Thursday, October 25, 2007

Breton and Breton Heritage

For those learning Breton, the resources are few and far between. There are two good places to go, however. If you speak French, there's a tricky to use but relatively thorough dictionary at http://www.preder.net/klask.php. And for Breton phrases, lessons and stories, there's kervarker.org.

Naming a site after Kervarker is interesting. Kervarker is a Breton rendering of the name Villemarque: kêr = village, and note how the "m" in marque mutates to a "v" - these initial mutations, of which Breton has multiple types, are part of what makes learning Celtic languages such a joy. In the 19th century, Villemarque gathered a lot of folk songs (including the "Marzhin, Marzhin...") and noted them down to preserve a bit of the old Breton heritage. On the other hand, some suggest that he gussied them up a bit to fit with French notions of what good folk poetry ought to look like. So he preserved his vision of the old Breton heritage, perhaps. Still, Kervarker.org, like Kervarker before, is doing a nice turn to keep Breton available for the interested.

(For all your island Celtic tongues, of course, visit the Omniglot.)

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