Theme of the year - Redadeg 2018

In 2018, the Redadeg proposed an important theme for the development and the future of the language:
Brezhoneg liesliv - The colours of Breton
To highlight the wealth of Breton dialects in the region.

« It’s not the same Breton and how lucky we are ! »

We are certainly lucky to speak a language that can be so different from one end of our country to the other. Nothing seems more beautiful than hearing people here say that we do not speak the same Breton everywhere : we can hear pronounced "brezh’neg", "brezhouneg" or "brehoneg" and everything is perfectly understandable.

Our wealth is our language, an element of our own, just like our culture. They go hand in hand. It is always a great pleasure for us to hear people speaking in a Breton different from ours. Especially because we live in a globalised world where people are urged to think the same way and to drink the same black and sweet drink whether we are in Paris, San Francisco or Lima. But Breton, or rather the Bretons, have their own music. And the question is not whether to use French words in the sentence but rather to preserve the spirit, the syntax and the pronunciation belonging to the Breton language.

Because it’s more than words and sentences, it’s a way of understanding the world.
All too often today, we find the influence of French in the sentence construction and it seems to us that if we continue in this direction we will really lose this singularity of our language that makes us see and understand the world differently.

One thing is certain: every day we observe the disappearance of Brittophones (Breton speakers) brought up in Breton since birth, those who learned on their mother’s laps and who leave us, taking with them a part of the richness of our culture.

Despite the formidable work carried out in schools and by those teaching adults, it is time to think about the language that we wish to pass on.
Because Breton, like all other things, has evolved and did not remain stuck in the last century. People have invented new words to meet their needs and linked to their era, as they have always done from generation to generation.
It’s by learning as much as possible of the language from our elders that we understand these evolutions, as well as the importance and the breadth of the Breton language, and that we can comprehend the wealth of our heritage and our identity.

Let’s try our best to allow people to continue thinking and speaking in Breton. It is up to us to imagine other ways to make the link between these Breton speakers (or Brittophones) and those who become them. The same goes for the bridges to be built between the current Breton and the one passed down to us by our elders.

This way, we might one day hear:
"Oh, it’s not the same Breton, but it’s nice to listen to, let’s speak Breton!"

Listen to the colours of the language !

To help you in your research on Breton speakers, we have listed a selection of websites with interesting recordings. Of course there are other sites that exist that you may come across as you search the web, and they are just as interesting.

Komzoù brezhoneg : more than 40 videos containing mainly Breton speakers from Kreiz Breizh (Central Brittany)
https://kozh.skolvreizh.com/komzoubrezhonegmenu

Brezhoneg Bro-Vear : a collection of words and expressions from the area of Begard (Bro-Vear) with their phonetic form and some recordings for sound illustration.
https://www.brezhonegbrovear.bzh

Radio Breizh : 5 radio stations broadcasting live or via podcasts (Arvorig FM, Radio Bro-Gwened, Radio Kreiz-Breizh, Radio Kerne et Plum FM).
http://www.radiobreizh.bzh

Sound bank of Breton dialects : discussions, translations, stories recorded mainly in the Finistère and the Morbihan.
http://banque.sonore.breton.free.fr/

INA (National Audiovisual Institute) : archives in breton on all sorts of themes (87 videos)
http://fresques.ina.fr/ouest-en-memoire

Dastum : numerous interviews in Breton (you need to subscribe to Dastum in order to listen to the recordings, it’s free)
http://www.dastumedia.bzh

Brezhoneg Bew : 42 hours of recordings in Breton from Kreiz-Breizh (Central Brittany), some with subtitles
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrezhonegBew

Bazhvalan : The Bretagne Culture Diversité association made a list of a good number of Breton speakers (and Gallo speakers) that we can meet in order to progress in our language learning.
http://www.bcd.bzh/bazhvalan

Mouezh ar bobl ha son al lennegezh : Project supported by the Redadeg in 2014 where we can find hours of video and audio recordings from Basse Bretagne
http://www.blazproduktion.bzh/

Dastumedia : the collection « A-hed ar C’hantved » is also on Dastumedia ( open to all and free)
http://www.dastumedia.bzh/dyn/portal/index.seam?cid=11