ABSTRACTThe decline of many European languages is related to their marginalization by recent sociopolitical developments: modernization, centralization, industrialization; but in the case of Celtic Breton it is also linked to long‐standing isolation. The concepts ofcodificationandstandardizationare separable. Breton, in spite of a fine literature, has, through lack of prestige and of public presence, dialectal fragmentation, the ‘mentalities forged by history’ (Hagège 1987:198), and dissension among speakers, never achieved real standardization. It is feared that current support may be too late, though the untiring efforts being made by activists give cause fo