Contested varieties and competing authenticities: neologisms in revitalized Breton

Abstract

Revitalized" or "neo" Breton as a contested variety exhibits a number of features of a language which has been revitalized from the "bottom-up", including a lack of acceptance of certain neologisms, particularly those coined (it is claimed) from a "purist" or "nationalist" provenance. Here, we explore how these neologisms are contested through the prism of language ideology and how competing claims to Breton 'authenticity' are being played out in a variety of arenas, including internet fora.

New speakers: Challenges and opportunities for variationist sociolinguistics

“…For example, to render Breton functional in additional domains, the néo‐Bretonnants have innovated neologisms as opposed to borrowing from Standard French, as is the norm for the vast majority of native speakers; néo‐Bretonnant lexicon is also typically purged of existing borrowings (see Table for some examples). In spite of these common ‘distanciation strategies’ (Thiers, ), which are said to be ideologically motivated (see Hornsby, ), Jones reports that their grammar shows considerable influence from Standard French . In many cases, new speakers of Breton are not community‐insiders in the traditional sense.…”

“…Although these speakers self‐identify as bretonnant , other members of the community, who are typically more deeply rooted, can and do contest their status. As a result, Jones (), Adkins () and Hornsby () also discuss the level of linguistic insecurity that is felt by both native speakers and new speakers where contact between the two occurs, and where issues pertaining to sociolinguistic authenticity ( e.g . Coupland, ) are foregrounded.…”

“…While further research is needed to systematically test this hypothesis, some evidence from the new‐speaker literature suggests that such diffusion is possible. For instance, Hornsby () identifies in his sample a small number of native Breton speakers who do not necessarily harbour negative attitudes towards new‐speaker variants. Similarly, on the basis of a subset of Francoprovençal lexical variables, Kasstan () has shown that, in some cases, native speakers can produce neologised new‐speaker variants in a wordlist translation tasks (see Table ).…”

Defiance within the decline? Revisiting new Welsh speakers’ language journeys

“…The study of new speakers of minority languages is an established field of investigation, often drawing together disciplines such as language policy and planning, sociolinguistics and the sociology of language. New speakers feature prominently in the field of minority language education (Robert 2009;Grinevald and Bert 2011;Hodges 2012Hodges , 2014Hornsby 2015a) and are considered by some to be an essential component of language revitalisation efforts. As minority languages increasingly face losing significant numbers of speakers or even extinction (Crystal 2014), research involving new speakers of these languages are clearly necessary and worthwhile.…”

Revitalising Language in Provence: A Critical Approach

“…On the other hand they are often accused of not speaking the minority language properly: they mix languages, they do not perform the right accent, and so forth. Adults tend to view them with suspicion, a pattern reproduced within many language revitalisation movements (Hornsby & Quentel, 2013; for similar developments in Brittany see Hornsby, 2015;Le Nevez, 2006).…”