Basque Language and Culture

It's not possible to count the words in any language, because there is no universal definition of what a word is. But most estimates place the number between 40,000 and 160,000words (which is the same range for almost all other languages).

Note: English is an exception. It has the largest number of words of any language in the world, estimated at 170,000 to 250,000 words. No language has more words than English.

Opportunities for defense and escape is a statement which explains how geography helped the Basque culture to survive.

Specifically, the culture of the Basque people can be found along the coasts and nearby interiors of southwestern France and northwestern Spain. Access to the sea means that the Basque people can use the water for defense or escape. The prevalence of hilly/mountainous terrain results in locations that are easier to defend than to attack.

"Ignatius" is an English equivalent of the Basque name Iñaki.

Specifically, the name functions as a masculine proper noun. Its translation into other languages links it to Etruscan or Latin origins as personal names meaning "fiery." The pronunciation will be "ee-NYA-kee" by those who speak Guipuzcoan Basque.

Andoni is a Basque equivalent of the English name "Anthony".

Specifically, the name is a masculine proper noun. It is thought to originate from the ancient Etruscan culture of northern Italy. The pronunciation will be "an-DO-nee" by those who speak Guipuzcoan Basque.

Amaia and Amaya are Italian equivalents of the Basque name Amaya.

Specifically, the name is a feminine proper noun. It traces its origins back to the Basque word amai for "the end". Whichever spelling is used, the pronunciation remains "a-MEYE-a" in Italian.

France and Spain are the countries that have tried to eliminate the Basque language.

Specifically, on the northern side of the France-Spain border, pronouncements on the order of the Villers-Cotterêts Edict of 1539 and the post-French Revolutionary projects of Abbé Grégoire (1750-1831) conferred official language status upon French and denigrated the use of purported patois ("dialects") such as Basque, Breton, Catalan, and Occitan. On the southern side of that same border, interaction between the four-speaking provinces and Spain culminated in the latter's absorption of the former. It was the beginning of a long-desired process on the part of Spain's powerholders to acquire and consolidate political and socio-economic control over the Basque Country. The years which most challenged the survival of the Basque people and their language were the years 1936-1975, during which Francisco Franco y Bahamonde's (1892-1975) government denied the use of Basque and Catalan in public, denigrated both languages - in animal- and pet-unfriendly terminology - as the "languages of dogs" not fit to be spoken in the Empire of Spaniards, and had publications and writings in both languages were burned.

A language which is spoken on both sides of the border between southern France and northern Spain is what the Basque language is.

Specifically, the language is not known to be related to any language in the region and in fact to any other language in the world. Some scholars link it to languages -- such as Georgian -- which are spoken in Eurasia's Caucasus. People will find the language typically called Euskara by its native speakers.

Bilbo/Bilbao, Donostia/San Sebastián, and Gasteiz/Vitoria are three main cities associated with the Basque people.

Specifically, each city expresses key aspects of Euzkadi's ("Basque Country") cultural economics. Bilbo, Donostia, and Gasteiz have respective reputations as centers of fishing, tourism, and industry. The respective pronunciations of the names will be "BEEL-bo", do-NO-stya", and "ga-STEYS" in Basque.

Cultural integrity, economic survival, and political independence are some of the challenges which the Basque people face.

Specifically, the Basque people aim to preserve their language, which is specific to their region and unknown by most of Spain. They engage in activities -- particularly farming, fishing, herding, small-scale business and industry, and tourism -- which are lucrative for them but whose profitability can be affected by a national economy which may not do as well. They respect their past, which includes autonomy from Spain's monarchs and which may not find its best expression in national political structures.

Western Europe is the postulated origin of the Basque people even though the correct answer depends upon the location and timing of the emergence of the Basque language and of the self-identification of the language's speakers as uniquely Basque.

Specifically, the Basque ultimately can be traced back to the first known "anatomically modern" humans of 100,000-200,000 years ago in East Africa. About 60,000 years ago, some East Africans migrated to Eurasia. Some of the migrants settled along the Indian Ocean while others moved northward into the Central Asian steppes. Inhabitants of the steppes spread ever westward across Eurasia.

About 45,000 years ago, some of the steppe-dwellers began moving from the area of the Black Sea - whose European access is controlled today by Turkey - into Europe. It is thought that the Basque people numbered among the migrants to first reach southern France and northern Spain. Ancient sources in Latin mention:

• Autrigones, Caristi, and Vardulli as inhabiting what is now taken up geographically by France's three and Spain's four Basque-speaking provinces;

• Vascones as living slightly east of the current Basque Country.

Scholars know little about the first above-mentioned group. The second group may have spoken an old form of Basque. A third group, the Aquitani - unmentioned in the above list, but living nearby in southwest France around Gascony - may have been ancestors of the Basque people since they are known to have spoken an Aquitanian language which may be an ancestor or relative of today's Basque language.

It is possible that a key event in the forging of today's Basque nation was the southward and westward movements of the Aquitani and Vascones and their absorption or displacement of the Autrigones, Caristi and Vardulli.

Amona is a Basque equivalent of the English word "grandmother".

Specifically, the word is a noun in its singular form. It in fact takes on slightly different forms depending upon its use within a phrase or sentence since Basque is a language in which nouns are conjugated. The pronunciation will be "a-MO-na" by those who speak Guipuzcoan Basque.