Brezhoneg Unan/Lesson 4

[edit] Mutations

Foreword : This lesson does not treat of exceptions. Please refer to the next lesson on mutations for a full explanation including exceptions.

[edit] Definition

A mutation is the change of the first letter of a word according to different contexts.

Exemples :
     Mamm (mother) --> Ar vamm (the mother)
     Kozh (old)    --> Mamm gozh (Grand mother)

[edit] Table of mutations

Mutations in Breton obey to regular phonetics laws.

They are summarized in the table below (details to be found in the rest of this page) :

[edit] Mutations to soften ("dre vlotaat")

Soft mutation happens in the following cases :

• after a, da, daou, div, dindan, diwar, dre, e (possessive), eme, en em, en ur, hanter, holl, na, ne, pa, pe, re, war...
• after the article for the feminine singular words and the related adjective
• after the article for the masculine plural person names (except when the plural is in -où) and the related adjective

Soft Mutation will be noted (S!)
Following letters are affected:
B     becomes	V
D     becomes	Z
K     becomes	G
G     becomes	C'H
GW    becomes	W
P     becomes	B
M     becomes	V
T     becomes	D

Examples :

Breur (brother) gives Da vreur

Dant (tooth) gives Da zant

Glin (kneel) gives Da c'hlin

[edit] Mutations after the article (simplified)

This lesson does not treat of the following exceptions (the next lesson on mutations gives the corresponding rules) :

• Plac'h (girl)
• Dor (door)
• Bag (boat), tra (thing)
• Tadoù (fathers), testoù (witnesses), priedoù (husbands), mestroù (chiefs)

Here is a summary for mutations after the article :

Here is a presentation of the rules regarding the mutations after the aticle :

Go to the Quiz

[edit] Mutations of the adjective epithet (simplified)

This lesson does not treat of the following exceptions (the next lesson on mutations gives the corresponding rules) :

• Plac'h (girl)
• Dor (door)
• Bag (boat), tra (thing), amzer (weather), avel (wind), c'hwezh (odour)
• Labour (work)
• Person names
• Tadoù (fathers), testoù (witnesses), priedoù (husbands), mestroù (chiefs)

Here is a summary for mutations of the adjective epithet :

Here is a presentation of the rules regarding the mutations of the adjective epithet :

Go to the Quiz

[edit] Mutations to harden ("dre galetaat")

Hard mutation happens in the following cases :

• Possessive "ho" (yours)
• After "az, "ez", "'z" (you - sg.)
• After "da'z ..." (to yours ...)
• After "ez" (in yours ...)

Hard Mutation will be noted (H!)
Following letters are affected:
B     becomes	P
D     becomes	T
G     becomes	K

Examples :

Breur (brother) gives Ho preur

Dant (tooth) gives Ho tant

Glin (kneel) gives Ho klin

[edit] Mixed mutations

Mixed mutation happens in the following cases :

• Present participe

Formed by "o" + Verb.

• After verb particle "e"
• After "ma" (That)

Mixed Mutation will be noted (M!)
Following letters are affected:
B     becomes	V
D     becomes	T
G     becomes	C'H
GW    becomes	W
M     becomes	V

Examples :

Deskiñ (to learn) gives O teskiñ

Gortoz (to wait) gives O c'hortoz

[edit] Spirant mutations

Spirant mutation happens in the following cases :

• After "ma" or "va" (mine)
• After "he" (Hers)
• After "o" (Theirs)
• After numbers : tri, teir, pevar, peder, nav

Spirant Mutation will be noted (Sp!)
Following letters are affected:
P     becomes	F
T     becomes	Z
K     becomes	C'H

Examples :

Penn (head) gives Va fenn

Kador (chair) gives Va c'hador

[edit] Exercises

Go to the Quiz

[edit] Local variations , frequent errors

The rules presented above match the most common usage.

However, in some cases, local forms exist that are different.

Also, errors in mutations are frequent ...

Caution : Some Google matches may not be in Breton but in some other language ! The figures are an approximation !