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Breton, along with
Cornish and
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic languages, a subgroup of the Insular
subgroup of the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family.
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Spoken in Brittany in northwestern
France (all
of Finistère and
the western part of Côtes-d'Armor and Morbihan).
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Breton speakers are also
found in the cities of Rennes and Nantes, and in Paris.
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Various polls indicate that about 450,000
people understand Breton, 300,000 of whom also speak the language.
(eurolang.net)
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Breton is closely related
to
Welsh,
Cornish and, more distantly, to Irish.
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After the 17th century,
Breton occurs in four major dialects: those of Léon, Tréguier,Cornouaille,
and Vannes.
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The number of speakers is
declining.
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Breton is not an official language of France, although there is a
strong nationalistic movement demanding recognition, a place in the
schools, media, and public life.
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The dialects of Breton identified by the Ethnologue are Leonais,
Tregorrois, Vannetais, and Cornouaillais.
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Although most Bretons no longer speak Breton, an effort has been
underway for several years to begin teaching the language in schools
to keep it alive.
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