Language Loss and Revival Case Study: Bretagne, France

In the Northwestern region of France, in the province of Brittany (Bretagne), there has been a renewed interest in the revival of the formerly dominant regional language, Breton. It is a Celtic language and a descendant from the Celtic British language which was first brought to the region during the Middle Ages. Over time, it was influenced by French and Latin, and today it is a fluid, Celtic language. Listen to a sample in this video (the Breton anthem).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCDZtYkfhjQ

In the latter part of the MIddle Ages, Breton was replaced by Latin and then French in high society. Thus, the language became a popular language spoken mainly by the plebeians of society. To this day, French remains the sole language of the Republic of France. In 1880 and until the mid 1950s, Breton was actually banned from schools, and citizens of Brittany were humiliated and punished gravely for speaking the language. Residents refrained from using it, even at home. This persecution greatly hurt the language. In less than a century, the number of speakers of Breton declined by 80%. Today around 13% of the region's population (about 200,000 people) speak the language. Historian Fanch Broudich claims it is the only language in history to have declined in use so dramatically in such a short period of time.

However, today, the younger generations have a renewed interest in learning about their Breton heritage. A young girl interviewed said, "To defend our culture, we have to speak Breton." It is seen as a "resistance to globalization" and a way to reconnect with cultural identity. In the 1970s, a community of concerned Breton elders and parents created the Diwan school system. These schools use Breton as the language of instruction and often do no begin teaching French until age 7. By age 10, the two languages are taught at equal frequencies. These immersion schools are very effective at producing Breton speakers, and the revival of the language has been seen as a success. The problem remains in the sheer numbers of Brittany citizens who are not learning the language.

I wanted to write about this subject because I always find it interesting to learn about small different cultural communities that are often neglected or unexposed in our general world view. Also, I love to learn of examples where language revival is successful because I think it's a very important issue.

Sources:
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/breton.htm

http://icdbl.org/saozg/Diwan_Intro.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0vMxu1bUq8 (al Jazeera report)