Breton toponymy is not an urgent matter to be classified as intangible heritage of humanity, according to UNESCO

In its decision, UNESCO nevertheless encourages France to “ensure the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage” in Brittany.

UNESCO says “no”: the UN organization based in Paris has rejected the request of a Breton association aiming to register in “extreme urgency“Breton toponymy is part of the intangible heritage of humanity,” we learned on Sunday evening, September 1.

The Bureau of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO considered that this application did not constitute “a case of extreme urgency on the basis of Article 17.3 of the Convention“for the preservation of this heritage, according to a decision dated June 4 published on the website of the international organization.

The Koun Breizh association (Memory of Brittany), who initiated the application, believed that the 3DS law (differentiation, decentralization, deconcentration and simplification) threatened Breton toponymy by requiring municipalities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants to assign a street name and number to each user.

This standardization of place names”silently and insidiously leads to the de-Bretonization of our countryside“, deplored Yvon Ollivier, president of the association, in May. In its request to UNESCO, the association cited examples of hamlet names in Breton which disappeared or were Frenchified following this new addressing.

In its decision, UNESCO encourages “France to continue working with the communities concerned to ensure the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage” in Brittany.

The Koun Breizh association sees this as recognition of “our toponymy in the Breton language” and a call to “public authorities to devote themselves fully to its protection“, according to a press release.”This recognition is already a victory and should convince the Bretons of the treasure that lies in our toponymy, and more broadly in our Breton language.“, it is added.

The purpose of this “addressing” is to facilitate in particular relief, the distribution of letters and parcels, or even the deployment of fiber. It has also been debated in other French regions, whether Alsace or Creuse.