Basque language

The Basque language is spoken by the people of the Basque Country, a region that lies in the westernmost part of the Pyrenees mountains, shared by southwestern France and northern Spain. It is special because it is the only known language isolate in Europe, meaning it has no known relation to any other language in the world. There are about 806,000 speakers of Basque today, with most of them living in the Spanish part of the Basque Country.

Historically, Basque was used in many parts of what is now Spain and France, but over time it was replaced by other languages in some areas. During a difficult time in Spain under Francoist rule, the use of Basque was discouraged and even punished. However, in later years, efforts were made to revive the language, and a standard form called Euskara Batua was created to help everyone understand it better in schools and books.

Today, Basque is one of the oldest surviving languages in Europe, with roots that go back before many other European languages even existed. Its grammar and structure are quite unique compared to most European languages, making it very interesting to language experts and learners alike.

Names of the language

See also: Basques § Etymology

The name for the Basque language changes depending on the local dialect, but in standard Basque it is called euskara.

In French, people usually call the language basque, although euskara is becoming more common. In Spanish, there are several names used, such as vasco, lengua vasca, or euskera. These words come from an old Latin name for the people, the Vascones, which itself comes from a Greek word used by the writer Strabo.

The Spanish word vascuence has had negative meanings over time and is not liked by many Basque speakers. Records show this word was used as far back as the 1300s, when a law in Huesca punished people for using Arabic, Hebrew, or Basque in markets.

History and classification

Main article: History of the Basque language

The Basque language is special because it is a language isolate, meaning it has no known relatives. Unlike the languages around it, such as Romance languages, Basque stands alone. Many experts think it might be the last surviving language from ancient Europe, before the arrival of languages like Latin.

Some people have tried to connect Basque to other languages, but these ideas are not widely accepted. For example, some have suggested links to languages as far away as Georgia, but these connections are not proven. Because Basque has very little written history, learning about its past is difficult. Despite this, the Basque language has been through a lot and is still spoken today, thanks to many efforts to keep it alive.

Geographic distribution

The area where Basque is spoken has gotten smaller over time, especially in the north, south, and east. In the beginning of the Common Era, it likely reached as far north as the river Garonne, including parts of modern-day France, and stretched to the Val d'Aran in the east. The exact southern and western limits are unclear.

During the Reconquista, Christian leaders encouraged people from northern Iberia, including Basques, to settle new lands. By the 16th century, Basque-speaking areas were mostly confined to the current seven provinces of the Basque Country, though it was still spoken in more places than today.

In the 20th century, Basque nationalism helped renew interest in the language. Schools and adult learning centers have helped bring Basque back to areas where it wasn't widely spoken before.

Phonology

Vowels

The Basque language has five vowels: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/. These are the same vowels found in Spanish, Asturian, and Aragonese. In the Zuberoan dialect, there are extra sounds, including a close front rounded vowel /y/ and a set of nasal vowels.

There is no special length for vowels in Basque, though they can be stretched for emphasis. The vowels /e/ and /o/ change sound before nasal consonants.

Basque has a rule where the vowel /a/ is dropped before another vowel. This does not stop the use of diphthongs with /a/ in them.

There are six diphthongs in Basque, all with /i̯/ or /u̯/ as the second part.

Consonants

In the end of a syllable, all plosives become voiceless and are spelled that way in Standard Basque. Between vowels, and often after /r/ or /l/, the voiced plosives /b/, /d/, and /ɡ/ are pronounced as fricatives.

Basque makes a difference between laminal and apical sounds for the alveolar fricatives and affricates. The laminal sound is like the /s/ in most European languages. The apical sound is made with the tip of the tongue and is written ⟨s⟩. For example, zu means "you" and su means "fire".

In the western parts of the Basque country, only the apical ⟨s⟩ and the alveolar affricate ⟨tz⟩ are used.

Basque also includes postalveolar sounds, like /ʃ/ written ⟨x⟩ and /tʃ/ written ⟨tx⟩.

The letter ⟨j⟩ can sound different depending on the regional dialect.

The letter ⟨h⟩ is spoken in the northern dialects but not in the southern ones. Unified Basque writes it except when it comes after a consonant.

Words usually do not start with ⟨r⟩ unless they are recent borrowings. Older loans may start with err-, irr-, or arr-.

Basque does not use /m/ at the end of a syllable, and /n/ changes sound at the end of a syllable.

Palatalization

Basque has two types of palatalization: automatic and expressive. Automatic palatalization happens in some regions, changing /n/ and /l/ after the vowel /i/. Expressive palatalization can make words sound smaller or show affection.

Sandhi

There are rules for how consonants change when they come together in Basque. For example, when two plosives meet, the first one is dropped, and the second becomes voiceless.

Stress and pitch

Main article: Pitch-accent language § Basque

Basque has different ways of stressing words across its dialects. In western dialects, the pitch accent is weak, while in central and eastern dialects, stress is stronger. Stress usually falls on the second syllable, with a weaker stress on the last syllable. This gives Basque a musical sound different from Spanish.

Morphophonology

The ending /-u/ in Basque words can change in different regions. It can stay the same, change to /a/, or disappear. This change is most common in the east and west of the Basque Country.

Grammar

Main article: Basque grammar

Basque is a special kind of language called an ergative–absolutive language. This means the way it shows who is doing something and who is receiving the action is different from many other languages. In Basque, the person doing an action without anything happening to them is shown in one way, and the person or thing receiving the action is shown the same way. But when someone does something to something else, the person doing the action is shown in a different way.

The helper words in Basque, called auxiliary verbs, change based on who is doing the action, who is receiving it, and who it is for. This helps make the sentences very clear about who is involved. Basque shares this special way of changing words with only a few other languages in the world.

Here’s an example:

"Martin buys the newspapers for me."

In Basque, “Martin” is shown differently because he is the one doing the buying. “Newspapers” is shown the same way because they are what is being bought. The helper word shows that it is Martin buying, the newspapers being bought, and that it is for me.

Another example:

"You (plural) buy the newspapers for me."

The helper word here shows that you all are doing the buying, the newspapers are being bought, and it is for me.

Basque has many ways to change words to show who is talking, who they are talking to, and who they are talking about, making the language very rich in expressing these ideas.

Vocabulary

The Basque language has taken in many words from nearby languages like Latin, Spanish, French, and Gascon. For example, the word lore means "flower" and comes from the Latin word florem. Another example is errota, which means "mill" and comes from the Latin rotam, meaning "mill wheel." The language also uses gela for "room," from the Latin cellam, and gauza for "thing," from the Latin causa.

Writing system

Main article: Basque alphabet

The Basque language uses the Latin script with special letters like ⟨ñ⟩ and sometimes ⟨ç⟩ and ⟨ü⟩. Some letters like ⟨c, q, v, w, y⟩ are only used in words borrowed from other languages.

The Basque alphabet, created by Euskaltzaindia, includes many letters and special pairs of letters called digraphs. Each letter and digraph makes a specific sound.

The letter ⟨h⟩ is usually silent but is spoken in some areas. This made it tricky to include in the alphabet. Long ago, a person named Sabino Arana used different symbols for some pairs of letters.

Sometimes, Basque inscriptions use a special style of writing with thick edges on the letters.

Number system used by millers

Long ago, Basque millers used a special way to write numbers. This system was based on the number 20. It used symbols arranged in lines or circles. Though it could show numbers above 100, most examples are smaller. This way of writing numbers is not used much today but can still be seen sometimes for decoration.

Examples

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Esklabu erremintaria

Language video gallery

Here are some videos showing people speaking the Basque language:

• A Basque speaker
• A Basque speaker, recorded in the Basque Country, Spain
• A Basque speaker, recorded during Wikimania 2019