Breton
Let an agent explain the Breton language and its dialects, relay its status, revival and speaker numbers from linguistic and official sources, describe history and literature, and route to entries for specific dialects.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent explain the Breton language and its dialects, relay its status, revival and speaker numbers from linguistic and official sources, describe history and literature, and route to entries for specific dialects.
A Southwestern Brythonic Celtic language spoken in Brittany in northwestern France, brought from Britain by settlers in the early Middle Ages, attested as Old Breton from the ninth century, with four traditional dialects, Leonais, Tregorrois, Cornouaillais and Gwenedeg or Vannetais, and local varieties such as the Breton of Batz-sur-Mer, now spoken by about 200 000 people, mostly older, and revived through Diwan immersion schools and a standard written form; Breton is classified as severely endangered by UNESCO.
What it is for: Not applicable; a language.
It can be explain the language and dialects; relay status and revival; relay history and literature; route to specific dialects.
Distinguishing features
Brythonic Celtic
Four dialects
Endangered status
Revival movement
What it looks like
Not a visible object; written in the Latin alphabet with a peurunvan orthography.
Physical character
speakers: about 200000 count - estimates vary
UNESCO status: severely endangered category
Diwan schools founded: 1977 year
How it is recognised
Brythonic Celtic language of Brittany
Leonais, Tregorrois, Cornouaillais, Gwenedeg dialects; Old and Middle Breton
Cornish and Welsh are sister languages; Gallo is the Romance language of eastern Brittany
Related models
is a kind of - in registry terms
is spoken in - in France
is closely related to - its sister language
is taught in - immersion schools
In practice
Families and kinds
Old Breton
Middle Breton
Leonais or Leon dialect
Tregorrois or Treger dialect
Cornouaillais or Kerne dialect
Gwenedeg or Vannetais dialect
local varieties such as Batz-sur-Mer Breton
standard written Breton
Identifiers
ISO 639-1 br
ISO 639-3 bre
Standards and regulation
French constitutional recognition of regional languages as heritage
Brittany regional language policy and the Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, signed but not ratified by France
Failure modes and hazards
Stale speaker estimates
Conflating dialects with the standard
Presenting language policy debates as settled
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Understand What Breton is.
Linguistics.
Definition
Definition and classification.
Definition
Definition.
- What is Breton, and how is it related to Cornish and Welsh? definition
- Is the question about Breton, a specific dialect, Gallo or another Celtic language? boundary
Dialects
Dialects.
Dialects
Dialects.
- How do Leonais, Tregorrois, Cornouaillais and Gwenedeg differ, and what is the Batz-sur-Mer variety? definition
- Which entry fits the specific dialect? action
Structure Grammar and writing.
Linguistics.
Grammar
Grammar.
Grammar
Grammar.
- What are the main features of Breton phonology and grammar, including mutations? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Orthography
Orthography.
Orthography
Orthography.
- What orthographies exist, and how did the peurunvan standard emerge, with debates attributed? provenance
- Which entry fits Breton orthography? action
Status Status and revival.
Regulation.
Status
Status.
Status
Status.
- What is the legal status of Breton in France, and what policies support it? provenance
- Which sources are cited? provenance
Revival
Revival.
Revival
Revival.
- How do Diwan schools, media and adult classes support revival, and how are speaker numbers changing? provenance
- Which entry fits Diwan? action
Context History and culture.
Context.
History
History.
History
History.
- How did Breton develop from Old Breton through Middle Breton, and how did it decline in the twentieth century? provenance
- Which entry fits Old Breton? action
Culture
Literature and music.
Culture
Culture.
- What are the major works of Breton literature and the role of music and festivals? provenance
- Which entry fits Breton literature? action
What the second pass must settle
- Should the four dialects be separate entries?
- How should linguistic and policy sources be linked?
- The registry entry has merged aliases naming dialects and historical stages; should they be split off?