Berriz (in

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

and officially, in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Bérriz'') is an elizate, town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

located in the province of

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

, in the Basque Country, northern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Berriz is part of the ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

'' of

Durangaldea Durangaldea ( Spanish: ''Duranguesado'') is a comarca of Biscay located in the Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the seven ''eskualdeak/comarcas'' or regions that compose the province of Biscay. The capital city of Durangaldea is Durango. ...

and has a population of 4.623 inhabitants as of 2019 and according to the Spanish National Statistics Institute.

Toponymy

''Berriz'' belongs to a series of

toponyms with an ''-iz'' ending. Julio Caro Baroja defended that most of these toponyms came from an original Basque toponym plus the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

suffix ''-icus''. Caro Baroja considered that on toponymy, the suffixes ''-oz'', ''-ez'' and ''-iz'' used to be combined with the name of the owner of the lands, with its origin being in some place between the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

. In the case of ''Berriz'', Caro Baroja suggested that the name might come from ''Verrius'', the documented

name. Then, to the name ''Verrius'' it was added the suffix ''-icus'' (indicating that the lands were owned by Verrius) and became ''Verricus''. From then, the name evolved to ''Verrici'' and from there to ''Verriz''. The name of the town in

used to be ''Vérriz''. Another theory about is origin negates the Latin origin and proposes a

origin. ''Berriz'' might come from ''Be(h)e'' ("under") and ''Oiz'' in reference to the Oiz mountain, and then "under Oiz" as of "in the or at the bottom of Oiz".

Notable people

* Miren Amuriza (born 1990), bertsolari and Biscayan writer * Marino Lejarreta (born 1957), retired Spanish professional road racing cyclist

References

External links

Bérriz in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia (Euskomedia Fundazioa)

Bérriz Town Hall
in Basque and Spanish Municipalities in Biscay Durangaldea {{basqueCountry-geo-stub