The commune of Plozévet is situated at the south-western tip of Brittany, on the shore of the « baie d’ Audierne ».The spoken Breton of Plozévet has kept archaic features suggesting a former continuity stretching from the shores of the « baie d’ Audierne » to the Vannetais area, perceptible in some aspects of its phonology, morphology and lexis. It has also kept some characteristics common to the three western peninsulas (Léon, Crozon, Cap Sizun and Cap Caval), also peculiar to the periphery of Celticspeaking Brittany.But some innovations coming from the central zone (Carhaix region), and then from Léon, filtered through Quimper and brought these former continuities to an end.The spoken Breton of Plozévet obviously shares many features with the rest of southwestern Cornouaille, but also has some distinctive characteristics: thus, the groups «-r n » and « –l n » pronounced [ŋ], the opening of the second element of the diphthong /ew/ into /ea/, pronounced [eaɔ] in absolute final position, a predilection for syllables composed of a short vowel followed by a fortis consonant, in monosyllables too, and also the neutralization of the opposition between themorphemes of the second persons singular and plural.The study of the Breton vocabulary contained in the so-called Napoleonic cadastre (1828) reveals that, although some of the lexemes have become obsolete, the language evolved but little during the 19th and 20th centuries.In the 19th century, the mayors of Plozévet asked for schoolmasters, above all to teach French to the children, who only knew Breton. Breton was spoken more than French until the 1960’s, but then declined rapidly.
