Breton
A language of France
| Population | 500,000 in France (1989 International Committee for the Defense of the Breton Language). 1,200,000 know Breton who do not regularly use it. Population total all countries: 500,045. |
| Region | West Brittany; dispersed in East Brittany. Also in United States. |
| Language map |
Andorra and France |
| Dialects | Leoneg (Leonais), Tregerieg (Tregorrois), Gwenedeg (Vannetais), Kerneveg (Cornouaillais). |
| Classification | Indo-European, Celtic, Insular, Brythonic |
| Language use | No official status. Strong nationalistic movement demanding recognition, a place in the schools, media, and public life. As of 1974: 18,000 were children under 14; 56,250 between 15 and 24; 423,000 between 25 and 64; 168,000 over 65 (1974). Also use French. |
| Language development | Literacy rate in L1: 25%. Radio programs. TV. Grammar. Bible: 1866–1985. |
| Writing system | Latin script. |
| Comments | SVO, OVS, or, less frequently, VSO, depending on focus; prepositions; genitives, adjectives, relatives after noun heads; articles, numerals before noun heads; question word initial; probably 2 prefixes, up to 4 suffixes on a word; topic or focus first, verb second; verb affixes mark person, number of subject; passives; causatives and comparatives shown lexically; up to 3 consonants syllable initially, and 3 finally, one vowel; nontonal. |
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