Quote: >>The Breelanders are of Hillman stock, kindred to the Dunlendings, and apparently the part of the population that traveled the furthest north. So I'd assume they'd speak a dialect reminiscent of Dunnish, that being their closest relatives we know of. By the late third age, Dunedain influence in the area has pretty much dwindled into oblivion, so I'd figure they'd perhaps at most have one or the other term heavily leaning on one or the other elvish tongue that no one in Bree would be able to really make sense of why it means what it means, probably so worn-out that even Elves would have to be told of the connection (Much like Baranduin->Brandywine).<<

Yes, the Bree-men are kin to the Dunlendings. The Dunlendings are like the Goidels, and the Breelanders are like the Brythons, both Celts. The remnants of the Breelandish language are translated by Tolkien as Brythonic elements (bree, combe, chet). Likely, the ancestors of the Breelanders and the Southern Stoors lived in northern Dunland where a Proto-Brythonic language was spoken, while in southern Dunland a Proto-Goidelic language was spoken. The North Dunlanders spread out into Eriador taking their Brythonic language with them, while the South Dunlanders became the Dunlendings of the late Third Age. The Bucklandish language of the Southern Stoors is extant in the given names of the Buckland Hobbits and in the name "Bombadil" (which are Actual/Untranslated Bucklandish forms), and in the placename "The Yale" (which is a Bucklandish name translated into its Primary World Brythonic equivalent). It's confusing because the Actual Bucklandish names are completely Welsh in style (Saradoc, Marmadoc, Gorhendad etc.), but don't necessarily mean what their Brythonic homophones mean. For example, means "great grandfather" in Welsh, and is an appropriate name for the founder of the Brandbuck lineage, but in Actual Bucklandish, may not really mean "great grandfather, since it's only pseudo-Welsh. This is in the same way that there are a group of Hobbit names that are Spanish in style: Bilbo, Nina, Largo, etc., but Actual Westron (translated into "Bilbo" so that it looks masculine to English-speakers) likely may not really mean "a kind of dagger"since it's only pseudo-Spanish, even though the meaning is appropriate for the character. These two posts from the Elfling list lays the linguistic relationship between Dunlendish and Breelandish/Bucklandish:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/elfling/message/33106 (for Breelandish/Bucklandish) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/elfling/message/33074 (for Dunlendish)

Note: a couple of revisions I'd make to the Elfling essays: I'd suggest that the Breelandish tongue may've died out in the Old British stage, before it progressed to the equivalent of Old Welsh, and also that I'd call the language "Breelandish" instead of "Breelendish", so that the name would parallel the Authentic Tolkienian (AT) "Bucklandish" - instead of paralleling the AT "Dunlendish", since the palatalization of the /a/ in "Dunland" to the /e/ in "Dunlendish" and "Dunlending" reflects that the name was borrowed into Westron from Rohanian/Old English - and the Breelanders are outside of the Rohanian mileux.

Okay, that being said, the Breelanders are like the Britons of Logria/Logres, who were assimilated by the Anglo-Saxons when Logria became "England", but whose language survives in Brythonic remnants in the placenames of England. So, unlike the Bucklanders, there's not even a trace of Brythonic in their names, at least of the few names Tolkien mentions - the Bree-man family names are English/Westron plant names, specifically Anglo-Saxon-derived plant names (instead of the Latinate botantical names common nowadays), and the given names are simple Anglo-Saxon-derived English/Westron names (typically with some comical relation to their character: Barliman "Barley-man" Butterburr, Harry "Hairy" Goatleaf). Possibly their ancient Breelandish family names were plant names too, and were translated into Westron as they lost their native tongue. There are many English/Westron elements in their placenames (staddle, -wood) in addition to Brythonic/Breelandish elements.

Anyway, though they are mostly of Hillman blood, the Bree-men have long been assimilated by the Westron culture of Arnor/Eriador, like the many dark-haired English of today who have ancient Logrian Brythonic ancestry. Like their English analogues, they have spoken the Westron tongue for many centuries, so the speech of the Traditional Buckinghamshire Dialect - grading up to Regional Buckinghamshire Accent when speaking with outsiders (at least for the more linguistically skillful Breelanders) - is fitting. Note that in addition to being the home of Brill (

Shane

P.S. I just realized that "Buckinghamshire" may even be the inspiration for the name "Buckland". It means the "Bucca's-home-shire", which is like "Bucca-land". The county is colloquially known as "leafy Bucks", and has a buck on its coat of arms. (Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckinghamshire)