Breton language

Breton (Brezhoneg in Breton) is a Celtic language that is spoken in Brittany, in the north-west of France. Breton is closely related to Welsh, which is spoken in Wales, and to Cornish, which is spoken in Cornwall, in south-western Great Britain. All of them are Brythonic languages.

Breton
Brezhonegcode: bre promoted to code: br
Native to	France
Region	Brittany
Native speakers	206,000 (2007)[1]
Language family	Indo-European Celtic Insular Celtic Brythonic Breton
Writing system	Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-1	br
ISO 639-2	bre
ISO 639-3	Variously: bre – Modern Breton xbm – Middle Breton obt – Old Breton
Linguist List	xbm Middle Breton
	obt Old Breton
ELP	Breton
Linguasphere	50-ABB-b (varieties: 50-ABB-ba to -be)

For the people, see Breton (people).

Road sign in two languages (in Kemper/Quimper)

Breton is less closely related to the Goidelic languages of Scottish Gaelic, which is spoken in Scotland; Irish, which is spoken in Ireland; and Manx, which is spoken on the Isle of Man.

Breton has about 240,000 speakers,^[2]111 but that number is falling very quickly because the French government has a policy of using French. As such, Breton is considered to be an endangered language.

Example

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Breton: Dieub ha par en o dellezegezh hag o gwirioù eo ganet an holl dud. Poell ha skiant zo dezho ha dleout a reont bevañ an eil gant egile en ur spered a genvreudeuriezh.[3]

English: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.[4]