The Basque language is an inflected language whose origin is still somewhat puzzling. The fact that it is not an Indoeuropean language, and shows no ressemblance to languages in neighbouring countries, has led to the formulation of a variety of hypotheses to explain its existence. Owing to some similarities with the Georgian language, some linguists think it could be related to languages from the Caucasus. Others relate the language to non-Arabic languages from the north of Africa. One of the most likely hypotheses argues that the Basque language developed "in situ", in the land of the primitive Basques. That theory is supported by the discovery of some Basque-type skulls in Neolithic sites, which ruled out the thesis of immigration from other areas. Many think it is a very old language because there are words, such as that for axe ("aizkora" or "haizkora") for example, that have the same root as the word rock ("aitz"> or "haitz")

The Basque language, an integral part of the craft world in Gipuzkoa

Throughout history, the Basque language has taken up words not only from Latin, Castilian and French, but also from Celtic (Deba, zilar: "silver"), and Arabic (azoka" "market", gutuna: "letter">). On the other hand, words such as the Castilian for "left" and "scrap"> ("izquierda" and "chatarra" respectively), and the French and English for "bizarre" come from the Basque language.

Rural communities have kept the language alive. Donardegi Basque farmstead.

Before Roman times, it seems that the Basque language was spoken in an area larger than the present one, which bordered on the north with Aquitane, and on the south with the River Ebro. It is estimated, nowadays, that more than 600,000 people speak Basque in the seven historic Basque provinces: Lapurdi, Zuberoa and Behenafarroa (in France), and Gipuzkoa, Bizcaia, Araba and Navarre (in Spain). There are 520,000 Basque speaking people in the Basque provinces in Spain, that is 25% of their total population.

The Basque language was not written until the 16th century, but that was not obstacle to creating a rich oral literature, kept alive up to the present times by the "bertsolarismo" and the pastorals. Curiously, the first written texts in the Basque language (the sentences "iziogui dugu" and "guec ajutu ez dugu", "we have lit" and "we have not helped") are in the 10th century Glosas Emilianenses, which contain the first examples of the Castilian ballad. In the 12th century, the Calixtino Codex mentions some Basque vocabulary of the people living along the pilgrim's road to Santiago de Compostela. But Linguae Vasconum Primitiae, the first book written in Basque by Bernard Dechepare, was not published until 1545. From the onwards, and not without difficulties, a flourishing literature has developed. The bersolarismo has been kept up in the oral literature. The "bertsolaris" improvise verses in a given metrical form (eight, ten lines...) for which they use little tunes. The meaning of the verses varies, going from satire and humour to the finest Iyricism. Competitions for bersolaris are held regularly; they help spread and interest in this type of popular literature.

"Kilometroak", a popular movement supporting the Basque language.

Things have not been easy for the Basque language. Apart from having to compete with two powerful neighbouring languages like Castilian and French, Basque was a forbidden language during the dictatorship that followed the Civil War. For decades, children had to study in an unfamiliar language, and were severely punished when they spoke in Basque, even at play time. An important movement to open up Basque schools called "ikastolas" started at that time. After a long and systematic effort on the part of many people, a parallel school network was set up to satisfy the needs of teaching in Basque. Today Basque schools are in the process of becoming part of the Basque state school, but in the French Basque Country, and some parts of Navarre, Basque schools are the only ones which provide teaching in Basque.

We also have to mention the effort carried out for the recovery of the Basque language among adults. Therefore, every year a large number of people, whose mother tongue is other than Basque, learn to speak Basque. That way, the old myth that Basque is an impossible language to learn, is gone for ever.

Religion, a key element in the development of the written Basque language.

From the studies carried out by Prince Luis Luciano Bonaparte, the author of the Linguistic Charter (1883), Basque is considered to be divided in seven main dialects (Roncalés, the eight one, is already dead), and a number of subdialects. The reason for such variety is the geographical location, and the fact that until recent times Basque was mainly spoken in rural areas. With a view to modernizing the language, so it could be used as a cultural vehicle, the first steps were taken to define a unified language from 1964 onwards. Since 1968 Euskaltzaindia (the Basque Academy of the Language), founded in Oñate in 1918, has been in charge of this task. The unified Basque language was called Euskara Batua (unified), and it is mainly based on the variety of dialects from Laburdi (with a major literary tradition), and Gipuzkoa. In spite of the natural criticism and controversy, Euskara Batua is, nowadays, the most widespread type used by the mass media, in literature, and teaching.

For those who wish to know more about the Basque language and literature, there are two interesting pocket books: "Mitología e Ideología sobre la Lengua Vasca", by A. Tovar, Alianza Editorial, n.= 771; and "Historia Social de la Literatura Vasca" by Ibon Sarasola, Akal 74, n.= 59. For a more detailed study on literature: "Historia de la Literatura Vasca", by Fr. L. Villasante, Ed. Aranzazu, 1979.

Useful information about the Basque Language

We mention here some useful words for visitors when they visit Gipuzkoa. Obviously, the idea is not to teach "Basque in 10 lessons".

The Basque language is used for everyday activities

Basque is not difficult to pronounce, and we point out here some of the most important differences in relation to Castilian.

• g: ge and gi like gue and gui in Castilian, respectively. For example, in Gipuzkoa.

• tx: like ch in Castilian; for example, "coche" (car).

• ts: similar to tx, but softer.

• tz: similar to zz in Italian, in pizza.

• x: similar to sh in English, in show.

• z: s sibilant.

It is useful to remember that because Basque is an inflected language, the words we list here may have different suffixes depending on the case in which are used, for example:

• etxe ..............home / house

• etxearen ..........belongs to the home / belongs to the house

• etxea .............the home / the house

• etxeko ............of the house

• etxean ............at home / in the house

• etxetik ...........from the house

• etxera ............go home

• etxerantz .........towards the house

Courtesy Vocabulary

To Understand Signs (in alphabetic order)

In Bars (how to order)

Basque Vocabulary In Place-Names

Many of the place-names mentioned here have to do with their physical description. Therefore, it could be useful to know some of the words most frequently used.

For example, Aizkorri: a bare mountain; Etxeberria: a new house.

SOURCE: This material was originally posted at http://simr02.si.ehu.es/docs/book.SS-G/v2/Euskara.html and is reproduced in case this website is longer available.