Breton gets a boost from Welsh couple; Pair help revive ancient language.

Byline: Jean Parry

A FORMER Cardiff couple are using their Welsh links to help revive the Breton language.

Richard Thorpe and his Breton partner Dr Jacqueline Gibson both speak Welsh and Breton and have been active raising links between Wales and Brittany since moving to France 18 months ago.

Richard, spokesman for the Brittany Wales Association, said: "We have set up and teach Welsh-language courses throughout Brittany and aim to strengthen the links between Wales and Brittany."

More than 700 people recently took part in a sponsored run in Brittany in aid of Breton-language schools.

The course began in Nantes and ran west via Lannion, which has been twinned since 1991 with Caerphilly. It finished in Carhaix-Plougher in central Brittany.

Strong bonds have been forged through the twinning over the years with regular visits across the Channel. Richard, originally from Whit church, Cardiff, said the Lannion/ Caerphilly twinning committee was closely linked to their association.

Richard and Dr Gibson, who is president of the Brittany-based sister group of the Wales Brittany Association (Cymdeithas Cymru-Llydaw), raised more than pounds 500 for the cause.

Dr Gibson said: "'The two languages are very close. When the Johnnie Onions (Breton onion sellers) came to Wales they were welcomed with open arms - the Welsh and Breton speakers could communicate with one another quite easily.

"For instance, the word for bread is 'bara' in both Celtic languages. We are cousins.

"When we look at the example of Wales, and how the language has revived there, it gives us hope that the same thing can happen here.

"Of course the most important thing is education - without that we have no future for our language and culture. The sponsored run, Ar Redadeg, was organised to not only raise funds but also to raise awareness of the need to wake up to the fact that the loss of a language is a loss to humanity.

"It's difficult to retrieve it once it's gone."

About 540,000 people speak Breton, a language that has been stifled in the past by the French republican principle, a unitary state inhabited by one nation.

According to the 2001 Census results, 582,368 people aged three or more could speak Welsh - 20.8% of Wales' population.

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LANGUAGE LOVERS: Richard Thorpe and Dr Jacqueline Gibson are improving links between Wales and Brittany