Reviewed by Joseph F. Eska, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Ian Press’s short guide to ‘standard’ Breton begins with a history of the language (3–11). A member of the Brittonic subgroup of the Insular Celtic languages, the language came to Brittany from southwestern Great Britain starting in the fifth century ce. Four dialects—Kerneveg, Leoneg, Tregerieg, and the quite distinctive Gweneveg—evolved over time. In western Brittany, the language was the principal one spoken until ca. 1990, though it has been in decline since 1789 when a strongly centralized French state was established. P goes into some detail about the repression of Breton, but finishes this section with some positive remarks about the revitalization of the language.

The grammatical description is very simple and depends heavily on several previously published works that are acknowledged in the preface (i).  Despite the term ‘standard’ in his title, P is usually content to provide an array of variants found across the dialects in his discussion of the phonology. For the dialectologist, this could be most useful, but for the nonspecialist attempting to learn something of the phonological component of the grammar for the first time, considerable frustration likely awaits.

The linguistic reader is best served by the nonphonological portions of the volume, in which one learns of the use of the morphophonemic initial mutations so characteristic of the Insular Celtic languages and a sizeable number of details about nominal, adjectival, pronominal, and verbal formation and syntax. Considerable information can be gleaned from these pages, but the sparse number of examples places a substantial burden on the reader to access it.  The often anecdotal flavor of the presentation reminds one of phrase books intended for the traveler with a casual interest in the language. P’s volume is a quick read and provides some interesting bits of information, but the professional linguist interested in a formal and more complete presentation of Breton grammar should look elsewhere. A useful bibliography at the end of the volume will help the reader to do this.