The Breton language is in danger, and it's France's fault | Raising voices 

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

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.

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

I am on same mission. I'm starting with Gàidhlig. Then I will do Cymraeg. Saorsa!

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💪

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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".

Exactement , quand on entend parler breton on sent clairement l’accent français

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.

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!

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 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.

¿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.

Do something about it? Why are you still ruled over by dead people?

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed this! You may also like the other episodes of the series 😉

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.

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 🙏

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.

Um occitano entende catalão, italiano, espanhol etc. ?

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!

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.

Breton is not a dialect though.

The "British" didn't, the English did. Welsh is British!

You've been an independent state for 100 years and yet your people refuse to learn Irish. Stop blaming the English for that.

@@mitchyoung93Irish use at schools in Ireland, under British rule in Ireland Irish language was banned

@@mitchyoung93 Rather hard not to blame the English when they are responsible for this mess in the first place.

Nantes never spoke breton.

Les occitans ont déjà leurs pays.

Chauvinistic ? It's worst . Une dictature culturelle et ethnocidaire .

For 50 years in the 9th century. Demolished by vikings.

May be you mean Pont l'abbé? because Pont l'Evèque , for what i know is not in Brittany.

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!

They're speaking Breton at school, that whole sequence is shot in the language!