Breton/Level 1/Lesson 4

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Mutations
'''Foreword : This lesson does not deal with exceptions. Please refer to the next lesson on mutations for a full explanation including exceptions.'''

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

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

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) :




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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

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 article :

Go to the Quiz

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


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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


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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


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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


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Exercises
Go to the Quiz


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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 !


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