Breton: A Celtic Language Bible Project

There are six Celtic languages: Breton, Cornish, Gaelic, Irish, Manx, and Welsh. These languages share many similarities, including vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, but of the six, two in particular are very closely related: Breton and Cornish. From AD 800 to 1100, these two languages were classified as independent languages (Old Breton and Old Cornish); however, they were indistinguishable and only separated geographically rather than linguistically.

In the first part of the Middle Ages, a group of migrants moved from Britain to the Brittany peninsula in France. Taking their language with them, these migrants established the only Celtic language in Europe. In time, the language evolved, borrowing from the French and other European languages surrounding them.

People used Breton as a regional language from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. However, the French government preferred its citizens to use the French language in business and education, and as a result, the language did not expand out of the regional area. In the 1950s there were about one million Breton speakers; that number drastically dropped to two hundred thousand in the early 2000s—experts now consider it an endangered language. While many Breton speakers are bilingual, about thirty-five thousand speakers use it as their preferred language. Today the language is resurging, with Breton now being taught and spoken in bilingual schools and at home.

One of our translators on the French project recently made us aware that another organisation published a revised Breton Bible. In the past, TBS published the 1897 Guillaume Le Coat Bible (which is based on the Greek Received Text and Hebrew Masoretic Text, and translated using the principle of formal equivalence) but stopped when we discovered that it needed revising to conform to our standards and principles. The new revision is based on this Bible. Our Senior Editorial Consultant for Linguistics analysed the revision and found a few issues requiring further attention. While the revisers are unwilling to change their revision, they will license it to TBS along with permission to amend the text.

We would like to see a faithful translation of the Breton Bible made widely available, as we long to give all people groups throughout the world a copy of the Scriptures in their own heart language. For the project to proceed, we require a native Breton speaker who would be willing to assist us in further evaluating and revising the text. Your prayers before the Throne of Grace for a Breton speaker to help with this project are much desired.

‘And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; that then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee’ (Deuteronomy 30.2–3).