The Breton language is in danger, and it's France's fault | Raising voices
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2024
- France's Eurovision song was in Breton -- a language whose existence the government doesn't even acknowledge. From a million speakers back in the 1950s to less than 200,000 today, Breton is at high risk of going extinct. Mostly because France tried to kill it off.
Chapters:
00:00 - 00:32 Intro
00:32 - 01:27 What's the deal between France and Breton?
01:27 - 02:50 Why bringing Breton to Eurovision
02:51 - 04:18 France's suppression of Breton
04:18 - 05:37 The Breton TikToker
05:37 - 06:40 Breton-only schools
06:40 - 07:20 The Constitutional Council's decision
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There are more than 7,000 languages in the world, and around 40% of them are disappearing. Unesco estimates show that every two weeks, a language disappears. Raising voices is ENTR's series about Europe's disappearing languages and the people fighting to save them.
I hope our fellow Bretons are fighting for there cultural identity and their language keep fighting and never giveup love from wales
hi from Naoned, we are still fighting even though its hard. thanks for your support ✊🏻
Yeah we're not
I am a Breizophile, im learning it, but also Celtophile as a whole.
I have to admit the Celtic languages are very hard especially the 3 Gaelic ones and Welsh, the pronunciation (written vs pronounced) is a nightmare
mae ein diwylliant Celtaidd yn wych!
We do somehow, academic breton anyway
Dont feel pressured to speak French. You are Breton. I am Welsh. I often hear the argument why bother to speak welsh when you can get the job done in English. But with Welsh the language affects the culture of the people and even the accent when speaking English. We do not use our language as a means to an end. We enjoy it (and we love confusing the English or saying stuff about them that they cant understand) 😄
I speak the minority language Frisian and I love to speak it. Just cool to speak something not many are able to :) I use it mostly as a secret language. Being a stranger in own country
@@fransgreidanus5678 oh wow. no one should ever feel like a stranger in their own country. Keep speaking Frisian!
@@stephrichards4611 I think I use the wrong word. More like: tourist! When I am in Amsterdam and I see the faces of the people there going like: huh? I really enjoy it. I really like Welsh too! Celtic languages are one of my favourite language branches. Question: how mamy people speak it? De lytse talen moatte we seker yn dizze wrâld hâlde!
@@fransgreidanus5678 sa nuver om n oare frysk te fynen op t internet. der binne sa weinig haha.
Well it's more easier to speak like this in Wales , the British government is much more Liberal with other languages than English. The French politicians - all parties included- do are against plurality use of minorities 😢languages in France official life.
I met a Breton girl in Bretagne whilst on holiday. She told me she had penpals in Wales and Scotland who spoke Welsh and Gallic respectively. They would write to each other in their own languages, and could, more or less, understand each other, as their Celtic languages shared common origins.
While they have the same word order structure they are different families. Gàidhlig is closer to Gaeilge especially west Ulster and the extinct since the 1980’s East Ulster and Gaelg than Welsh,Cornish and Breton.
@@oscarosullivan4513 I bow to your linguistic knowledge. All I can say is, that's as explained to me by a pretty young girl on a Breton beach in the early 1980s. She spoke very little English and her pen pals in Wales and Scotland, no French. They each wrote in their own Celtic language, from which each was able to get the gist of what the other was saying. At least, that was my understanding, although I admit to being distracted at the time. Thinking on, Oscar, it might have been Welsh and Cornish, but so few people in Cornwall spoke Cornish back then. I'm pretty sure she said Welsh and Scottish, but perhaps memory serves me not so well after all these years.
@@ianworley8169 Fair enough
Magnificient !
Welsh and Breton are similar, but Gaelic is far too different to understand
France likes to cry how English is menacing to the French language (especially in Canada or in the international community) but has no pity for their own regional languages
We don't care about what language Canadians speak, and we certainly have no problem with needing to learn English to better our professional lives, but it's certainly hard for many people here to feel any connection to our historical languages, when our elders were forced to forget them right upon entering primary school.
You're the only one crying here
@@FairyCRat quebec is french😏
Hard to take a comment seriously when it starts with "France likes to cry".
@@BunnyAce Why? Offended french-fry here?
I am a celt living in Wales and am on a mission to learn all of the celtic languages. In wales in the 18th and 19th century Welsh children had to endure the 'welsh knot' which was the same kind of thing as the symbol or hoof in Breton, the child left holding the item at the end of the day would be subjected to cruel and physical punishment. The fact that the celtic peoples have been oppressed and punished for speaking our minority languages is abhorrent. I live in hope that the celtic languages spread in popularity among the younger generations.
I am on same mission. I'm starting with Gàidhlig. Then I will do Cymraeg. Saorsa!
We know exactly how you feel Here in Wales, as your ancestral Brothers and Sisters we have suffered under England too. Yma O Hyd!
Coming soon to a community near you... stay tuned! 👀
As an English person, I hope one day the hated Union withers and each country lives in friendship and independence. As a person of working class origins, I know that the same people who brought suffering and dominion to Wales, Scotland and the island of Ireland, were no less brutal against the poor in England.
@@ianworley8169 completely agree. Poor factory workers, farm hands and maids who couldnt understand each other as far apart as Nantes, Norfolk and Inverness all had and have more in common than our landlords that can speak to us
Cymru am byth, Bretagne am byth!
Breizh da viken💪
Galician here. Our celtic language is all but lost to time sans for a few words surviving in our language, but our own Romance Galician is also walking towards extinction. You have a brother in your struggle in me, my dear Breton cousins. Keep up the fight for your identity!
Fala o português, meu amigo.
You should form a group or society to preserve the language.
@@rafael16759 that's... What I said? That we only have a few words from the celtic language from our region surviving to this day. The comparison wasn't drawn on the language family, but on how it is being snuffed out by its bigger, meaner dominant language from the people who conquered us
@@rafael16759 so...?
@@nifelheirn In the twisted mind of some Spanish lusophobes, yes.
All the support from Catalonia! Culture and languages are part of the human heritage and they must be conserved! Long life Breton!
I would rather everyone speak one language
@@greenlamped2842 that would be so boring. It's erasure of culture
@@greenlamped2842 Thankfully, that won't happen.
@@greenlamped2842 I would rather that everyone could speak more than one language.
@@greenlamped2842 No thank you.
The history of the "symbol" being passed to Breton speakers in school reminds me of the “tally sticks”, referred to as “an bata scoir”, which were used to beat children caught speaking Irish in Ireland. School children were expected to wear this stick on a piece of string around their necks, and whenever they spoke in Irish, a notch was cut into the stick. And when enough notches were made into the sticks they were beaten for speaking Irish instead of English in the school.
Great video, Trugarez bras. Thanks for mentioning how the French state actually tried to kill off the language and their different methods : the generation of my grandparents were beaten up at school for speaking Breton. They didn’t teach it to their children because they didn’t see a future for the language, they were shamed, excluded and physically assaulted by the clergy teaching at school if they spoke Breton. Even nowadays they carry these scars and hide to speak Breton between them, my grand mother still refuses to speak Breton with me even though it is my native language, like hers.
Hi Fiona! Thanks for sharing your experience, we're glad you liked the video.
Sadly true but it is not the clergy who have been most guilty, but the lay teachers. Because the priests, on the contrary, used Breton a little, with an interest, of course, that of being understood in the church. The "Breton priest" was also the name of the bad Breton and gave rise to misunderstandings at mass.
Thank you. My grandfather had the same stories. He grew up in Carhaix-Plougher and was beaten as well. He was an intelligent man, learning French (obviously,) English, and Spanish. Unfortunately, he lost all knowledge of Breton by the time he was in his 80s. I bought a small English-Breton dictionary that he thumbed through, and he recognized some words as well as how to count.
Videos like this give me hope that others will pick up the language, if not to learn about the travesty committed by the French in their own country and colonies.
The Brits did it in Cymru. "'The Welsh Not''. Physically assaulting kids for speaking their own language.
Were your grandparents attacked for speaking Breton? The dictatorial regime in Paris is truly a disgrace.
Not just Breton, Most of Historical languages in Modern France are in danger (EX: Occitan/Provençal spoken in the South, the language of the troubadours in Medieval era).
I admire them for trying to preserve their cultural roots and heritage.
I'm Belarusian, I have no roots in Breizh but I understand and absolutely can relate to the struggle of Brezhoneg speakers so trugarez for making this video and raising awareness!
Unfortunately the Belarusian language is also about to die, if it is not dead already. Very beautiful Slavic language.
As can I
@@jalbert9851 yes, i know, that's why i wrote this comment, but i want to reassure you that more and more people start to understand the importance of speaking Belarusian, like i did, and so I'm positive that the Belarusian language won't dissapear any time soon
@@alesia4309 As a non Byelorussian member of the r/Belarus and revolution I can say that I see what you mean. But still lots of Russian bots and agents in the sub reddit lol.
People always get mad when a post is written in Russian or the name of Belorussian guy is spelled in Russian.
Hope you guys get to keep your culture man.
You have brest in beliorussia, we have the city with the same name in britanny
thank you! my heritage is Breton and i grew up with a Breton speaking grandfather with his siblings! i love my people. Its a strong Celtic heritage with a connection to earth and sea.
my grandfather was fluent in Breton and my town is bringing back programs to teach kids in Breton so the language can keep going. i wished back in 2002 there were programs and schools that only taught in breton. i grew up learning french. learning the language is definitely on my bucket list.
Thanks a lot for your video 🙂 However, one thing about your map of Brittany : the departement of Loire-Atlantique is historically part of Brittany (taken out of Brittany in the 50's) but overall people used to speak breton in some part of this departement, of nowadays a lot of people is learning breton around Nantes for example.
Thanks for this! That's true, and we were told this during our report. The reason why we used an official map of France - among other reasons - is to keep things clearer for non-French speakers. We're so glad you like the video!
@@enentr The we have never spoken Breton in Renne sounds like Irish has not been spoken in Dublin or the east coast for 800 years
44 = bzh
Totally. It is also in Nantes that the famous castle of the Dukes of Brittany is located. And there are also many Diwan schools in Loire-Atlantique as well as a college in Nantes
There are also several diwan schools in Rennes and soon, normally, a college as well
The French gouvernement should look at what happened in Louisiana in the US as an example. French itself is almost eradicated completely due to similar measures that took place in the 20s. Now it’s primarily the old folks who still speak Cajun French (although there are efforts from the younger generation to learn)
The “20s”? French was being antagonized for much longer than that! Basically since the end of the U.S. Civil War. Before that there were still struggles but the French language was majoritarian even after statehood.
Unfortunately, unlike, Canada the United States doesn't have a clause that protected language rights in the Constitution even on a limited basis, nor did Louisiana keep a constitution that would.
A limited linguistic right (well, it was more about parental rights) wasn't recognized by the Supreme Court until 1923 when they forced Nebraska to stop disallowing the teaching of languages other than English in non-government venues. Because, Nebraska authorities were even cracking down on Sunday schools teaching German.
Another problem is lack of resources for non French speakers. If an English speaker like myself wants to learn Breton like I am doing now, I feel like I have to learn both French and Breton at the same time. I have to look up a word in Breton and resort to Google translate to find the meaning from French to English.
How interesting Jessica! What made you want to lear Breton?
@@enentr I love languages. I had no idea that Brittany was a Celtic Country, so it was like discovering a magical language and culture that I never knew existed.
Just ask to Breton, we'll be glad to help you, and it's the best way to learn a language.
@@zeuzeul Ask Where ?🤔. I'd be grateful for the help.
There is the course published by Routledge, "Colloquial Breton".
The more languages you know, is the best for people, and good for brain, like a mental gym, and you make friends. My humble point of view.
Breton became so weak that even when it's spoken today, it has a very strong French accent and lost the original phonetics which were much closer to Welsh and Cornish.
Exactement , quand on entend parler breton on sent clairement l’accent français
Would love to see the Celtic nations align.
Tá ár lá ag teacht ☘️
I mean, to me as a speaker of neither Breton nor French Breton does sound somewhat "Frenchy". But on the other hand Welsh also sounds a bit "Englishy", I guess neighboring languages just do kind of colour off onto each other.
They do! Also -- one has to think that most modern speakers have an "accent", as there are very few native Breton speakers, making the language sound... "Frenchier"!
The breton spoken today is a kind of newspeak created in 1941.
Breton is not the only language that was spoken in Brittany, gallo is the other one. Gallo comes from Latin contrary to Breton. My ancestors spoke gallo and were from Higher Brittany, around Rennes. Today Breton is seeing a huge raise in interest in Brittany, however gallo does not. The region of Brittany, an administrative division of France that does not encompass all parts of Brittany, shows way more interest in protecting breton compared to gallo which is a shame. Both languages should be protected. My ancestors were as Breton as someone from Lower Brittany where Breton was heavenly spoken. In a country, France, where everything is centralized in Paris, changes will be difficult to put in place. Recognizing Breton and Gallo, or regional differences, go against the very ideas of the French Revolution which were to unify different people as one, the French, with one culture and one language, French.
Thank you for this, that's very insightful and yes -- Gallo is incredibly fascinating in itself, and just as deserving of protection. This is only the first episode of our series on endangered languages, so stay tuned
!
From Gallo-speaking part of Brittany here too ! high five !
@@enentr 'Gallo' is a breton word that mean 'french', it was never used by people of Haute Bretagne back then because it's not their language.
@@enentr one of my friends says Gallo is to breton what modern scotts is to Scottish Gaelic, and I think it's brilliant.
@@enentrPlease talk about Brasilla too!
The damage done by the liberal revolution and the Jacobins in particular on France’s regional cultures is one of the greatest tragedies in Western European history.
Do something about it? Why are you still ruled over by dead people?
Constitutionally, French is the only language that can be used officially in the whole country. France adopted the 5th Republic's constitution in 1958, a time at which only 25% of the French spoke what is modern French. About 50% of French could understand it. (Info from Wikipedia). Many other French languages exist. My favourite is Occitan, which, like Breton, has been strongly suppressed by official French authorities. Also, like Breton, the speakers in the French part of the Occitan region are almost all senior citizens, and it has been younger people - seeing that they are about to lose their history and culture - who have started teaching Occitan again. I think it is reprehensible that France should deprive people of their native languages for the sake of speaking one language as their primary language. This is the kind of thing which modern China is doing with Mandarin - and now even pushing to suppress Cantonese. An amendment to the constitution could be considered to allow the teaching of languages like Breton and Occitan, etc., especially now that almost everybody born in France can speak it. In my country, the New Zealand government went through a period of squashing the Māori language before Māoris reasserted themselves and made their language an official language of New Zealand. Now it's part of schools. When you kill a language, you kill a culture. How is that French?
So here's the thing:
Article 2 of the Constitution of France - _“la langue de la République est le français”_ (The language of the Republic shall be French)
Article 75-1 of the Constitution of France - _“Les langues régionales appartiennent au patrimoine de la France”_ (Regional languages are part of France's heritage)
How can the constitution not allow the teaching of regional languages alongside French? Dual immersion is a thing and I'm sure that can be funded as one can't have a heritage if it isn't there while still keeping French the language of the Republic!
Sure sole immersion in Breton (or any other regional language or languages) maybe unconstitutional but I don't think if taught along side with French as dual immersion (when designed well) does! That could be a work around that could be done in the meantime or as the sole way to teach those languages to keep them alive and well.
You are right, France did try to kill the Breton Language. My brother in law and his brothers got caned if they were heard talking in Breton to each other in school.
Trugarez vras deoc'h 'vit an abadenn-mañ a-zivout Brezhoneg. Ar yezh zo a-bouez. Pouezusoc'h da sikourañ anzhi. Thanks for this video about Breton. This is an important language. Very important to preserve it.
Regional languages can and should be revived. Welsh was nearly wiped off the map but it has made a good resurgence. In Wales, there was a similar thing that used to be used where anyone who spoke Welsh had a Welsh sign, and the last person wearing it got beaten
There is breton speakers in "Loire atlantique" too 😉 (a part of Brittany that has been separated by french government and put in an other region, but it's still Brittany (just not in "région bretagne" ) 💪
You are right, this is not understandable, that such a fine video made use of french administrative maps, and not use of real Brittany maps (excepted for the first one).
Such as giving the pourcentage of breton speakers in France, as breton is not spoken in France, only in Brittany.
This is like giving the pourcentage of welsh speakers in the population of the UK.
Or the apache langue in all US !
Thanks for this this video, as a breton speaker (an teacher) this kind of vidéo is important ! Pleasure to see all this people.
(I have some vidéo in breton langage on my Channel fi if you want to hear more)
What I've noticed in many videos where French people speak Breton, is they speak the words, but with a French accent. Their Breton sounds French, not Celtic. If you listen to all the other Celtic languages that exist, they sound very distinct. They also sound like each other, roughly. I suspect that authentic Breton sounds different. What's therefore REALLY urgent, is to find old Breton's who still speak with the original pronunciation, record it and use if in the instruction of Breton at schools. Before it is too late! Maybe it's already too late...
Thanks for your comment and for a very good point! While finding native Breton speakers is still possible, the language is now a second language for most people, and it's therefore influenced heavily by the French accent. Then again, languages are constantly changing and adapting to the territories they're spoken in so this is a fairly normal evolution!
I am Breton. I know how you feel. English sounds french to me too. In fact 41% of english words are french words spellt and/or pronounced wrong. Breton has far less french words than english does. The idea that other celtic languages have their own character but not breton is not true. Breton is closely related to welsh and cornish which means that they sound similar. They have the common character of P celtic languages. That is what language groups are defined by, their shared traits or character. Finding old people who might speak a more 'authentic' breton, whatever that means, as you suggest has been done for years, and continues today. Thousands of recordings are exstant. I am not sure that they will tell you what you want to hear though. French too is continuously evolving. What sounds french to you might not have sounded french to many french people 100 years ago. Nasalisation is on the decline in some regions both in french and in breton. But what sounds french or breton? Who decides the answer to that question? Let's leave that very difficult question to linguists. And lastly french and celtic are not diametical opposites like black and white. French has a celtic but also germanic component. It isn't just degenerated latin.
@@bertoldriesenteil1430 thanks for your reply. I think there is a slight misunderstanding, we are actually agreeing on the part that all celtic languages have their own character, inCLUDING Breton. Indeed it is closely related to Welsh and Cornish. I might want to add a bit more to expand on my point. As it so happens, I am a university trained linguist, so I trust that will give me some background to make my point.
It's true that languages evolve over time naturally, which is often due to the influence of other dominant languages. Such as Dutch (I'm Dutch) has adopted a lot of English vocabulary since 1945, when the USA became a dominant factor in our (and Western) culture. Before that, French words were included in our language due to the influence of the French Revolution. However, Dutch mostly sounds Dutch: most French and English words are 'Dutchified' in their pronunciation. Same goes for English: they adopted French vocabulary, but even these words are 'Englishified' in their pronunciation.
My point with the Celtic languages is that originally they had/have a very distinct pronunciation, distinct from their Germanic and Romance language influencers, mainly English and French. I find the pronunciation of Celtic languages by English people who learned these languages as a second language, tends to sound very English. This is also the critique of Welsh speakers for example! Many Bretons learn Breton as a second language and don't pick up on the subtleties of how Breton is 'supposed' to sound. Who are the sources of this 'original Breton'? The people who learned Breton as a FIRST language, and these are/have died out rapidly by now.
So in all Celtic languages, the original pronunciation is under threat, because the amount of native speakers on all sides has nearly died out. And Manx and Cornish already died out, they have no native speakers left. Good that they are trying to revive it though.
So in conclusion, I think it would be great if Breton people make a very rigorous effort to train themselves in the pronunciation of their native speaking forefathers. And to include this fact in school. Whether the pronunciation of Breton of their native speaking forefathers is the real deal is not easy to answer. But it sounds more authentic than the Breton as pronounced by young French people learning Breton as a 2nd language.
Finally, you are right that all languages evolve over time and influence each other. But just as in geo-politics, some languages are too dominant and some are too weakened. Ideally, the weakened languages beef themselves up, restore themselves, before allowing the neighboring dominant language to butt in too much.
That's because they are French speakers who have learnt Breton as a foreign language. You have to search for recordings of native speakers to hear how it originally sounded. One example is Anjela Duval who also spoke French with a strong Breton accent.
I'm Colombian but am currently working on a historical fantasy novel wherein the main character is and speaks Breton. Please, keep fighting and don't let your language be extinguished.
¿Colombiano? ¿Y de que nació su interés en el bretón y Bretaña?
@@OpinionesDeJACCsOpinions
Quería hacer una historia basada en la Revolución Francesa. El detalle es que quería que el protagonista fuese de una minoría cultural que viene específicamente del norte del país.
Ya conocía a los Ch'tis pero por si las moscas, hice una búsqueda acerca de culturas del norte de Francia y encontré Bretaña. Lo demás es historia.
@@AristizabalixGrimm
Vale.
I’ve just started learning my Celtic language Cornish, got a book of Cornish translated to Breton, it’s so similar, apparently more similar to each other than Cornish is to Welsh
We have lived in Bretagne for 7 years and love the way they are proud of their regional heritage and culture.
Thank you so much for this video. Of immense value and importance.
European diversity is so important.
My dad grew up in Paris, so he has avoided a lot of trauma from his generation, but people his age around me have similar stories of being punished for knowing breton, and many of his cousins have different names on their ID because breton names werent accepted.
Even I, at some point, felt embarrassed and weird for speaking my language, because everyone around me treated it like i was a circus attraction
Loire-Atlantique is part of Brittany too, only separate administratively by the French state. There were native speakers of breton there until the middle of the last century, and there are also Diwan schools today. It would have been cool to talk about that too ! Anyway, nice video 😉
Le peuple de Loire Atlantique ne se sent pas breton.
Eddy de Bretagne 😜
Et la corse c'est en Bretagne aussi tant que tu y es
@@h3994 une partie de la population nantaise « par exemple » pour mieux définir ce que je dis ne se sent pas bretonne
Un peu d'histoire ne peut pas faire de mal.
La Bretagne comme toutes les provinces du royaume de France ont été supprimées par la Révolution française, en 1790 les départements ont été créés (dont la Loire inférieure ancêtre de la Loire Atlantique).
En 1941, Pétain (chef de l'état français et donc pas "le gouvernement français") a créé les régions contre la République qu'il détestait, la région Bretagne créée par Pétain avait dès l'origine 4 départements et donc le 44 n'en faisait pas partie.
Il n'y a donc pas eu un seul jour dans '' histoire où le département 44 a fait partie de la Bretagne.
Quand on fait référence à l'histoire il faut être rigoureux.
Quand on fait référence à l'histoire il faut aussi préciser à quelle période on fait référence. À certains moments le mont Saint Michel et la ville d'Avranches ont fait partie de la Bretagne, faudra-t-il aussi lui inclure le département 50 ? Et pourquoi pas la ville de Naples dont Anne de Bretagne a été reine...
@@louisthomasic275 merci 🙏
Los bretones jamás perderán su lengualo llevan en la sangre son diferentes su país es maravilloso salvaje y hermoso como su mar
The EU should pressure france a bit to respect its minorities.
I thought the French Revolution eradicated all languages and dialects in France. Until today I did not know that had another language in French territory.
This was dope journalism, highly interesting
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed this! You may also like the other episodes of the series 😉
From a galician speaker, from galicia, a region with celtic heritage, in the northwest of its "country", with a region in it called finisterre (what?? I might search for these similarities), I just have to say that the frech did a lot of damage to the now regional languages "thanks" to their ideas of modern nations created in their revolution and its centralism. Galician its an oficial language, so I just have to say, keep fighting, keep fighting in every aspect to not lose your heritage and culture that have been given to you by your ancerstors and that you deserve to have 💙🖤
Galicia should be classified as a Celtic country...I think of it as such.
Finisterre is from Latin. “The name Finisterre, like that of Finistère in France, derives from the Latin finis terrae, meaning "end of the earth".” It’s because Spanish and French both came from Latin. How could you not notice that? It has nothing to do with the Celts.
While it is true France holds a responsability in Breton's disappearance, this is a relatively new phenomenon, whose responsability rests mainly on the Third French Republic. Moreover, it is definitely true Breton was never spoken in Rennes, since this City is part of Upper Britanny, where people speak Gallo instead of Breton.
Totally true, also because of a huge misunderstanding, I’ve meet many people who’s family was from Brittany, and thus thought they were brittons and learnt it. While in truth they were from historically Gallo speaking area.
" O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau"
As a native Welsh speaker living in France, I would love to learn Breton but working on French first.
Thanks for sharing. I hope the Breton language can survive. It brings the heart of a culture that is different to France and has ties to old Britain. I think opening these languages up to people outside the culture helps to keep them going for those interested to learn.
Tell the French government they have to complain with international laws and treaties protecting Breton language and it's speakers. French are speaking loudly out France is the land of liberty: the inside reality is quite different.It's a jobinism country, republican authoritarian monarchy.
Tiern e peb Amzer.
Great one! Trugarez! 🌼
Excellent reportage - merci !
The British tried killing Welsh off. Children were beaten for speaking it in school. Now, it's the official language here. I do hope my Breton cousins don't lose their lovely language.
I think britanny is the most successful region to show its identity compared to the Belgian Flemish, the alsatian German , occitanian, italian niceans, and the Mediterranean Arab corsians
Bretagne is popular in France. Its rare known Celtic culture , it's certain mixed climate , and holiday in summer destination, youth culture trough rock and paganism
France is a country known for centralism and hierarchy through Paris and it's central northern historical region each region outside surrounding the french zone since the medieval times ⚜️⚜️⚜️
Excellent report.
i'm from the south of france and i think it's very important we fight to preserve our languages. I'm currently learning occitan , my regional language
Um occitano entende catalão, italiano, espanhol etc. ?
Why did I find entr earlier? It's such a brilliant idea!
This video is so important.
The Manx language which was declared dead by the UN is undergoing a revival especially in schools. Cornish is the last Celtic language that needs serious revival.
Hi Niall! We did a piece about Manx revival, too (we have a thing for Celtic languages...), it's on our channel if you want to check it out!
Have you written to Charles le twa?
It's a fact , I have been living through its slow vanishing , my grandparents spoke it perfectly , it was actually their first language , more fluent than French , the grownup countrypeople around me as well in the fifties and seventies , my parents were halfway between both languages and me soon able to understand it but not daring to speak it , that was a great mistake I caught up later , but too late to speak it in a proper surrounding , what is left is a warm memory...
Very cool. Mont Saint Michel is still in Normandy though.
French government is lucky asterix and obelix are no longer around😊..
Very similar to English attempts to eliminate Welsh from 16th century onwards
The video begins by saying it doesn't sound french, but for me who does not speak french or Celtic, it does absolutely sound french. It arguably has a strong french accent.
Bretton is not even recognised, that is sad.
C'est formidable vorrei travail! Faite survivre votre langue! Pas de livres, pas de votation a' l'école.. il faut creer des dessin animées , chançons , tout ce que fait amuser les enfants.. bon courage de l'Italie❤
France had already sent a song in Breton in 1996, Dan Ar Braz.
The French also accused the Bretons of treason during WW2. Welsh and Irish also had the punishment routine. l
And I LOVE NOLWENN Leroy.
Save European diversity.
Can you do a video about the Sardinian language next? It's another of the minoritarian languages in Europe that is gonna disappear in the next decades and the Italian goverment has done very little to preserve it.
Ma va che nessuno vi obbliga a rimanere in Italia. Vi sentite più Sardi che italiani, almeno la maggior parte di quelli che ho conosciuto
@@simonecodenotti6892 la secessione dall'Italia è incostituzionale, quindi per come stanno le cose ora si, siamo obbligati a restare. L'ultima volta che abbiamo provato a diventare indipendenti siamo stati impiccati e scuoiati
@Jana Kolašinac it's like asking why didn't Kosovo declare independence in the 50s, there were not the right political conditions. Who knows, maybe if there ever will be an Italian civil war we will.
Plus, I don't think that America would bomb Italy as they did with Serbia
@@matteopani9291lol America themselves helped to crush secession when it didn't benefit their interests. For example when Abkhazia tried to get independence from Georgia.
It is up to people in Bretagne to stand up and promote their culture.
See, France is probably the only country in the world where the sun never sets. With that in mind, imagine how different French people can be, with their own ancestral culture and ways, but under the same flag. French has to be the lingua franca on French soil.
That cannot prevent local cultures to thrive, not anymore. Greetings to my Bretons siblings, from a French soil a bloody lot farther to Paris than they are.
Actually it's not France who kills Breton, it's the French Republic, two completely different things.
French state tried to erase corsu and italian in Corsica. France deserve a lesson in language protection.
Ya, Breizh dizalc'h !
Free Brittany !
Sadly, the map seen at some point in the video is not correct, just as if Wales had been shown without Monmouthshire. The Loire Atlantique departement (Bro-Naoned in Breton) IS definitely part of Brittany with its capital city, Naoned/Nantes !
Nantes never spoke breton.
Hi, I'm from Catalonia
Can I give you some advice on how to save a language and its culture? I'm afraid it requires drastic measures. In the case of Catalonia and the catalan, it has become more than clear that the only people who care about the language are the native people. You can't expect people who come from far away and with totally different cultures to worry about your dying culture.
Even their children, second and third generations, do not feel that the language of their "new homeland" is important, they prefer to learn languages with more professional opportunities (English and Spanish) or are even more interested in learning the language of their native country.
You can argue that this is the fault of a bad integration. No, the Catalan experience has shown that no matter how many resources you invest, most immigrants will never feel the same passion for the local culture as the natives.
If you really want to preserve Breton and other European languages, the best thing you can do is encourage the demography of those places to increase through policies that favor the birth rate of the natives. If you think this is remotely racist, resign yourself and accept that these languages will die in the next few decades.
Salut!
On the other hand, there are other measures that I think are absolutely horrible. In Catalonia there are places where people are being discriminated in schools for speaking Spanish even though the law requieres that education be given in both languages. Is it a widespread phenomenon, or is it just an exception? In any case, I think it is wrong. Just let the people speak the language they want. It's not like Catalan is becoming a dead language anyway.
Catalonia is the screaming example of why states want to destroy regional languages and cultures, no state wants a region that keep using regional differences for independence.
I agree with you but I don't think that your recipe is good, much less from an ethic point of view. And I don't think that it is realistic either. What is necessary in order to get new speakers is to motivate them. And the way to get them motivated is different if you are a native or no. If you are a native, sentimentalism can be a good way, and sometimes it works with foreigners also. I, for example, speak Catalan, and use it always when I go to Catalonia, València, Balears... even in Alguer I have spoken in catalan with the locals. And I am not catalan, I don't live there and catalan doesn't give me anything material. It's just emotional. Now I am learning Irish. But I don't think that will work with much more than 10 or 20% of the local population that have already lost their language. For the other people you have to show them that for them it will be better if they learn the language, that they will live better, that it's fun and helpful in order to appreciate the culture of their new country, that they will have better employment choices and will get a better integration.
And for those that already speak Breton, they have to stand up for their language, use it always and with everybody, become militants of this legitimate cause and claim the recognition of their linguistic rights to the French state.
Of course, some degree of autonomy would help. Much more would independence.
Greetings from the Basque Country!
Euskal Herria❤️Breizh❤️Països Catalans
And yet I believe your 'nationalist' parties are all in favor or immigration, just as the Scottish National Party is in the UK. In fact the latter recently elected as their leader a white person hating, English speaking Pakistani over an actual Gaelic speaking Scotswoman.
@@diegoarroyo1641This is a lie! The only people undetgoing discrimination are Catalans, to the extent that even immigrant doctors refuse to help people who speak Catalan.
Don’t ever think it’s a coincidence. Same is happening in Scotland, Wales & Ireland and it’s all entirely engineered for reasons these comment sections aren’t designed for.
y'know I find it funny that she used the french pronunciation in the beginning...
Took French in high school because I had to but I failed. If you hadn't told me they are different languages I wouldn't have noticed. But I am a big fan of dialects, here in the Netherlands we have a lot of them for such a small place.
Breton is not a dialect though.
You don't unite a country with 36 different languages it's sad but it is what it is, today local languages aren't restricted as they used to be.
Meur ras / Trugarez! It is shocking to hear that Breton language is almost illegal. How does one teach if not by immersion? I find this obscene. We have even fewer speakers of Kernowek, but at least there is some support for minority languages here.
It is wonderful that Celtic languages like Breton in France and Welch in Britain and Gaelic in Ireland are, despite the epic struggle, being kept alive. These languages should adopt the A1/A2/B1/B2/C1/C2 system of teaching and training in order to move toward standardisation.
The map of Brittany is wrong it's missing part
Too my knowledge France had many distinct dialects/languages but most ceased to exist because of centralization
Breton has the status of a regional language in France. It can be taught in public schools as such, and can also be taken as an option for the French baccalauréat (the equivalent of taking it as an A-level for Brits, or the equivalent of choosing it as a subject for the end-of-high-school exam). There is a specific national exam, funded by the French state, in order to become a teacher of Breton. There is also a very well-funded, very wide network of private schools that teach the entire curriculum in Breton, and like most other private schools in France they are almost entirely funded by the French government, and staffed by teachers also recruited by the French government.
It is therefore wrong to say that the French government doesn't recognize its existence. What it does not is give the status of co-official language along with French (only one official language is recognized in France), which would enable provincial local governments in Britany to make the language compulsory at school or for holding certain positions in Britany, like it is for example the case for the Basque language in the Spanish Basque country or Catalan in Catalonia.
Since Breton is celtic,so is France .Alors nous avons besoin du Breton.la France, les bretons doivent
Conserver le Breton ...
me listen to Alan Stivell evry day 🥺
Dispar eo ar film, gourc'hemennoù ! This film is excellent, Congratulations !
C'est vrai;par exemple,l'Occitan aussi .est periclite (je n'ai pas d'accents!);Les Occitans "cherchent "un pays!/Merçi pour la video!
Les occitans ont déjà leurs pays.
Im breton
Greetings and solidarity from Catalonia!
I enjoyed the video, howevet I wish to discussed a couple of things:
Of course, France wants to destroy Breton and other languages just like Spain wants to destroy Catalan and Basque. But this will never happen if speakers keep their languages.
Second, therr are no "regional" languages. Every language idrntified one nation. This "regional" worf is usef by aggresdive supremacist nationalisms such ad French and Spanish to deny Britanny or Catalonia are nations, too. If you say one language is a "national" one and another is a "regional" one, then you say one is better than the other and so its speakers are.
Hey! Thanks for your comment. So the reference of a language as national and regional here is due to two reasons: 1) their legal status: only French is is the national language of France, while Breton is a recognised language of the region of Bretagne. 2) "regional" can be used interchangeably with "local" in this instance. There's no hierarchy - but Breton is born as a regional language, tied to the history and tradition of a certain region, and there's nothing wrong with that. On the contrary, honoring that is essential!
Breizh da viken! Much love from this Brazilian who loves all Celtic languages but especially the Brythonic branch:-), which Breton obviously belongs to!
I'm really intrested in Languages, so i actually, so i knew the Story of Breton.
Well, Except for the fact that it made it into Eurovision!
Mersi dac'h
1:37 Rennes, well done, a part of Brittany where people stopped speaking Breton more than 500 years ago.
We mention it at 2:54 -- it's a common idea, but it isn't true. Although it was one of the parts of Brittany with the least Breton speakers, there were some because it hosted the Breton Parliament -- and there are still a few today!
The main local language was Gallo, and now the Celtic part of the country is trying to "culturally appropriate" Rennes like the American love to say.
@@enentr the Breton Parliament has always spoken French. Like the Dukes of Brittany, because they were French princes.
@@lmnll2742
This is not true...
Only the last family of our sovereigns had a french origin, but they were breton by nationality.
For you information, at the 19th century, the king of Danemak was unable to speak danish and most of the administration was speaking and writing german.
Do you mean that Danemark should be a German lander ?
Charles III, in UK, has a german origin, as well...
And the King of Sweden has a french origin...
Same for the king of Spain !
@@Morvaout False.The Capetians and the Plantagenets are not breton dynasties.
Culture is cool and all, but the point of destroying these regional languages was to break barriers and unify France. Bretons were once seen as a bad minority in Paris, uncivilized foreigners. Speaking a different language didn't help.
It's sad to lose beautiful languages to one I don't really like (modern French) but it's for a greater good
Agreed that there was a clear original reason, yet the belief that uniting a country under one language means erasing any previous culture on its territory is, at least, misplaced. And it's safe to say that local languages are no threat to the republic today -- if anything, stopping people from expressing and learning their own traditions leads to their radicalisation, as it's been the case for many independence movements across Europe!
My family is from Pont l'evec, and I would love to learn how to speak breton. My dad says that it just sounds like french but backwards lol.
May be you mean Pont l'abbé? because Pont l'Evèque , for what i know is not in Brittany.
While in college, I had a part-time job working for a Francophile from Lebanon. Everything French was better, etc.. Anyways, I mentioned to her about Breton spoken in Brittany, and she made a stink face with corners of the mouth down-turned and said “no! French!”
* who was I to disturb her vieu du Monde”
Hopefully people's mindset has shifted over the past few decades, but surely this French-centric view of the country hasn't completely faded!
Bernard Hinault conquered 5 tours of France....
France killed off countless languages ever since the revolution. So did UK and so did many other empires. Unless given great local autonomy and enforcing local language laws, focusing on its education in school etc. the Breton language will die, so will Irish, Welsh and many others. And no, knowing "some" of a language will not stop this from happening, it is said that there's over a million Irish speakers, but in truth, it could be as low as 50k. I suspect this is also the case with Breton.
I mean, France removed many languages to install one so...
Weird that in the entire video, there is no Bregton spoken, not even a taste of it outside of the concert song.
They're speaking Breton at school, that whole sequence is shot in the language!
Breton language is matter! 🇫🇷🛑🛑🛑