Guy Étienne facts for kids
Guy Étienne (also known as Gwion Steven in Breton or Abanna) was a famous writer and dictionary maker. He was born on September 18, 1928, in Saint-Carreuc and passed away on January 6, 2015, in Châteaulin.
Guy Étienne is best known for starting the Emsav magazine and the Preder publishing house. He wrote many articles and created important dictionaries for the Breton language. He also led a science magazine called Lavar. This magazine helped language experts create new Breton words for special topics like medicine or computer science.
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Guy Étienne's Contributions
Guy Étienne started his writing journey by creating poems for the magazine Al Liamm in 1953. He also translated articles from other languages into Breton.
In 1959, he worked on a political magazine called Ar Vro with Pêr Denez and Ronan Pennek.
Since 1960, he began writing articles about the history of the Breton cultural movement, Emsav. He became more and more interested in creating new words and developing the Breton language. This became his main focus from the 1990s onwards.
Creating New Breton Words
Guy Étienne had many discussions about creating new words (called neologisms) with other language experts like Roparz Hemon. These discussions were often shared in the "Preder" magazine between 1957 and 1977.
Because of these talks, Guy Étienne decided to create the magazine Lavar. This magazine shared all the new word ideas he and others like Roparz Hemon, Goulven Pennaod, and Martial Ménard had.
After his magazine Emsav closed in 1978, Guy Étienne stopped focusing on politics. From 1979, he worked fully on linguistics, which is the study of language. He did this through the Preder publishing house with Goulwenn Penaod.
The new words he created were often built from old Celtic roots. These roots came from languages like Old Breton, Welsh, or Cornish. He tried to avoid words that came from Latin or other international languages.
Important Works
Guy Étienne wrote different kinds of books, including poems and many dictionaries.
Poems by Guy Étienne
- Diazerc'h (Poems and other writings), published by Preder in 1975.
- Krennlavaroù nevez an ifern (New Proverbs of Hell), published by Preder in 2005.
- La Pierre du Oui / Maen ar Ya (The Stone of Yes), a poetry book in both French and Breton, published in 1989.
Dictionaries by Guy Étienne
Guy Étienne created many specialized dictionaries to help people use Breton for different subjects.
- Geriadur a gorfadurezh (Anatomy Dictionary), published in parts from 1960 to 1963.
- Geriadur ar Mediaoù (Dictionary of Cinema and Video), written with Pascal Le Moal in 2000.
- Geriadur ar Stlenneg (Computer Science Dictionary), which included French, English, and Breton words, published in 1995.
- Geriadur ar Bredelfennerezh e peder yezh (Psychoanalysis Dictionary in four languages: French, German, English, Breton), published in 1983.
- Geriadur ar Gorfadurezh (Anatomy Dictionary), which followed international names in French, Latin, and Breton, published in 1999.
- Geriadur ar Vezekniezh (Medical Dictionary), a very large project in many parts, including French, English, and Breton. He worked on this with Yann-Baol an Noalleg for later parts.
Other Studies and Writings
Guy Étienne also contributed to other books and studies, often writing prefaces or working with other authors. These included collections of stories and reflections.
- Un Hent hag un dremmwel (A Path and a Horizon)
- Ar gwez el latar (The Trees in the Orchard)
- Ha brav e oa ar skolveur (And the University Was Beautiful)
- Ur sizhunvezh dispac'h (A Week of Revolution)
- Roazhon bepred (Rennes Always)
- Pa save al loar (When the Moon Rose)
- Ar pezh a chom (What Remains)
- Kimiad d'ur c'hi (Farewell to a Dog)
