Language shift, Diglossia and dialectal variation in Western Brittany : the case of Southern Cornouaille

• Main Author: German, Gary
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Universität Potsdam 2007
• Subjects: Other languages
• Online Access: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-19264; http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2008/1926/

Extract: [...]In the first part of this paper I trace the language shift from Breton to French within the historical, social and ideological framework in which it occurred. I then argue that 19th and 20th-century attempts by scholars and militants to rehabilitate the Breton language led to the creation of a unified standard (peurunvan).2 The consequence has been the rise of a three-way diglossic rapport between the speakers of French, the new Breton standard3 and those of the traditional Breton vernaculars. Taking the varieties of southern Cornouaille (Finistère) between Quimper and Quimperlé as a point of comparison,4 I focus on a number of phonological, morphological, syntactical and lexical features which, though far from exhausttive, are not generally taken into account in the new standard language. These details provide a general idea of how varieties of Breton function at the micro-dialectological level, as well as ways in which they can differ from the standard and other spoken varieties. The paper concludes with observations regarding the necessity to consider languages, language varieties and their speakers within relevant social contexts.[...]