Among many minority languages struggling for survival is Breton. The people who speak it are conscious enough of their Celtic ties to have an annual Celtic fortnight every summer, with celebrations in Nantes and elsewhere, shared by pipers not only from Brittany but also from Ireland and Scotland, and have fought a long battle in defense of its heritage. As is true for other minority languages the most important battle-ground is the field of education. Attempts to have instruction in Breton integrated into the school system have been made since 1867 without success. A Breton organization, Diwan, has in recent years been organizing some Breton instruction in lower Brittany. An idea of the problem they face may be gleaned from the fact that only six pupils registered for a class planned for Nantes in September 1978. It was thought that by class-time, however, the number might rise to fifteen. A small majority of parents do not themselves speak Breton. The problem, of course, goes beyond the matter of parent-pupil interest.Since there is no government support, the questions of financing and even finding a locale become paramount. For the Nantes project the feasibility of asking help of surrounding communities has been discussed. The festnoz ('party-night') has been recommended as a means of raising funds. There is political reticence to support the Breton cause especially on the part of the Socialist and Communist Parties. Also important is the laical character of the schools. The pro-Breton faction want the schools to be part of the public school system. Some would have the instruction evenly divided between French and Breton with the burden thus put on the government to show that the minority language can be learned under such a system. Others would have more than 50% of the instruction given in Breton. Even where there are schools with some instruction in Breton, e.g. in Quimper (Breton: Kemper) and Rennes (Breton: Roazhon), sometimes it would seem to be the merest token gesture with as little as five minutes a 1
La verkinto antaŭe verkis pli mallonge pri la friula, kaj detale pri la romanjola. La recenzata grava verko identigas la friulan sur bazoj diversgrade struktura, historia, demografia kaj kultura. Por la verkinto, dialekto igas lingvo, kiam en gi oni verkas kreive. La friula regiono estis milite grava sed malrica, spite al kelkaj industrioj. Lau la historia lingvistiko, la friula estas parenca al la lingvoj de Sudtirolo kaj Grizono, kaj estas frapa simileco al la malnovfranca. La friula akiris apartan lingvan identon jam frue, kaj ekaperis dokumentoj en gi. Enestas ampleksa sekcio pri la literaturo, kun originalaj tekstoj, kaj biografioj de la verkintoj. La literatura antologio donas specimenojn kun datoj de 1349 gis 1972. Enestas bonega sekcio pri lingvistiko, kun detala traktado de la fonologio kaj ortografio. La traktado de la verboj, frazoj, adverboj, ktp., estas detala kaj praktika. La bibliografio enhavas citajojn gis 1974. Resume, temas pri tre moderna, legebla, praktika eldonajb, en moderna etoso, sed tamen konstruata sur la fundamento de la grandaj lingvistoj de la pasinta jarcento. La verko estas testamento al la interrilato de la lingva evoluo kun sociaj, ekonomiaj kaj historiaj fortoj.
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