#breton language

[assortedvariety]

Language ask game

Hey lovely people, some months ago I was made aware of the coming #jrrtlanguagefest and I have been ✨vibrating in excitement ✨ ever since

This blessed event is upon us and as a language nerd, I would be over the moon if you would like to participate in this ask game I made for it.

Also, don't hesitate to participate in the event (rules and prompts at @jrrt-native-languages-fest ) because I KNOW this fandom is crawling with wonderful people from all around the world that speaks various, multiple tongues 🩷

So for the ask game it is disarmingly simple :

what's one of your favourite words in your native/ favourite language (s) ? Why? 🥰

What is a word you dislike? Why? 😑

Double response:

In french I love the word désabusé, it means disillusioned, disenchanted, I just love the sound and the meaning, like I'm taking a drag of a cigarette and telling it like it is to y'all sweet summer children of the tolkien fandom and further .

And I dislike the word araignée, meaning spider, because i am afraid of them and even idk the sound of the word makes me cringe.

Now in breton I love the word douar, it means earth (planet and soil) and it is such a soft simple word and represents beauty 🌈 🌿🍄🌼💮🌿💐🪻🌴🏔️🌅🏞️🌤️🌏☮️

And I dislike the word reizh, it means sex and is so hard and unsexy I can't. You have one job. This doesn't slide off the tongue.

Tagging lovely people, any language welcome, yes English too, yes quenya, sindarin, klingon, swahili, anything !

@valar-did-me-wrong @iwanderbecauseimlost @dandexllions @hailturinturambar @samwinjester @passigentilcoquelicot @balrogballs @moonsworndandelion @autistook @celebrimborsapron @ffigwit @koyaildoesstuff @hikarielizabethbloom @adarssuggestionbox @adarswidow @celebrimborcoulddestroyme @ohno-elrond @elrondapologist @anariel-the-elrond-apologist @varda-star-queen @gaylilsherlock @granada-brett-crumbs @granadabrettishholmes @spuffyslove @sonennou @unendingwanderlust @wowstrawberrycow @xximmortalkissxx @eowyn7023 @thevalarvarda @scifi-they-wrote @princessfantaghiro @a-sweet-potato-63 @erulasse23 @makeshiftdraco @underthemexicansun @brooksbutler @maul-of-shame @greatmolassesflood @drarrystic @hysar @onebillionblorbos @sonennou @tulacastrej and everyone who wants to participate 🩷🩷🩷

[nkeigbo]

While talk of a new golden age of Celtic cinema might be premature, there’s no mistaking an eclectic new wave of projects making an impact elsewhere: cinemas, television and streaming platforms. Lee Haven Jones’ Welsh-language horror movie The Feast (Gwledd, 2021), shortlisted for the Sutherland Award at the 2021 BFI London Film Festival, was released in US cinemas last year. The first Breton-language drama series, Fin Ar Bed (2017-), was a major hit with French audiences. And Alastair Cole’s acclaimed Boat Song (Iorram, 2021), a lyrical portrait of the Gaelic-speaking fishing community in the Outer Hebrides, is the first cinema documentary entirely in Scots Gaelic.

Celtic cinema’s quiet coming of age

With interest and investment both increasing rapidly in Irish-, Welsh- and Cornish-language films, it feels like a breakthrough moment.

[sonennou]

Objectif du projet / Purpose of the project

BR. Kinnig sonennoù a oa bet kanet din, e bro an Oriant, e-pad emgavioù personel. Kement-se ne vefe ket deuet da benn hep sikour Gaedig Huellou a dreuzskriv an tonioù. Trugarez vras dezhi.

FR. Proposer des chansons en langue bretonne qui m'ont été chantées, dans le pays de Lorient, lors de rencontres personnelles. Ce projet n'aurait pu aboutir sans le concours de Gaëdig Huellou qui transpose les musiques. Un grand merci à elle.

EN. To offer songs in the Breton language that were sung to me in the Lorient area during personal encounters. This project would not have been possible without the help of Gaëdig Huellou who transposes the music. Many thanks to her.

Sten Le Houédec.

[rotzaprachim]

Language Moodboard - brezhoneg / Breton 

for @bubblepunk99s and @asnowballschance

[loubatas]

Breton word of the day is : Menez-tan ("fire mountain")

Volcano. It's Breton for "volcano". I'd say it's pretty obvious, but languages aren't always obvious

"Volkan" also exists, but why would you use a boring loanword from French instead of litterally "fire moutain", uh?

[robespapier]

Cute nicknames in Breton

Breton’s a Celtic language spoken in Brittany (Western France). Nowadays it’s surviving as a minority language because the French Republic tried and manly succeeded in stamping the language out (also, people emigrated, married people from other cultures).

My great-grandparents spoke it, I don’t: I only have a bit of vocabulary, some grammar and I know a few songs.

Nicknames are mainly created using the suffix “-ig”, pronounced “-ic”, like in “music”. It adds the adjective “little” to the nouns and names and makes them sound more affectionate.

Thus, when the famous French comic “Le petit Nicolas/ The little Nicola” by Goscinny and Sempé (Goscinny’s also Astérix’ creator) was translated into Breton, it became “Nikolazig”, from “Nikolaz” in Breton and the suffixe “-ig” for “little”. I’ve also heard it shorten as “Kolazig” or “Kolaig”.

Some of these nicknames became used as first names: like Lénaig (little Helena), Annaig, Yannick (little John/ Jean), Pierrig (little Peter/ Pierre), Soizig (“little Françoise” in French). In some cases it’s more usual to write them with a spelling that looks more French than Breton, changing “-ig” in “ick”: Annaig/ Annaick or even Annick.

Cute affectionate nicknames made from nouns:

Aelig: little angel

Chourig: caress

Chiboudig: sth like “who knows how to preen” but also “who knows how to wow people”

Brinig: literally “little animal” in the sense of “cute but wild”.

Dousig: just an affectionate term, like “sweetie” or “darling”.  

Dibikouz: “Awaken”, in the sense of “full of life”.

Erminig: little stoat.

Glazig: Blue (idk why for that one, but it’s affectionate, like “sweetie”).

Héolig: little sun

Ijin: Genius

Laerig: little thief

Kousker: Sleeper

Laouen, Lirzhin: “happy one”.

Lipousig: little gourmet/ epicure.

Loullig: literally “little ball of fur”, used for a pet.

Toutig, Bihanig: both means “little one”.

Spoum: Foam

Blizidig: “delicate one”

Bisig, Bisousig: little cat

Logodenn: little mouse

And I think that’s all (for the ones I know of)!!!

[langbr-e-brezhoneg-blog]

Breton Mutations

Mutations are one of the typical features of celtic languages. They are called Kemmadur in Breton. Mutations are consonant changes at the beginning of a word that are initiated by the word in front of the word that does the mutation.

There are four types of mutations in breton: soft mutation (kemmadurioù dre vlotaat), hard mutation (kemmadurioù dre galetaat), spirant mutation (kemmadurioù c'hwezhadenniñ) and mixed mutation (kemmadurioù mesket).

So now the big question is when do we use these mutations.

The soft mutation is the most common mutation. It is used with: -many prepositions: da, dre, a, war, dindan, eme, en ur -the question word pe -the articles al, ar, an, ul, ur, un before feminine singular nouns and masculine plural nouns that denote a people (the French, the Breton...) -the possessive pronouns da and e -the verbal particles a, ne, na, ez, ra -the numerals daou and div -the conjunctions pa, pe, tra -the adverb re -the pronouns holl, re, hini -adjectives following feminine singular nouns and masculine plural nouns that denote a people

The spirant mutation is used with: -the possessive pronouns he, o, ma -the numerals tri, teir, pevar, peder, nav

The hard mutation is used for: -the possessive pronoun ho

The mixed mutation is used with: -the verbal particles e and o -the conjunction ma

Learning the mutations: Ideally you learn the table of the sound changes and then when you learn a word that introduces a mutation you learn which change it introduces with the word. When making flashcards write the mutation with the word.

This is an overview to breton mutations, it is not intended to contain all the information there is about the subject but to give an overview. Please note that I myself am a learner and not a fluent or native speaker.

[assortedvariety]

@jrrt-native-languages-fest

Color of the day for jrrt native language fest 🩵💙💚🌿🌊🌀🦚

Glas

(prononce it glaz)

Is the name of a color in breton, and it's particularly interesting because it is as much a concept as it is a color.

Glas means blue, but also green, and sometimes grey. Some languages have different frontiers between the words they put on their perceptions of color.

So glas means blue but also green and grey as far as natural elements are concerned. It is the color of nature, leaves, moss, sea and sky. Nature is a fondamental element of breton culture.

In Tolkien's world in general, and in Rings of Power in particular, those colors take a central place. Between the importance of the sea, the omnipresence of nature and the wonderful palette of the costumes design, we can slide across all the color spectrum encompassed into glas.

From the eyes of young Galadriel ,

The artwork of old Nùmenor,

And its surroundings,

The wonderful costumes of Galadriel,

The colouring of our darling Bronwyn,

And her dear, beloved Arondir,

Elrond's whole color scheme,

But also the lush forests of Lindon,

The bright green of the moss,

And even the greenish blue of Celebrimbor's robes, provided they were dyed using natural colors,

All of it is the same color !

Isn't it fascinating?

so a bit about breton :

Breton is spoken in the western part of Brittany, France, though it is quickly fading, much as the elves in Tolkien's world in the third Age.

It is a sister langage to welsh, having the same celtic roots. Another tie to the professor, who studied and drew inspiration from welsh quite a lot. A lot of the vocabulary is similar.

it is classified as "in serious danger of extinction" by the UNESCO, and the number of speakers is dwindling. It was forbidden in schools for the best part of the last century (Hello Quenya?) and though it is not forbidden anymore, the number of real speakers is so little that the harm is all but done. Still, me and my friends work with it everyday to teach it to children because we love it dearly, and i am going to finish this sentimental post with a TroP quote for Galadriel :

" Protecting that which is most fragile, most dear, is a task entrusted to all Elves."

This langage is beautiful, rich, full of poetry, and virtually dead in a lot of Brittany's parts.

It is my life's task to protect it. Even if I fail, I will have loved getting through life speaking and hearing it.