When Tangi Louarn casts his vote in next month's French presidential election he will be forced to do so in a language that he does not recognise as his own.
A resident of the rugged peninsula region of Brittany in northwestern France, Louarn is one of about 200,000 speakers of Breton, once the world's most commonly spoken Celtic language but now recognised as severely endangered by UNESCO.
Despite its precarious situation, Breton has no formal status in France. It is not offered as a language of education in the public school system, the state makes no provision for regional language media, and it is not used in government or public services.
Once home to a vibrant multitude of tongues, the monolingualism of modern France is enshrined in article two of the country's constitution, rooted in the revolutionary principles of 1789, which reads: "The language of the Republic shall be French."
Yet Louarn, the president of Kevre Breizh, a Breton language activist group, says that regional language speakers are still waiting for their human rights to to be respected.
"Breton is my language. It is a part of my identity. Yet 'Liberte, egalite, fraternite' is only for people speaking French. When you speak another language you do not have equality." » | Simon Hooper | Friday, March 30, 2012
REUTERS FRANCE: Manifestations en faveur des langues regionals : PARIS - Des manifestations en faveur des langues régionales se sont déroulées samedi dans une dizaine de villes de France, dont Strasbourg, Lille, Quimper, Toulouse, Perpignan et Ajaccio, à l'appel d'une coordination nationale. » | Gilbert Reilhac à Strasbourg, édité par Marine Pennetier | samedi 31 mars 2012
