Basque language

Basque ( ; ) is a language spoken by Basques and other residents of the Basque Country, a region that straddles the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque is classified as a language isolate (unrelated to any other known languages), the only one in Europe. The Basques are indigenous to and primarily inhabit the Basque Country. The Basque language is spoken by 806,000 Basques in all territories. Of them, 93.7% (756,000) are in the Spanish area of the Basque Country and the remaining 6.3% (50,000) are in the French portion.

Native speakers live in a contiguous area that includes parts of four Spanish provinces and the three "ancient provinces" in France. Gipuzkoa, most of Biscay, a few municipalities on the northern border of Álava and the northern area of Navarre formed the core of the remaining Basque-speaking area before measures were introduced in the 1980s to strengthen Basque fluency. By contrast, most of Álava, the westernmost part of Biscay, and central and southern Navarre are predominantly populated by native speakers of Spanish, either because Basque was replaced by either Navarro-Aragonese or Spanish over the centuries (as in most of Álava and central Navarre), or because it may never have been spoken there (as in parts of Enkarterri and south-eastern Navarre).

In Francoist Spain, Basque language use was discouraged by the government's repressive policies. In the Basque Country, "Francoist repression was not only political, but also linguistic and cultural." Franco's regime suppressed Basque from official discourse, education, and publishing, making it illegal to register newborn babies under Basque names, and even requiring tombstone engravings in Basque to be removed. In some provinces the public use of Basque was suppressed, with people fined for speaking it. Public use of Basque was frowned upon by supporters of the regime, often regarded as a sign of anti-Francoism or separatism. Overall, in the 1960s and later, the trend reversed and education and publishing in Basque began to flourish. As a part of this process, a standardised form of the Basque language, called Euskara Batua, was developed by the Euskaltzaindia in the late 1960s.

Besides its standardised version, the five historic Basque dialects are Biscayan, Gipuzkoan, and Upper Navarrese in Spain and Navarrese–Lapurdian and Souletin in France. They take their names from the historic Basque provinces, but the dialect boundaries are not congruent with province boundaries. Euskara Batua was created so that the Basque language could be used—and easily understood by all Basque speakers—in formal situations (education, mass media, literature), and this is its main use today. In both Spain and France, the use of Basque for education varies from region to region and from school to school.

Basque is the only surviving Paleo-European language in Europe. The current mainstream scientific view on the origin of the Basques and of their language is that early forms of Basque developed before the arrival of Indo-European languages in the area, i.e. before the arrival of Celtic and Romance languages in particular, as the latter today geographically surround the Basque-speaking region. Typologically, with its agglutinative morphology and ergative–absolutive alignment, Basque grammar remains markedly different from that of Standard Average European languages. Nevertheless, Basque has borrowed up to 40 percent of its vocabulary from Romance languages,"Basque Pidgin Vocabulary in European-Algonquian Trade Contacts." In Papers of the Nineteenth Algonquian Conference, edited by William Cowan, pp. 7–13. https://ojs.library.carleton.ca/index.php/ALGQP/article/download/967/851/0 and the Latin script is used for the Basque alphabet.

Names of the language

In Basque, the name of the language is officially (alongside various dialect forms).

In French, the language is normally called though has become common in recent times. Spanish has a greater variety of names for the language. Today, it is most commonly referred to as , , or . Both terms, and , are inherited from the Latin ethnonym , which in turn goes back to the Greek term (), an ethnonym used by Strabo in his (23 CE, Book III).

The Spanish term , derived from Latin , has acquired negative connotations over the centuries and is not well-liked amongst Basque speakers generally. Its use is documented at least as far back as the 14th century when a law passed in Huesca in 1349 stated that —essentially penalising the use of Arabic, Hebrew, or Basque in marketplaces with a fine of 30 sols (the equivalent of 30 sheep).

History and classification

Although the Basque language is geographically surrounded by Romance languages, it is a language isolate that is unrelated to them or to any other living language. Most scholars believe Basque to be the last remaining descendant of one of the pre-Indo-European languages of prehistoric Europe. Consequently, it may be impossible to reconstruct the prehistory of the Basque language by the traditional comparative method except by applying it to differences between Basque dialects. Little is known of its origins, but it is likely that an early form of the Basque language was present in and around the area of modern Basque Country before the arrival of the Indo-European languages in western Europe during the 3rd millennium BC.

Authors such as Miguel de Unamuno and Louis Lucien Bonaparte have noted that the words for "knife" (), "axe" (), and "hoe" () appear to derive from the word for "stone" (), and have therefore concluded that the language dates to prehistoric Europe when those tools were made of stone. Others find this theory unlikely.

Latin inscriptions in preserve a number of words with cognates in the reconstructed proto-Basque language, for instance, the personal names and ( and mean 'young girl' and 'man', respectively in modern Basque). This language is generally referred to as Aquitanian and is assumed to have been spoken in the area before the Roman Republic's conquests in the western Pyrenees. Some authors even argue for late Basquisation, that the language moved westward during Late Antiquity after the fall of the Western Roman Empire into the northern part of Hispania into what is now the Basque Country.

Roman neglect of this area allowed Aquitanian to survive while the Iberian and Tartessian languages became extinct. Through the long contact with Romance languages, Basque adopted a sizeable number of Romance words. Initially the source was Latin, later Gascon (a branch of Occitan) in the north-east, Navarro-Aragonese in the south-east and Spanish in the south-west.

Since 1968, Basque has been immersed in a revitalisation process, facing formidable obstacles. However, significant progress has been made in numerous areas. Six main factors have been identified to explain its relative success:
# implementation and acceptance of Unified Basque (Batua),
# integration of Basque in the education system
# creation of media in Basque (radio, newspapers, and television)
# the established new legal framework
# collaboration between public institutions and people's organisations, and
# campaigns for Basque language literacy.

While those six factors influenced the revitalisation process, the extensive development and use of language technologies is also considered a significant additional factor.

Hypotheses concerning Basque's connections to other languages

Many linguists have tried to link Basque with other languages, but no hypothesis has gained mainstream acceptance. Apart from pseudoscientific comparisons, the appearance of long-range linguistics gave rise to several attempts to connect Basque with geographically very distant language families such as Georgian. Historical work on Basque is challenging since written material and documentation has been available only for some few hundred years. Almost all hypotheses concerning the origin of Basque are controversial, and the suggested evidence is not generally accepted by mainstream linguists. Some of these hypothetical connections are:

* Ligurian substrate: this hypothesis, proposed in the 19th century by d'Arbois de Jubainville, J. Pokorny, P. Kretschmer and several other linguists, encompasses the Basco-Iberian hypothesis.
* Iberian: another ancient language once spoken in the Iberian Peninsula, shows several similarities with Aquitanian and Basque. However, most scholars say that there is not enough evidence exists to distinguish geographical connections from linguistic ones. Iberian itself remains unclassified. Eduardo Orduña Aznar claims to have established correspondences between Basque and Iberian numerals and noun case markers.
* Vasconic substratum hypothesis: this proposal, made by the German linguist Theo Vennemann, claims that enough toponymical evidence exists to conclude that Basque is the only survivor of a larger family that once extended throughout most of western Europe, and has also left its mark in modern Indo-European languages spoken in Europe.
* Georgian: linking Basque to the Kartvelian languages is now widely discredited. The hypothesis was inspired by the existence of the ancient Kingdom of Iberia in the Caucasus and some similarities in societal practices and agriculture between the two populations. Historical comparisons are difficult due to the dearth of historical material for Basque and several of the Kartvelian languages. Typological similarities have been proposed for some of the phonological characteristics and most importantly for some of the details of the ergative constructions, but they alone cannot prove historical relatedness between languages since such characteristics are found in other languages across the world, even if not in Indo-European. According to J. P. Mallory, the hypothesis was also inspired by a Basque place-name ending in ''-dze'' which is common in Kartvelian. The hypothesis suggested that Basque and Georgian were remnants of a pre-Indo-European group.
* Northeast Caucasian languages, such as Chechen, are seen by some linguists as more likely candidates for a very distant connection.
* Dené–Caucasian: based on the possible Caucasian link, some linguists, for example John Bengtson and Merritt Ruhlen, have proposed including Basque in the Dené–Caucasian superfamily of languages, but the proposed superfamily includes languages from North America and Eurasia, and its existence is highly controversial.
* Indo-European: a genetic link between Basque and the Indo-European languages has been proposed by Forni (2013), though his contributions to the hypothesis have been rejected by most reviewers, both including scholars adhering to the mainstream view of Basque as a language isolate (Gorrochategui, Lakarra), as well as proponents of wide-range genetic relations (Bengtson).

Geographic distribution

The region where Basque is spoken has become smaller over centuries, especially at the northern, southern, and eastern borders. Nothing is known about the limits of the region in ancient times but on the basis of toponyms and epigraphs, it seems that in the beginning of the Common Era it stretched to the river Garonne in the north (including the south-western part of present-day France); at least to the Val d'Aran in the east (now a Gascon-speaking part of Catalonia), including lands on both sides of the Pyrenees; the southern and western boundaries are not clear at all.

The Reconquista temporarily counteracted that contracting tendency when the Christian lords called on northern Iberian peoples (Basques, Asturians, and "Franks") to colonise the new conquests. The Basque language became the main everyday language, while other languages like Spanish, Gascon, French, or Latin were preferred for the administration and high education.

By the 16th century, the Basque-speaking area was reduced basically to the present-day seven provinces of the Basque Country, excluding the southern part of Navarre, the south-western part of Álava, and the western part of Biscay, and including some parts of Béarn.

In 1807, Basque was still spoken in the northern half of Álava—including its capital city Vitoria-Gasteiz—and a vast area in central Navarre, but in those two provinces, Basque experienced a rapid decline that pushed its border northwards. In the French Basque Country, Basque was still spoken in all the territory except in Bayonne and some villages around, and including some bordering towns in Béarn.

In the 20th century, however, the rise of Basque nationalism spurred increased interest in the language as a sign of ethnic identity, and with the establishment of autonomous governments in the Southern Basque Country, it has recently made a modest comeback. In the Spanish part, Basque-language schools for children and Basque-teaching centres for adults have brought the language to areas such as western Enkarterri and the Ribera del Ebro in southern Navarre, where it is not known to ever have been widely spoken; and in the French Basque Country, those schools and centres have almost stopped the decline of the language.

Official status

Historically, Latin or Romance languages have been the official languages in the region. However, Basque was explicitly recognised in some areas. For instance, the '' fuero'' or charter of the Basque-colonised Ojacastro (now in La Rioja) allowed the inhabitants to use Basque in legal processes in the 13th and 14th centuries. Basque was allowed in telegraph messages in Spain thanks to the royal decree of 1904.

The Spanish Constitution of 1978 states in Article 3 that the Spanish language is the official language of the nation, but allows autonomous communities to provide a co-official language status for the other languages of Spain. Consequently, the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Autonomous Community establishes Basque as the co-official language of the autonomous community. The Statute of Navarre establishes Spanish as the official language of Navarre, but grants co-official status to the Basque language in the Basque-speaking areas of northern Navarre. Basque has no official status in the French Basque Country and French citizens are barred from officially using Basque in a French court of law. However, the use of Basque by Spanish nationals in French courts is permitted (with translation), as Basque is officially recognised on the other side of the border.

The positions of the various existing governments differ with regard to the promotion of Basque in areas where Basque is commonly spoken. The language has official status in those territories that are within the Basque Autonomous Community, where it is spoken and promoted heavily but only partially in Navarre. The (), seen as contentious by many Basques, but considered fitting Navarra's linguistic and cultural diversity by some of the main political parties of Navarre, divides Navarre into three language areas: Basque-speaking, non-Basque-speaking, and mixed. Support for the language and the linguistic rights of citizens vary, depending on the area. Others consider it unfair, since the rights of Basque speakers differ greatly depending on the place they live.

Demographics

The 2021 sociolinguistic survey of all Basque-speaking territories showed that, of all people aged 16 and above:
* In the Basque Autonomous Community, 36.2% were fluent Basque speakers, 18.5% passive speakers and 45.3% did not speak Basque. The percentage was highest in Gipuzkoa (51.8% speakers) and Bizkaia (30.6%) and lowest in Álava (22.4%). Those results represent an increase from previous years (33.9% in 2016, 30.1% in 2006, 29.5% in 2001, 27.7% in 1996 and 24.1% in 1991). The highest concentration of speakers can now be found in the 16–24 age range (74.5%) vs. 22.0% in the 65+ age range.
* In the French Basque Country, in 2021, 20.0% were fluent Basque speakers. Because the French Basque Country is not under the influence of the Basque Autonomous Country government, people in the region have fewer incentives from government authorities to learn the language. As such, those results represent another decrease from previous years (22.5% in 2006, 24.8% in 2001 and 26.4 in 1996 or 56,146 in 1996 to 51,197 in 2016). However, for those in the 16-24 age range, the proportion of Basque speakers increased to 21.5%, from 12.2% 20 years earlier.
* In Navarre, 14.1% were fluent Basque speakers, 10.5% passive speakers, and 75.4% did not speak Basque. The percentage was highest in the Basque-speaking zone in the north (62.3% speakers, including 85.9% of youth) and lowest in the non-Basque-speaking zone in the south (1.6%). The overall proportion of 14.1% represented a slight increase from previous years (12.9% in 2016, 11.1% in 2006,10.3% in 2001, 9.6% in 1996 and 9.5% in 1991). Among age groups, the highest percentage of speakers can now be found in the 16–24 age range (28%) vs. 8.3% in the 65+ age range.

In 2021, out of a population of 2,634,800 over 16 years of age (1,838,800 in the Autonomous community, 546,000 in Navarre and 250,000 in the Northern Basque Country), 806,000 spoke Basque, which amounted to 30.6% of the population. Compared to the 1991 figures, that represents an overall increase of 266,000, from 539,110 speakers 30 years previously (430,000 in the BAC, 40,110 in FCN, and 69,000 in the Northern provinces). The number has tended to increase, as in all regions the age group most likely to speak Basque was those between 16 and 24 years old. In the BAC, the proportion in that age group that spoke the language (74.5%) was nearly triple the comparable figure from 1991, when barely a quarter of the population spoke Basque.

While there is a general increase in the number of Basque speakers during the period, that is mainly because of bilingualism. Basque transmission as a sole mother tongue has decreased from 19% in 1991 to 15.1% in 2016, and Basque and another language being used as mother language increased from 3% to 5.4% in the same time period. General public attitude towards efforts to promote the Basque language have also been more positive, with the share of people against those efforts falling from 20.9% in 1991 to 16% in 2016.

In 2021, the study found that in the BAC, when both parents were Basque speakers, 98% of children were communicated to only in Basque, and 2% were communicated to in both Basque and Spanish. When only one parent was a Basque-speaker and had Basque as a first language, 84% used Basque and Spanish and 16% only Spanish. In Navarre, the family language of 94.3% of the youngest respondents with both Basque parents was Basque. In the Northern Basque Country, however, when both parents were Basque-speaking, just two thirds transmitted only Basque to their offspring, and as age decreased, the transmission rate also decreased.

Basque is used as a language of commerce both in the Basque Country and in locations around the world where Basques immigrated throughout history.

Dialects

The modern Basque dialects show a high degree of dialectal divergence, sometimes making cross-dialect communication difficult. That is especially true in the case of Biscayan and Souletin, which are regarded as the most divergent Basque dialects.

Modern Basque dialectology distinguishes five dialects:
* Biscayan or "Western"
* Gipuzkoan or "Central"
* Upper Navarrese
* Navarro-Lapurdian
* Souletin (Zuberoan)

Those dialects are divided in 11 subdialects, and 24 minor varieties among them.
According to Koldo Zuazo, the Biscayan dialect or "Western" is the most widespread dialect, with around 300,000 speakers out of a total of around 660,000 speakers. The dialect is divided in two minor subdialects (Western Biscayan and Eastern Biscayan), as well astransitional dialects.

Influence on other languages

Although the influence of the neighbouring Romance languages on the Basque language (especially the lexicon, but also to some degree Basque phonology and grammar) has been much more extensive, it is usually assumed that there has been some influence from Basque into those languages as well. Gascon and Aragonese particularly and Spanish to a lesser degree are thought to have received Basqwe influence in the past. In the cases of Aragonese and Gascon, that would have been through substrate interference following language shift from Aquitanian or Basque to a Romance language that has affected all levels of the language, including place names around the Pyrenees.

Although a number of words of alleged Basque origin in Spanish are circulated (e.g. 'anchovies', 'dashing, gallant, spirited', 'puppy', etc.), most of them have more easily-explained Romance etymologies or not particularly-convincing derivations from Basque. Ignoring cultural terms, there is one strong loanword candidate, , long considered the source of the Pyrenean and Iberian Romance words for "left (side)" (, , ). The lack of initial in Gascon could arguably be from Basque influence, but that issue is under-researched.

There are other most commonly-claimed substrate influences:
* the Old Spanish merger of and .
* the simple five-vowel system.
* change of initial into (e.g. → , with Old Basque lacking but having ).
* voiceless alveolar retracted sibilant , a sound transitional between laminodental and palatal ; this sound also influenced other Ibero-Romance languages and Catalan.

The first two features are common, widespread developments in many Romance (and non-Romance) languages. The change of to occurred historically only in a limited area ( Gascony and Old Castile), which corresponds almost exactly to the areas that heavy Basque bilingualism is assumed and, as a result, has been widely postulated and equally strongly disputed. Substrate theories are often difficult to prove (especially in the case of phonetically-plausible changes like to ). As a result, many arguments have been made on both sides, but the debate largely comes down to the a priori tendency on the part of particular linguists to accept or reject substrate arguments.

Examples of arguments against the substrate theory and possible responses:
# Spanish did not fully shift to ; instead, it has preserved before consonants such as and (cf , ). (On the other hand, the occurrence of in those words might be a secondary development from an earlier sound such as or and learned words or words influenced by written Latin form. Gascon has in these words, which might reflect the original situation.)
# Evidence of Arabic loanwords in Spanish points to continuing to exist long after a Basque substrate might have had any effect on Spanish. (On the other hand, the occurrence of in those words might be a late development. Many languages have come to accept new phonemes from other languages after a period of significant influence. For example, French lost but later regained it as a result of Germanic influence, and it has recently gained as a result of English influence.)
# Basque regularly developed Latin into or .
# The same change also occurs in parts of Sardinia, Italy and the Romance languages of the Balkans where no Basque substrate can be reasonably argued for. (On the other hand, the fact that the same change might have occurred elsewhere independently does not disprove substrate influence. Furthermore, parts of Sardinia also have prothetic or before initial , just as in Basque and Gascon, which may actually argue for some type of influence between both areas.)

Beyond those arguments, a number of nomadic groups of Castile are also said to use or have used Basque words in their jargon, such as the gacería in Segovia, the mingaña, the Galician fala dos arxinas and the Asturian Xíriga.Olaetxe, J. Mallea
"The Basques in the Mexican Regions: 16th–20th Centuries."
''Basque Studies Program Newsletter'' No. 51 (1995).

Part of the Romani community in the Basque Country speaks Erromintxela, which is a rare mixed language, with a Kalderash Romani vocabulary and Basque grammar.

Basque pidgins

A number of Basque-based or Basque-influenced pidgins have existed. In the 16th century, Basque sailors used a Basque–Icelandic pidgin in their contacts with Iceland.Deen 1937. The Algonquian–Basque pidgin arose from contact between Basque whalers and the Algonquian peoples in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and Strait of Belle Isle.

Phonology

Vowels

The Basque language features five vowels: , , , and (the same that are found in Spanish, Asturian and Aragonese). In the Zuberoan dialect, extra phonemes are featured:
* the close front rounded vowel , graphically represented as ;
* a set of contrasting nasal vowels.

There is no distinctive vowel length in Basque although vowels may be lengthened for emphasis. The mid vowels and are raised before nasal consonants.

Basque has an elision rule according to which the vowel is elided before any following vowel. That does not prevent the existence of diphthongs with present.

There are six diphthongs in Basque, all falling and with or as the second element.

Consonants

In syllable-final position, all plosives are devoiced and are spelled accordingly in Standard Basque. When between vowels, and often when after or , the voiced plosives , , and , are pronounced as the corresponding fricatives , , and .

Basque has a distinction between laminal and apical articulation for the alveolar fricatives and affricates. With the laminal alveolar fricative , the friction occurs across the blade of the tongue, the tongue tip pointing toward the lower teeth. That is the usual in most European languages and is written with an orthographic . In contrast, the voiceless apicoalveolar fricative is written ; the tip of the tongue points toward the upper teeth and friction occurs at the tip (apex). For example, (singular, respectful) is distinguished from . The affricate counterparts are written and . So, is distinguished from ; is distinguished from .

In the westernmost parts of the Basque country, only the apical and the alveolar affricate are used.

Basque also features postalveolar sibilants (, written , and , written ).

The letter has a variety of realisations according to the regional dialect: , as pronounced from west to east in south Bizkaia and coastal Lapurdi, central Bizkaia, east Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, south Navarre, inland Lapurdi and Low Navarre, and Zuberoa, respectively.

The letter is pronounced in the northern dialects but not in the southern ones. Unified Basque spells it except when it is predictable, after a consonant.

Unless they are recent loanwords (e.g. , , ... ), words may not have initial . In older loans, initial ''r-'' took a prosthetic vowel, resulting in ''err-'' ( , ), more rarely ''irr-'' (for example , ) and ''arr-'' (for example ).

Basque does not have in syllable final position, and syllable-final assimilates to the place of articulation of following plosives. As a result, is pronounced like , and is realized as .

Palatalization

Basque has two types of palatalization, automatic palatalization and expressive palatalization. Automatic palatalization occurs in western Labourd, much of Navarre, all of Gipuzkoa, and nearly all of Biscay. As a result of automatic palatalization, and become the palatal nasal and the palatal lateral respectively after the vowel and before another vowel. An exception is the loanword 'lily'. The same palatalization occurs after the semivowel of the diphthongs ''ai, ei, oi, ui''. The palatalization occurs in a wider area, including Soule, all of Gipuzkoa and Biscay, and almost all of Navarre. In a few regions, and can be palatalized even in the absence of a following vowel. After palatalization, the semivowel is usually absorbed by the palatal consonant. That can be seen in older spellings, such as instead of modern 'degree'. However, the modern orthography for Standard Basque ignores automatic palatalization.

In certain regions of Gipuzkoa and Biscay, intervocalic is often palatalized after and especially . It may become indistinguishable from the affricate , spelled , so 'father' may sound like it were spelled or . That type of palatalization is far from general, and is often viewed as substandard.

In Goizueta Basque, there are a few examples of being palatalized after , and optional palatalization of . For example, 'seedbed' becomes , and 'lamb' can be .

Basque nouns, adjectives, and adverbs can be expressively palatalized and express 'smallness', rarely literal; they often show affection in nouns and mitigation in adjectives and adverbs. That is often used in the formation of pet names and nicknames. In words containing one or more sibilant, those sibilants are palatalized to form the palatalized form. That is, ''s'' and ''z'' become ''x'', and ''ts'' and ''tz'' become ''tx''. As a result, 'man' becomes 'little fellow', 'crazy, insane' becomes 'silly, foolish', and 'lamb' becomes 'lambkin, young lamb'.

In words without sibilants, , , , and can become palatalized, which is indicated in writing with a double consonant except in the case of palatalized , which is written . Thus, 'drop' becomes 'droplet', and 'grey' becomes 'grey and pretty, greyish'.

The pronunciation of ''tt'' and ''dd'', and the existence of ''dd'', differ by dialect. In the Gipuzkoan and Biscayan dialects ''tt'' is often pronounced the same as ''tx'', that is, as , and ''dd'' does not exist. Likewise, in Goizueta Basque, ''tt'' is a voiceless palatal stop and the corresponding voiced palatal stop, , is absent except as an allophone of . In Goizueta Basque, is sometimes the result of an affectionate palatalization of .

Palatalization of the rhotics is rare and occurs only in the eastern dialects. When palatalized, the rhotics become the palatal lateral . Likewise, palatalization of velars, resulting in ''tt'' or ''tx'', is quite rare.

A few common words, such as 'dog', pronounced , use palatal sounds even though in current usage, they have lost the diminutive sense, the corresponding non-palatal forms now acquiring an augmentative or pejorative sense: 'big dog'.

Sandhi

There are some rules governing the behaviour of consonants in contact with each other and apply both within and between words. When two plosives meet, the first one is dropped, and the second becomes voiceless. If a sibilant follows a plosive, the plosive is dropped, and the sibilant becomes the corresponding affricate. When a plosive follows an affricate, the affricate becomes a sibilant, and a voiced plosive is devoiced. When a voiced plosive follows a sibilant, it is devoiced except in very slow and careful speech. In the central dialects of Basque, a sibilant turns into an affricate if it follows a liquid or a nasal. When a plosive follows a nasal, there is a strong tendency for it to become voiced.

Stress and pitch

Basque features great dialectal variation in accentuation, from a weak pitch accent in the western dialects to a marked stress in central and eastern dialects, with varying patterns of stress placement.

Stress is in general not distinctive (and for historical comparisons not very useful); there are, however, a few instances in which stress is phonemic, serving to distinguish between a few pairs of stress-marked words and between some grammatical forms (mainly plurals from other forms), e.g. (, absolutive case) vs. (, absolutive case; an adoption from Spanish ); (, ergative case) vs. (, ergative case) vs. ( or , absolutive case).

Given its great deal of variation among dialects, stress is not marked in the standard orthography and Euskaltzaindia (the Academy of the Basque Language) provides only general recommendations for a standard placement of stress, basically to place a high-pitched weak stress (weaker than that of Spanish, let alone that of English) on the second syllable of a syntagma, and a low-pitched even-weaker stress on its last syllable, except in plural forms in which stress is moved to the first syllable.

That scheme provides Basque with a distinct musicality that differentiates its sound from the prosodical patterns of Spanish (which tends to stress the second-last syllable). Some (, i.e. second-language Basque-speakers) with Spanish as their first language tend to carry the prosodical patterns of Spanish into their pronunciation of Basque, e.g. pronouncing () as (– – ´ –), instead of as (– ´ – `).

Morphophonology

The combining forms of nominals in final vary across the regions of the Basque Country. The can stay unchanged, be lowered to an , or it can be lost. Loss is most common in the east, while lowering is most common in the west. For instance, , , has the combining forms and , as in , , and , , whereas , , has the combining form , as in , . Michelena suggests that the lowering to is generalised from cases of Romance borrowings in Basque that retained Romance stem alternations, such as , with combining form , borrowed from Romance ''canto'', ''canta-''.

Grammar

Basque is an ergative–absolutive language. The subject of an intransitive verb is in the absolutive case (which is unmarked), and the same case is used for the direct object of a transitive verb. The subject of the transitive verb is marked differently, with the ergative case (shown by the suffix ''-k''). That also triggers main and auxiliary verbal agreement.

The auxiliary verb, which accompanies most main verbs, agrees not only with the subject but also with any direct or indirect object present. Among European languages, the polypersonal agreement is found only in Basque, some languages of the Caucasus (especially the Kartvelian languages), Mordvinic languages, Hungarian, and Maltese (all non-Indo-European). The ergative–absolutive alignment is also rare among European languages and occurs only in some languages of the Caucasus but is frequent worldwide.

Consider the phrase:

is the agent (transitive subject), so it is marked with the ergative case ending ''-k'' (with an epenthetic ''-e-''). has an ''-ak'' ending, which marks plural object (plural absolutive, direct object case). The verb is , in which is a kind of gerund ("buying") and the auxiliary means "he/she (does) them for me". The can be divided like this:
* ''di-'' is used in the present tense when the verb has a subject (ergative), a direct object (absolutive), and an indirect object, and the object is him/her/it/them.
* ''-zki-'' means the absolutive (in this case the newspapers) is plural; if it were singular there would be no infix; and
* ''-t'' or ''-da-'' means "to me/for me" (indirect object).
* in this instance there is no suffix after ''-t''. A zero suffix in this position indicates that the ergative (the subject) is third person singular (he/she/it).

The auxiliary verb is composed as ''di-zki-da-zue' and means 'you pl. (do) them for me'.
* ''di-'' indicates that the main verb is transitive and in the present tense
* ''-zki-'' indicates that the direct object is plural
* ''-da-'' indicates that the indirect object is me (to me/for me; ''-t'' becomes ''-da-'' unless final)
* ''-zue'' indicates that the subject is you (plural)

The pronoun 'you (plural)' has the same form both in the nominative or absolutive case (the subject of an intransitive sentence or direct object of a transitive sentence) and in the ergative case (the subject of a transitive sentence). In spoken Basque, the auxiliary verb is never dropped even if it is redundant: in 'you (pl.) are buying the newspapers for me'. However, the pronouns are almost always dropped: in 'you (pl.) are buying the newspapers for me'. The pronouns are used only to show emphasis: 'it is you (pl.) who buys the newspapers for me', or 'it is me for whom you buy the newspapers'.

Modern Basque dialects allow for the conjugation of about fifteen verbs, called synthetic verbs, some occurring only in literary contexts. They can exist in the present and the past tenses in the indicative and the subjunctive moods, in three tenses in the conditional and the potential moods, and in one tense in the imperative. Each verb that can be taken intransitively has a (absolutive) paradigm and possibly a (absolutive–dative) paradigm, as in the sentence (). Each verb that can be taken transitively uses those two paradigms for antipassive-voice contexts in which no agent is mentioned (Basque lacks a passive voice, and displays instead an antipassive voice paradigm), and also has a (absolutive–ergative) paradigm and possibly a (absolutive–dative–ergative) paradigm. The last is exemplified by above. In each paradigm, each constituent noun can take on any of eight persons, five singular and three plural, with the exception of in which the absolutive can be only third-person singular or plural. The most ubiquitous auxiliary, , can be used in any of those paradigms, depending on the nature of the main verb.

There are more persons in the singular (5) than in the plural (3) for synthetic (or filamentous) verbs because of the two familiar persons—informal masculine and feminine second-person singular. The pronoun ''hi'' is used for both of them, but though the masculine form of the verb uses a ''-k'', the feminine uses an ''-n''. That is a property rarely found in Indo-European languages. The entire paradigm of the verb is further augmented by inflecting for "listener" (the allocutive) even if the verb contains no second person constituent. If the situation calls for the familiar masculine, the form is augmented and modified accordingly and likewise for the familiar feminine.

(, ; , , , , , )Aspecto, tiempo y modo
in Spanish

in Basque. That multiplies the number of possible forms by nearly three. Still, the restriction on contexts in which those forms may be used is strong since all participants in the conversation must be friends of the same sex and not too far apart in age. Some dialects dispense with the familiar forms entirely, but the formal second-person singular conjugates in parallel to the other plural forms, which perhaps indicates that it was originally the second-person plural and later came to be used as a formal singular, and the modern second-person plural was formulated only later as an innovation.

All other verbs in Basque are called periphrastic and behave much as participles would in English. They have only three forms in total, called aspects: perfect (various suffixes), habitual (suffix ''-t n''), and future/potential (suffix. ''-ko/-go''). Verbs of Latinate origin in Basque, as well as many other verbs, have a suffix ''-tu'' in the perfect, adapted from the Latin perfect passive ''-tus'' suffix. The synthetic verbs also have periphrastic forms, for use in perfects and in simple tenses in which they are deponent.

Within a verb phrase, the periphrastic verb comes first, followed by the auxiliary.

A Basque noun phrase is inflected in 17 different ways for case, multiplied by four ways for its definiteness and number (indefinite, definite singular, definite plural, and definite close plural: asque-speaker he Basque speaker, a Basque-speaker asque-speakers, the Basque-speakers and e Basque speakers, those Basque-speakers. The first 68 forms are further modified based on other parts of the sentence, which in turn are inflected for the noun again. It has been estimated that with two levels of recursion, a Basque noun may have 458,683 inflected forms.

The common noun is declined as follows:

The proper name (Michael) is declined as follows:

Within a noun phrase, modifying adjectives follow the noun. As an example of a Basque noun phrase, is morphologically analysed as follows by Agirre et al.

Basic word order in syntactic construction is subject–object–verb. The order of the phrases within a sentence can be changed for thematic purposes, whereas the order of the words within a phrase is usually rigid. As a matter of fact, Basque phrase order is topic–focus, meaning that in neutral sentences (such as sentences to inform someone of a fact or event) the topic is stated first, then the focus. In such sentences, the verb phrase comes at the end. In brief, the focus directly precedes the verb phrase. This rule is also applied in questions, for instance, ''What is this?'' can be translated as or , but in both cases the question tag immediately precedes the verb . This rule is so important in Basque that, even in grammatical descriptions of Basque in other languages, the Basque word is used.

In negative sentences, the order changes. Since the negative particle must always directly precede the auxiliary, the topic most often comes beforehand, and the rest of the sentence follows. This includes the periphrastic, if there is one: , , in the negative becomes , in which () is separated from its auxiliary and placed at the end.

Vocabulary

Through contact with neighbouring peoples, Basque has adopted many words from Latin, Spanish, French and Gascon, among other languages. There are a considerable number of Latin loans (sometimes obscured by being subject to Basque phonology and grammar for centuries), for example: (, from ), (, from , ), (, from ), (, from ).

Writing system

Basque is written using the Latin script including and sometimes and . Basque does not use for native words, but the Basque alphabet (established by Euskaltzaindia) does include them for loanwords:
:⟨Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Ññ, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz⟩

The phonetically meaningful digraphs are treated as pairs of letters.

All letters and digraphs represent unique phonemes. The main exception is if it precedes and , which, in most dialects, palatalises their sounds into and , even if they are not written. Hence, can also be written without changing the sound, and the proper name requires the mute to break the palatalisation of the .

is mute in most regions but is pronounced in many places in the north-east, the main reason for its existence in the Basque alphabet. Its acceptance was a matter of contention during the standardisation process because the speakers of the most extended dialects had to learn where to place , which silent for them.

In Sabino Arana's (1865–1903) alphabet,''Lecciones de ortografía del euskera bizkaino'', Arana eta Goiri'tar Sabin, Bilbao, Bizkaya'ren Edestija ta Izkerea Pizkundia, 1896 (Sebastián de Amorrortu). digraphs and were replaced with and , respectively.

A typically Basque style of lettering is sometimes used for inscriptions.
It derives from the work of stone and wood carvers and is characterised by thick serifs.

Number system used by millers

Basque millers traditionally employed a separate number system of unknown origin.Aguirre Sorondo ''Tratado de Molinología – Los Molinos de Guipúzcoa'' Eusko Ikaskuntza 1988 In this system the symbols are arranged either along a vertical line or horizontally. On the vertical line the single digits and fractions are usually off to one side, usually at the top. When used horizontally, the smallest units are usually on the right and the largest on the left. As with the Basque system of counting in general, it is vigesimal (base 20). Although it is in theory capable of indicating numbers above 100, most recorded examples do not go above 100. Fractions are relatively common, especially .

The exact systems used vary from area to area but generally follow the same principle with 5 usually being a diagonal line or a curve off the vertical line (a V shape is used when writing a 5 horizontally). Units of ten are usually a horizontal line through the vertical. The twenties are based on a circle with intersecting lines. This system is no longer in general use but is occasionally employed for decorative purposes.

Examples

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Language video gallery

File:WIKITONGUES- Jon speaking Basque.webm, A Basque speaker
File:WIKITONGUES- Txeli speaking Basque.webm, A Basque speaker, recorded in the Basque Country, Spain
File:WIKITONGUES- Iñaki speaking Basque.webm, A Basque speaker, recorded during Wikimania 2019

See also

* Basque dialects
* Vasconic languages
* List of Basques
* Basque Country
* Late Basquisation
* Languages of France
* Languages of Spain
* Aquitanian language
* List of ideophones in Basque
* Wiktionary: Swadesh list of Basque words
* Basque literature

References

Further reading

General and descriptive grammars

* Allières, Jacques (1979): ''Manuel pratique de basque'', "Connaissance des langues" v. 13, A. & J. Picard (Paris), .
* de Azkue Aberasturi, Resurrección María (1969): ''Morfología vasca.'' La Gran enciclopedia vasca, Bilbao 1969.
* Campion, Arturo (1884):
Gramática de los cuatro dialectos literarios de la lengua euskara
', Tolosa.
* Euskara Institutua
Euskara Institutuaren ataria (UPV - EHU)
, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Sareko Euskal Gramatika, SE
Aurkezpena [Sareko Euskal Gramatika]
* Hualde, José Ignacio & Ortiz de Urbina, Jon (eds.): ''A Grammar of Basque''. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2003. .
*
* Lafitte, Pierre (1962): ''Grammaire basque – navarro-labourdin littéraire.'' Elkarlanean, Donostia/Bayonne, . (Dialectal.)
* Lafon, R. (1972): "Basque" In Thomas A. Sebeok (ed.) ''Current Trends in Linguistics. Vol. 9. Linguistics in Western Europe'', Mouton, The Hague, Mouton, pp. 1744–1792
Part 2 The study of languages
*
* Tovar, Antonio, (1957): ''The Basque Language'', U. of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.
*
* Urquizu Sarasúa, Patricio (2007): ''Gramática de la lengua vasca''. UNED, Madrid, .
* van Eys, Willem J. (1879):
Grammaire comparée des dialectes basques
', Paris.

Linguistic studies

* Agirre, Eneko, et al. (1992)
XUXEN: A spelling checker/corrector for Basque based on two-level morphology

* Gavel, Henri (1921):
Eléments de phonetique basque
' (= ''Revista Internacional de los Estudios Vascos = Revue Internationale des Etudes Basques'' 12, París. (Study of the dialects.)
* Hualde, José Ignacio (1991): ''Basque phonology'', Taylor & Francis, .
*
* Lakarra Andrinua, Joseba A.; Hualde, José Ignacio (eds.) (2006): ''Studies in Basque and historical linguistics in memory of R. L. Trask – R. L. Trasken oroitzapenetan ikerketak euskalaritzaz eta hizkuntzalaritza historikoaz'', (= ''Anuario del Seminario de Filología Vasca Julio de Urquijo: International journal of Basque linguistics and philology'' Vol. 40, No. 1–2), San Sebastián.
* Lakarra, J. & Ortiz de Urbina, J.(eds.) (1992): ''Syntactic Theory and Basque Syntax'', Gipuzkoako Foru Aldundia, Donostia-San Sebastian, .
* Orduña Aznar, Eduardo. 2005
Sobre algunos posibles numerales en textos ibéricos.
''Palaeohispanica'' 5:491–506. This fifth volume of the journal ''Palaeohispanica'' consists of Acta Palaeohispanica IX, the proceedings of the ninth conference on Paleohispanic studies.
* de Rijk, R. (1972):
Studies in Basque Syntax: Relative clauses
' PhD Dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, US.
* Uhlenbeck, C.C. (1909–1910): "Contribution à une phonétique comparative des dialectes basques", ''Revista Internacional de los Estudios Vascos = Revue Internationale des Etudes Basques''
Wayback Machine
pp. 465–503
Wayback Machine
pp. 65–120.
* Zuazo, Koldo (2008): ''Euskalkiak: euskararen dialektoak.'' Elkar. .

Lexicons

* Aulestia, Gorka (1989): ''Basque–English dictionary'' University of Nevada Press, Reno, .
* Aulestia, Gorka & White, Linda (1990): ''English–Basque dictionary'', University of Nevada Press, Reno, .
* Azkue Aberasturi, Resurrección María de (1905): ''Diccionario vasco–español–francés'', Geuthner, Bilbao/Paris (reprinted many times).
* Michelena, Luis: ''Diccionario General Vasco/Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia.'' 16 vols. Real academia de la lengua vasca, Bilbao 1987ff. .
* Morris, Mikel (1998): "Morris Student Euskara–Ingelesa Basque–English Dictionary", Klaudio Harluxet Fundazioa, Donostia
* Sarasola, Ibon (2010–), "Egungo Euskararen Hiztegia EEH
Egungo Euskararen Hiztegia (EEH) - UPV/EHU
Bilbo: Euskara Institutu
Euskara Institutuaren ataria (UPV - EHU)
The University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
* Sarasola, Ibon (2010): "Zehazki
Zehazki - UPV/EHU
Bilbo: Euskara Institutu
Euskara Institutuaren ataria (UPV - EHU)
The University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
* Sota, M. de la, et al., 1976: ''Diccionario Retana de autoridades de la lengua vasca: con cientos de miles de nuevas voces y acepciones, Antiguas y modernas'', Bilbao: La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca. .
* Van Eys, W. J. 1873.
Dictionnaire basque–français
'. Paris/London: Maisonneuve/Williams & Norgate.

Basque corpora

* Sarasola, Ibon; Pello Salaburu, Josu Landa (2011): "ETC: Egungo Testuen Corpusa
Egungo Testuen Corpusa (ETC) - UPV/EHU
Bilbo: Euskara Institutu
Euskara Institutuaren ataria (UPV - EHU)
The University of the Basque Country UPV/EH
University of the Basque Country
* Sarasola, Ibon; Pello Salaburu, Josu Landa (2009): "Ereduzko Prosa Gaur, EPG
Ereduzko Prosa Gaur (EPG) - UPV/EHU
Bilbo: Euskara Institutu
Euskara Institutuaren ataria (UPV - EHU)
The University of the Basque Country UPV/EH
University of the Basque Country
* Sarasola, Ibon; Pello Salaburu, Josu Landa (2009–): "Ereduzko Prosa Dinamikoa, EPD
Ereduzko Prosa Dinamikoa (EPD) - UPV/EHU
Bilbo: Euskara Institutu
Euskara Institutuaren ataria (UPV - EHU)
The University of the Basque Country UPV/EH
University of the Basque Country
* Sarasola, Ibon; Pello Salaburu, Josu Landa (2013): "Euskal Klasikoen Corpusa, EKC
Euskal Klasikoen Corpusa (EKC) - UPV/EHU
Bilbo: Euskara Institutu
Euskara Institutuaren ataria (UPV - EHU)
The University of the Basque Country UPV/EH
University of the Basque Country
* Sarasola, Ibon; Pello Salaburu, Josu Landa (2014): "Goenkale Corpusa
Goenkale Corpusa - UPV/EHU
Bilbo: Euskara Institutu
Euskara Institutuaren ataria (UPV - EHU)
The University of the Basque Country UPV/EH
University of the Basque Country
* Sarasola, Ibon; Pello Salaburu, Josu Landa (2010): "Pentsamenduaren Klasikoak Corpusa
Pentsamenduaren Klasikoak Corpusa - UPV/EHU
Bilbo: Euskara Institutu
Euskara Institutuaren ataria (UPV - EHU)
The University of the Basque Country UPV/EH
University of the Basque Country

Other

* Agirre Sorondo, Antxon. 1988. ''Tratado de Molinología: Los molinos en Guipúzcoa''. San Sebastián: Eusko Ikaskunza-Sociedad de Estudios Vascos. Fundación Miguel de Barandiarán.
*
* Bakker, Peter, et al. 1991. ''Basque pidgins in Iceland and Canada. Anejos del Anuario del Seminario de Filología Vasca "Julio de Urquijo"'', XXIII.
* Deen, Nicolaas Gerard Hendrik. 1937. ''Glossaria duo vasco-islandica''. Amsterdam. Reprinted 1991 in ''Anuario del Seminario de Filología Vasca Julio de Urquijo'', 25(2):321–426.
*

History of the language and etymologies

*
* Azurmendi, Joxe: "Die Bedeutung der Sprache in Renaissance und Reformation und die Entstehung der baskischen Literatur im religiösen und politischen Konfliktgebiet zwischen Spanien und Frankreich" In: Wolfgang W. Moelleken (Herausgeber), Peter J. Weber (Herausgeber): ''Neue Forschungsarbeiten zur Kontaktlinguistik'', Bonn: Dümmler, 1997.
* Hualde, José Ignacio; Lakarra, Joseba A. & R.L. Trask (eds) (1996): ''Towards a History of the Basque Language'', "Current Issues in Linguistic Theory" 131, John Benjamin Publishing Company, Amsterdam, .
* Michelena, Luis, 1990. ''Fonética histórica vasca''. Bilbao.
* Lafon, René (1944): ''Le système du verbe basque au XVIe siècle'', Delmas, Bordeaux.
* Löpelmann, Martin (1968): ''Etymologisches Wörterbuch der baskischen Sprache.'' Dialekte von Labourd, Nieder-Navarra und La Soule. 2 Bde. de Gruyter, Berlin (non-standard etymologies; idiosyncratic).
* Orpustan, J. B. (1999): ''La langue basque au Moyen-Age.'' Baïgorri, .
* Pagola, Rosa Miren. 1984. ''Euskalkiz Euskalki''. Vitoria-Gasteiz: Eusko Jaurlaritzaren Argitalpe.
* Rohlfs, Gerhard. 1980. Le Gascon: études de philologie pyrénéenne. ''Zeitschrift für Romanische Philologie'' 85.
* Trask, R.L.: ''History of Basque''. New York/London: Routledge, 1996. .
* Trask, R.L. † (edited by Max W. Wheeler) (2008)
Etymological Dictionary of Basque
University of Sussex (unfinished). Also "Some Important Basque Words (And a Bit of Culture)

*

Relationship to other languages

Proto-Indo-European

*

General reviews of the theories

* Jacobsen, William H. Jr. (1999):
Basque Language Origin Theories
In ''Basque Cultural Studies'', edited by William A. Douglass, Carmelo Urza, Linda White, and Joseba Zulaika, 27–43. Basque Studies Program Occasional Papers Series, No. 5. Reno: Basque Studies Program, University of Nevada, Reno.
* Lakarra Andrinua, Joseba (1998):
Hizkuntzalaritza konparatua eta aitzineuskararen erroa
(in Basque), ''Uztaro'' 25, pp. 47–110, (includes review of older theories).
* Lakarra Andrinua, Joseba (1999):
Ná-De-Ná
(in Basque), ''Uztaro'' 31, pp. 15–84.
* Trask, R.L. (1995): "Origin and Relatives of the Basque Language : Review of the Evidence" in Towards a History of the Basque Language, ed. J. Hualde, J. Lakarra, R.L. Trask, John Benjamins, Amsterdam / Philadelphia.
* Trask, R.L.: ''History of Basque''. New York/London: Routledge, 1996. ; pp. 358–414.

Afroasiatic hypothesis

* Schuchardt, Hugo (1913):
Baskisch-Hamitische wortvergleichungen
''Revista Internacional de Estudios Vascos'' = "Revue Internationale des Etudes Basques" 7:289–340.
* Mukarovsky, Hans Guenter (1964/66): "Les rapports du basque et du berbère", ''Comptes rendus du GLECS (Groupe Linguistique d'Etudes Chamito-Sémitiques)'' 10:177–184.
*
* Trombetti, Alfredo (1925): ''Le origini della lingua basca'', Bologna, (new edit ).

Dené–Caucasian hypothesis

* Bengtson, John D. (1999): ''The Comparison of Basque and North Caucasian.'' in: '' Mother Tongue.'' ''Journal of the Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory''. Gloucester, Mass.
*
* Bengtson, John D. (2004):
Some features of Dene–Caucasian phonology (with special reference to Basque)
" Cahiers de l'Institut de Linguistique de Louvain (CILL) 30.4, pp. 33–54.
* Bengtson, John D.. (2006): "Materials for a Comparative Grammar of the Dene–Caucasian (Sino-Caucasian) Languages." (there is also
preliminary draft

* Bengtson, John D. (1997): Review of "The History of Basque". London: Routledge, 1997. Pp.xxii,458" by R.L. Trask.
* Bengtson, John D., (1996): "A Final (?) Response to the Basque Debate in Mother Tongue 1."
*

Caucasian hypothesis

* Bouda, Karl (1950):
L'Euskaro-Caucasique
''Boletín de la Real Sociedad Vasca de Amigos del País. Homenaje a D. Julio de Urquijo e Ybarra'' vol. III, San Sebastián, pp. 207–232.
* Klimov, Georgij A. (1994):
Einführung in die kaukasische Sprachwissenschaft
', Buske, Hamburg, ; pp. 208–215.
*
*
* Trombetti, Alfredo (1925): ''Le origini della lingua basca'', Bologna, (new edit ).
* Míchelena, Luis (1968): "L'euskaro-caucasien" in Martinet, A. (ed.) ''Le langage'', Paris, pp. 1414–1437 (criticism).
* Uhlenbeck, Christian Cornelius (1924):
De la possibilité d' une parenté entre le basque et les langues caucasiques
, ''Revista Internacional de los Estudios Vascos'' = ''Revue Internationale des Etudes Basques'' 15, pp. 565–588.
* Zelikov, Mixail (2005):
L'hypothèse basco-caucasienne dans les travaux de N. Marr
''Cahiers de l'ILSL'', N° 20, pp. 363–381.
* Зыцарь Ю. В. O родстве баскского языка с кавказскими /
Вопросы языкознания. 1955. No. 5.

Iberian hypothesis

* Bähr, Gerhard (1948): "Baskisch und Iberisch" ''Eusko Jakintza'' II, pp. 3–20, 167–194, 381–455.
* Gorrochategui, Joaquín (1993): La onomástica aquitana y su relación con la ibérica, ''Lengua y cultura en Hispania prerromana : actas del V Coloquio sobre lenguas y culturas de la Península Ibérica: (Colonia 25–28 de Noviembre de 1989)'' (Francisco Villar and Jürgen Untermann, eds.), , pp. 609–634.
* Rodríguez Ramos, Jesús (2002)
La hipótesis del vascoiberismo desde el punto de vista de la epigrafía íbera
''Fontes linguae vasconum: Studia et documenta'', 90, pp. 197–218, .
* Schuchardt, Hugo Ernst Mario (1907): ''Die Iberische Deklination'', Wien.
* Villamor, Fernando (2020) ''A basic dictionary and grammar of the Iberian language''

Uralic-Altaic hypothesis

* Bonaparte, Louis Lucien (1862):
Langue basque et langues finnoises
', London.

Vasconic-Old European hypothesis

* Vennemann, Theo (2003): ''Europa Vasconica – Europa Semitica'', Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs 138, De Gruyter, Berlin, .
* Vennemann, Theo (2007): "Basken wie wir: Linguistisches und Genetisches zum europäischen Stammbaum", ''BiologenHeute'' 5/6, 6–11.

Other theories

* Thornton, R.W. (2002): ''Basque Parallels to Greenberg's Eurasiatic.'' in: '' Mother Tongue.'' Gloucester, Mass., 2002.

External links

* – Euskaltzaindia (The Royal Academy of the Basque Language)

An overview of language technology tools for Basque
Automatic translators for Basque, dictionaries, resources to learn Basque... (~ 2016)

Euskara Institutua
The University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU

Ahotsak.eus - Basque Oral Archive

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basque Language

Agglutinative languages
Articles containing video clips
Language isolates of Europe
Subject–object–verb languages
Synthetic languages
Languages of Spain
Languages of France
Languages attested from the 1st century BC