descended from Latin (not to be confused with Gaulish, a Celtic language). As a langue d'oïl, Gallo is a close relative of standard French. Neither Gallo nor Breton are nationally recognized by the French state.
  Having declined from more than 1 million speakers around 1950 to about 200,000 in the first decade of the 21st century, Breton is classified as "severely endangered" by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. However, the number of children attending bilingual classes has risen 33% between 2006 and 2012 to 14,709.
caption: Regional distribution of Breton speakers (2004)
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