Joseph Loth (27 December 1847 – 1 April 1934) was a French linguist and historian who specialised in the study of

Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yve ...

Early life

Loth was born in

Guémené-sur-Scorff Guémené-sur-Scorff (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. Inhabitants of Guémené-sur-Scorff are called ''Guémenois''. Geography Guémené is situated on the Scorff river and is unusual in that ...

, Brittany.Maison de Joseph Loth, patrimoine de Guémené
/ref> After his studies at

Sainte-Anne-d'Auray Sainte-Anne-d'Auray (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. It is the third most popular pilgrimage site in France, after Lourdes and Lisieux. History Sainte-Anne-d'Auray is a village in the Diocese ...

, he became a teacher at

Pontivy Pontivy (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the confluence of the river Blavet and the Canal de Nantes à Brest. ...

, then

Quimper Quimper (, ; ; or ) is a Communes of France, commune and Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the ...

and

Saumur Saumur () is a Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgu ...

until the outbreak of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

in 1870. After the end of the conflict, he worked in various institutions in Paris. At this time, he made the acquaintance of

Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville Marie Henri d'Arbois de Jubainville (; 5 December 1827 – 26 February 1910) was a French historian, philologist and Celtic scholar. Career He qualified as a lawyer in 1850, and entered a seminary with the intention of becoming a Catholic priest ...

, who encouraged him to study Celtic languages.

Career

In 1883 he was appointed to the Faculty of Arts at Rennes University, where he taught Celtic. That same year he founded the journal ''Annales de Bretagne'', in which he published numerous studies and edited until 1910. He was appointed professor at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

in 1910 and was elected member of the

Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres). History ...

in 1919. Loth published numerous articles in the ''

Revue Celtique A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during ...

'', re-edited

Pierre de Chalons Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

' Breton-French dictionary and translated into French important Celtic literature including the

Mabinogion The ''Mabinogion'' () is a collection of the earliest Welsh prose stories, compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created –1410, as well as a few earlier frag ...

. He was also an early supporter of the detailed study of variations in local dialects.

Award and achievements

Loth developed an influential model of the historical expansion of the

Breton language Breton (, , ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic languages, Celtic language group spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albei ...

into France. The farthest limit of spoken Breton is known as the "Loth line". It runs from

Mont-Saint-Michel Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. The island lies approximately off France's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is in ...

, through Hédé, and on to the west of

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

to reach the Loire. He received an honorary doctorate (

LL.D A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

) from the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

in June 1901.

Writings

* ''L'Émigration Bretonne en Armorique du Ve au VII siècle de notre ère'', Rennes 1883 réédition Slatkine Reprints Paris-Genève-Gex 1980 () * ', 1884 * ''Remarques sur le bas vannetais'', 1886 * ''Le Mabinogi de Kulhwch et Olwen'', tiré à part de la Revue de Bretagne et de Vendée, mars / avril / mai 1888, Éd. Prud'homme, Saint-Brieuc. * ''Le Dialecte de l'Île aux Moines'', 1893, (réédité et corrigé par Patrick Le Besco, Ar Skol vrezoneg/Emgleo Breiz, Brest, 1999) * ''Chrestomathie bretonne''

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loth, Joseph 1847 births 1934 deaths People from Guémené-sur-Scorff Linguists from France Celtic studies scholars Members of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres Arthurian scholars Academic staff of the Collège de France French lexicographers