L’histoire phonologique du déterminant défini et indéfini à Saint-Yvi en Cornouaille selon les observations faites par de Jubainville à Fouesnant en 1874

Abstract

In Saint-Yvi, six kilometres north of Fouesnant, we find a case similar to the one described by d’Arbois de Jubainville after a visit to Fouesnant in the last century: only the form of the determiner an was used, as in Middle-Breton, whereas ar and al can hardly be heard. The survival of such an archaism is of great interest to those researching the history of the Breton language. The aim of this article is to describe the form of the definite and indefinite determiner in the commune, and then to propose a historical explanation of its phonetic evolution in this Cornish sub-dialect.

Keywords

• dialectology
• phonology
• Breton (language)
• Saint-Yvi
• definite determiner
• indefinite determiner