The Brittanica tells us that Breton is “a member of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages, spoken in Brittany in northwestern France. Breton was introduced into northwestern France in the 5th and 6th centuries by Brythonic Celtic refugees displaced from southern England by the influx of Anglo-Saxons. The language is closely related to Cornish and Welsh but has been influenced by French and perhaps by a continental Celtic language formerly spoken in the region.” [Brittanica] There are about 540,000 speakers of this Celtic language and a Welsh couple are helping to revive it.

Richard Thorpe and his Breton partner Dr Jacqueline Gibson both speak Welsh and Breton and have been active raising links between Wales and Brittany since moving to France 18 months ago. More than 700 people recently took part in a sponsored run in Brittany in aid of Breton-language schools. The course began in Nantes and ran west via Lannion, which has been twinned since 1991 with Caerphilly. It finished in Carhaix-Plougher in central Brittany.

Richard and Dr Gibson, who is president of the Brittany-based sister group of the Wales Brittany Association (Cymdeithas Cymru-Llydaw), raised more than £500 for the cause. Dr Gibson said:

The two languages are very close. When the Johnnie Onions (Breton onion sellers) came to Wales they were welcomed with open arms – the Welsh and Breton speakers could communicate with one another quite easily.

For instance, the word for bread is ‘bara’ in both Celtic languages. We are cousins.

When we look at the example of Wales, and how the language has revived there, it gives us hope that the same thing can happen here.

Of course the most important thing is education – without that we have no future for our language and culture. The sponsored run, Ar Redadeg, was organised to not only raise funds but also to raise awareness of the need to wake up to the fact that the loss of a language is a loss to humanity.

It’s difficult to retrieve it once it’s gone.

You can read the full article from icWales and visit Cymru-Llydaw here.

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