Trégorrois Breton is the dialect of Breton spoken in Trégor ( in Breton).

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Distinguishing characteristics

Trégorrois differs from other varieties of the language in a number of ways:

  • It always uses the possessive (often pronounced ) whereas the other dialects use before l, before n,d,t,h and vowels, and before all others (these other forms are nonetheless understood because of exposure to hymns and songs, for instance)
  • After the possessive , Trégorrois makes a sibilant variation (e.g., where Vannetais uses /hon tu/, or Cornouaillais and Léonard , Trégorrois says )
  • The h is very aspirated (e.g., in )
  • Different from Léonard, z is generally not pronounced (nor is it in Cornouaillais and Vannetais)
  • The tonic accent is very strong (for example, is pronounced /b:in/)
  • Certain constructions are preferred. For instance, or instead of
  • Frequently the 'd' will not mutate into a z where it would in the other dialects (for example, )
  • The glyph w is generally pronounced ou (e.g., is pronounced /uar/), unlike Léonard dialect where it is pronounced /v/

There are several other pronunciation details. For example, is pronounced /ãn heul/ (compare to the /ar mur/ of Kemper). This is possible in Trégorrois because the very strong aspiration of /h/ avoids any confusion with the word 'oil' ().

Finally, future endings are different. The future of Middle Breton was , , . Trégorrois moved from h to f (forms in , , , etc.). (Compare with the forms , , of Vannetais, due to the appearance of an -a- elision (pronounced /e/).

Source

This article is based on the French-language Wikipedia's article: Breton trégorrois.

  • Ethnologue: Breton Uses the dialect names listed in this article
  • Omniglot: Breton language, alphabet and pronunciation Refers to the dialects as Kerneveg (Cornouaille), Leoneg (Leon), Tregerieg (Tregor), and Gwenedeg (Vannetais)
  • Breizh.net A "non-profit association whose objective is the promotion of Brittany and the Breton language on the web"
  • 6th Annual Conference of the North American Association for Celtic Language Teachers, The Information Age, Celtic Languages and the New Millennium Includes a brief overview of Breton history and dialects