Projet d’un dictionnaire de la prononciation des toponymes bretons (DPTB)

Abstract

Traditionally, toponymists have been concerned almost exclusively with diachronic considerations. They only work with written documentation, and only sporadically take modern pronunciations into account. It has to be admitted that the modern forms of most Breton toponyms are virtually unknown to science, as they have never been recorded. There is no systematic relationship between (often multiple) spellings and pronunciation, and traditional Breton is weakening as its speakers age and die. In these conditions, it seems to me that one of the most urgent tasks of Breton toponymy is the systematic collection of current pronunciations from a synchronic descriptive perspective.

Keywords

• dictionary
• toponymy
• Breton (language)
• pronunciation
• orality