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New Year Breton Phrases
Kalanna
New Year is called "Kalanna" in Breton. The phrase to know first is "Bloavezh mat!" (Happy New Year!).
The Breton New Year greeting is Bloavezh mat, "a good year". As with the Christmas greeting, add dit for someone you call te, deoc'h for several people or politely for one, and d'an holl for everyone. New Year's Day itself is Kalanna.
Greetings
Bloavezh mat!
Happy New Year!
Literally "good year". Mat means "good".
Bloavezh mat dit!
Happy New Year to you! (informal, one person)
Dit is "to you" for one person you call te.
Bloavezh mat deoc'h!
Happy New Year to you! (several people, or politely to one)
Deoc'h is "to you" for several people, and the polite form for one; much of central Brittany uses it for everyone.
Yec'hed mat!
Cheers!
The toast at midnight. Yec'hed means "health".
For cards and messages
Bloavezh mat deoc'h-holl!
Happy New Year to you all!
Holl means "all". A good line for a family card.
Bloavezh mat d'an holl!
Happy New Year to everyone!
For a message to a whole group, class or village.
Useful words
Kalanna
New Year's Day
The name of the day itself; Bloavezh mat is the greeting.
The history of Kalanna
New Year's Day in Breton is Kalanna, and the greeting for it is Bloavezh mat. Breton has two words for "year": bloavezh, used in the greeting, and the shorter bloaz. Bloaz goes back to Proto-Celtic bleidanī, "year", the same root as Cornish bledhen and Manx blein. Mat means "good", so the greeting says simply "good year".
Common questions
How do you say Happy New Year in Breton?
Bloavezh mat. To someone you call te, Bloavezh mat dit; to several people, or politely to one, Bloavezh mat deoc'h. New Year's Day is Kalanna.
New Year in the other Celtic languages
Further reading
Breton is on blas. now
Grammar, mutations, vocabulary, and reading with spaced repetition. The Breton course is in the blas. app now.
Start learning BretonBreton phrases for the year ahead
Breton phrases for everyday occasions
Sources
Every phrase and fact on this page was checked against the sources below. Last checked 2026-10-20.
- Geriafurch Breton dictionaries (TermOfis, Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg)
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- blas. course data
- Apertium Breton dictionary (apertium-bre), as stored in blas. course data: data/content/breton/lexicon.json forms["bloavezh mat"]
- Apertium Breton dictionary (apertium-bre), as stored in blas. course data: data/content/breton/lexicon.json forms["bloavezh mat dit"]
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Apertium Breton dictionary (apertium-bre), as stored in blas. course data: data/content/breton/lexicon.json forms["bloavezh mat deoc'h"]
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wikipedia
- Apertium Breton dictionary (apertium-bre), as stored in blas. course data: data/content/breton/lexicon.json forms["bloavezh mat deoc'h-holl"]
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Apertium Breton dictionary (apertium-bre), as stored in blas. course data: data/content/breton/lexicon.json forms["bloavezh mat d'an holl"]
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Apertium Breton dictionary (apertium-bre), as stored in blas. course data: data/content/breton/lexicon.json forms["kalanna"]
Credit: Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.