Biscayan, sometimes Bizkaian ( eu, Bizkaiera, es, Vizcaíno) is a
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
of the
Basque language spoken mainly in
Biscay
Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao.
B ...
, one of the provinces of the
Basque Country of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
It is named as ''Western'' in the Basque dialects' classification drawn up by linguist
Koldo Zuazo
Koldo Zuazo ( Eibar, Gipuzkoa, 1956) is a Basque linguist, professor at the University of the Basque Country and specialist in Basque language dialectology and sociolinguistics.
The dialects of the Basque language
Since 1998, Zuazo's work o ...
, since it is not only spoken in Biscay but also extends slightly into the northern fringes of
Alava and deeper in the western part of
Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...
. The dialect's territory bears great similarity to that of the ''
Caristii
The Caristii were a pre-Roman tribe settled in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, in what today are known as the historical territories of Biscay and Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain.
Origins
Their historical territory today corres ...
'' tribe, as described by
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
authors.
While it is treated as stylish to write in Biscayan and the dialect is still spoken generally in about half of Biscay and some other municipalities, it suffers from the pressure of
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 Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
.
![Plencia - Torrebarri 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Plencia_-_Torrebarri_2.JPG)
Biscayan was used by
Sabino Arana
Sabino Policarpo Arana Goiri (in Spanish), Sabin Polikarpo Arana Goiri (in Basque), or Arana ta Goiri'taŕ Sabin (self-styled) (26 January 1865 – 25 November 1903), was a Basque writer and the founder of the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) ...
and his early
Basque nationalist followers as one of the signs of Basqueness.
Sociolinguistic features
In the words of
Georges Lacombe, because of the special features of this
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
,
Euskera could well be divided into two groups of dialects: Biscayan and the rest. He argued that this dialect was so different from the rest, that the
isogloss
An isogloss, also called a heterogloss (see Etymology below), is the geographic boundary of a certain linguistic feature, such as the pronunciation of a vowel, the meaning of a word, or the use of some morphological or syntactic feature. Major d ...
es separating it from the adjacent dialects (Gipuzkoan or central) are so close to each other that form a clear line; that is, the
phonetic
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...
-
phonological
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
,
morphosyntactic
In linguistics, morphology () is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language. It analyzes the structure of words and parts of words such as stems, root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Morph ...
and
lexical
Lexical may refer to:
Linguistics
* Lexical corpus or lexis, a complete set of all words in a language
* Lexical item, a basic unit of lexicographical classification
* Lexicon, the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge
* Lexical ...
features of Biscayan coincide geographically to the point of creating a distinctively clear and defined dialectical border.
Because of these differences both with the rest of the Basque dialects and also with
Standard Basque
Standard Basque ( eu, euskara batua or simply ''batua'') is a standardised version of the Basque language, developed by the Basque Language Academy in the late 1960s, which nowadays is the most widely and commonly spoken Basque-language version ...
or Batua, and respecting their corresponding uses, the
Euskaltzaindia
Euskaltzaindia (; often translated Royal Academy of the Basque Language) is the official academic language regulatory institution which watches over the Basque language. It conducts research, seeks to protect the language, and establishes stand ...
has produced a Model for Written Biscayan ( eu, Bizkaieraren idatzizko ereduaren finkapenak), a set of rules mainly focused on
morphosyntax
In linguistics, morphology () is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language. It analyzes the structure of words and parts of words such as stems, root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Morph ...
. The official use of the dialects of Euskera is regulated through Regulation 137 of the Euskaltzaindia, according to which the use of Batua should be limited to the fields of communication, administration and teaching.
Since 1997 and according to the new dialectical classification realized by
Koldo Zuazo
Koldo Zuazo ( Eibar, Gipuzkoa, 1956) is a Basque linguist, professor at the University of the Basque Country and specialist in Basque language dialectology and sociolinguistics.
The dialects of the Basque language
Since 1998, Zuazo's work o ...
, author of ''Euskalkiak. Herriaren lekukoak'' (Elkar, 2004), the name given to Biscayan is the Western Dialect, due to its use not being limited to the province of Biscay, but with users in some
Gipuzkoa
Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...
n regions such as
Debagoiena
Debagoiena ( es, Alto Deva) is one of the seven eskualdeak/comarcas of Gipuzkoa, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (L ...
(mainly) and
Debabarrena
Debabarrena (English: ''Lower Deba'') is an '' eskualdea / comarca'' located in Gipuzkoa, Basque Country (Spain). It has an area of 180,3 km². It is north from the comarca of Debagoiena, east from the province of Biscay, and south from the ...
, and also some
Alavan municipalities such as
Aramaio
Aramaio ( es, Aramayona) is a town and municipality located in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain.
Elizate
* Arexola, elizate
* Azkoaga, elizate
* Barajuen, elizate
* Etxaguen, elizate
* Gantzaga, elizate
* Ib ...
(Aramayona) and
Legutio
Legutio (also known as ''Legutiano''; ''Villarreal de Álava'' in Spanish) is a town and municipality located in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat ...
(Villarreal).
According to study by
Yrizar, this dialect was spoken in the seventies by around 200,000 people, with the number of estimated speakers approaching 300,000 by the eighties. In 1991 16% of the population of this province could speak Basque, and data gathered in 2001 data 22% of the total 1,122,710 Biscayans (i.e. 247,000) could speak and write in Basque. However, this data is only illustrative, as there is no record of how many of the Basque speakers spoke Biscayan specifically and it does not take into account Biscayan speakers in Gipuzkoan territory (
Bergara
es, vergarés, vergaresa
, population_note =
, population_density_km2 = auto
, blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s)
, blank_info_sec1 = BasqueSpanish
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1 ...
,
Leintz Gatzaga
Leintz Gatzaga (Spanish, ''Salinas de Léniz'') is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain. The municipality's population is 251 (2015).
Etymology
The first part of the name, Lei ...
,
Mondragon,
Oñati
Oñati ( eu, Oñati, es, Oñate) is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the north of Spain. It has a population of approximately 10,500 and lies in a valley in the center of the Basqu ...
, etc.)
Subdialects and variations
![Mendebaleko euskararen mapa (Koldo Zuazo, 2015) 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Mendebaleko_euskararen_mapa_%28Koldo_Zuazo%2C_2015%29_02.jpg)
Biscayan is not a homogeneous dialect, it has two subdialects and eight main variations.
The introduced several neologisms and
purist
Purism is an arts movement that took place between 1918 and 1925.
Purism may also refer to:
*Purism (Spanish architecture) (1530–1560), a phase of Renaissance architecture in Spain
*Purism (company), company manufacturing Librem personal comput ...
forms.
They also used a spelling with characters such as
ĺ and
ŕ, straddling away of the Spanish-influenced tradition.
Only some of their innovations had been taken up by modern Biscayan and Standard Basque.
Western subdialect
*
Uribe-Kosta
*
Mungialdea
Mungialdea, also known as Uribe-Butroe,Txorierri
Txorierri is a valley of Biscay, Basque Country, separated from Bilbao by low mountains Monte Artxanda and Monte Abril. It includes the municipalities of Erandio, Loiu, Sondika, Derio, Zamudio, Lezama and Larrabetzu Larrabetzu is a town and mu ...
*
Nerbion Valley
*
Zeberio
Zeberio ( es, Ceberio) is a municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado). ...
*
Arratia
*
Orozko
Orozko is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country in northern Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
...
Variations
*Dialectal variation around the border between the Western and Eastern subdialects. The territory includes:
Busturialdea
Busturialdea, also named ''Busturialde - Urdaibai'' is a comarca of the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, Spain. It is the heir of "Busturia", one of the original ''merindades'' that used to compose the province of Biscay – this should ...
,
Otxandio
Otxandio (in Basque and officially, in Spanish ''Ochandiano'') is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Basque autonomous community, Spain. Otxandio is part of the ''comarca'' of Durangaldea and has a population of 1,26 ...
and
Villarreal
Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain.
The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...
.
*Dialectal variation happens the border between the Western dialect (Biscayan) and the Central dialect (
Gipuzkoan
Gipuzkoan ( eu, Gipuzkera; es, Guipuzcoano) is a dialect of the Basque language spoken mainly in the central and eastern parts of the province of Gipuzkoa in Basque Country and also in the northernmost part of Navarre. It is a central dialect ...
). The territory includes:
Elgoibar,
Deba
Deba may refer to:
Geography
* Deba (crater), a crater on Mars
* Deba (river), a river in the Basque Country
* Deba, Gipuzkoa, a town in the Basque Country
* Deba, Gombe, a town in the Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria
...
,
Mendaro
Mendaro is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain.
The Mendaro Valley is the town's namesake. There is little agreement on the origin or meaning of the word itself.
Surrounded by ...
and
Mutriku
Mutriku ( es, Motrico) is a coastal town located in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country in northern Spain. It has a population of around 5000 and provides access to the Bay of Biscay. It is the site of the worl ...
.
Eastern subdialect
*
Lea-Artibai
Lea-Artibai is an ''eskualdea/comarca'' of the province of Biscay (Bizkaia), in the Basque Country, Spain. Lea-Artibai is the heir of the historical ''merindad'' of Markina, which was one of the ''merindades'' of Biscay. Currently, Lea-Artibai i ...
*
Durangaldea
Durangaldea (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Duranguesado'') is a comarcas of Spain, comarca of Biscay located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the seven ''eskualdeak/comarcas'' or regions that compos ...
*
Aramaio
Aramaio ( es, Aramayona) is a town and municipality located in the province of Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain.
Elizate
* Arexola, elizate
* Azkoaga, elizate
* Barajuen, elizate
* Etxaguen, elizate
* Gantzaga, elizate
* Ib ...
*
Debagoiena
Debagoiena ( es, Alto Deva) is one of the seven eskualdeak/comarcas of Gipuzkoa, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (L ...
*
Debabarrena
Debabarrena (English: ''Lower Deba'') is an '' eskualdea / comarca'' located in Gipuzkoa, Basque Country (Spain). It has an area of 180,3 km². It is north from the comarca of Debagoiena, east from the province of Biscay, and south from the ...
*
Ermua
Ermua is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. In 2019, Ermua had 15,880 inhabitants.
Ermua is a town in the Durangaldea comarca of the province of Biscay in nor ...
*
Eibar
Eibar ( eu, Eibar, es, Éibar) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is the head town of Debabarrena, one of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Gipuzkoa.
Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat ...
*
Soraluze
Geography and history
The borders of Biscayan match those of the pre-Roman tribe of the
Caristii
The Caristii were a pre-Roman tribe settled in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, in what today are known as the historical territories of Biscay and Álava, in the Basque Country, northern Spain.
Origins
Their historical territory today corres ...
.
Biscay
Biscay (; eu, Bizkaia ; es, Vizcaya ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilbao.
B ...
was formerly included, along with
Alava and the
Valley of Amezcoa, within the
ecclesiastical circumscription of Calahorra, which explains the wide influence of the Western Dialect in these regions.
Phonology
![Diaphonej](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Diaphonej.svg)
Some features of Biscayan as perceived by other dialect speakers may be summed up as follows:
* is realized as or .
* The verb root used for the dative auxiliary verb (--), e.g. / vs. .
* Auxiliary verb forms -- most of the time, as opposed to general Basque .
* Convergence of sibilants: ''z'' , x and ''s'' > ''x'' ; ''tz'' , ''tx'' and ''ts'' > ''tz'' .
* Clusters generally turned into , e.g. > .
* The conspicuous absence of past tense 3rd person mark at the beginning of auxiliary verbs, e.g. vs. .
* Assimilation in vowel clusters at the end of the noun phrase, notably ''-ea'' > ''-ie''/''i'' and ''-oa'' > ''-ue''/''u''.
* V''ñ''V ending words, as opposed to the Beterri Gipuzkoan V''y''V or standard Basque V∅V: vs , standard Basque .
* In spelling, it has no ''h'' and it has and where standard Basque has and .
Vocabulary
Biscayan dialect has a very rich
lexicon
A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Koine Greek language, Greek word (), neuter of () ...
, with
vocabulary
A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the la ...
varying from region to region, and from town to town. For example, while ‘to want’ and ‘bad’ are two words widely used in Biscayan, some Biscayan speaker might use cognates of and respectively, which are generally used in other dialects.
One of the current main experts in local vocabulary is
Iñaki Gaminde, who in the last years has extensively researched and published on this subject.
Media
Radio
* ''Bizkaia Irratia'': FM
* ''Arrakala Irratia'': FM 106.0 (
Lekeitio
Lekeitio (; es, Lequeitio) is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Spanish Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northeast from Bilbao. The municipality has 7,307 inhabitants (2019) and is one of the most importa ...
).
* ''Arrate Irratia'': FM 87.7 (
Eibar
Eibar ( eu, Eibar, es, Éibar) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is the head town of Debabarrena, one of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Gipuzkoa.
Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat ...
).
* ''Irratia Arrasate irratia'': FM 107.7 (
Debagoiena
Debagoiena ( es, Alto Deva) is one of the seven eskualdeak/comarcas of Gipuzkoa, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (L ...
).
* ''Bilbo Hiria Irratia'': FM 96.0 (
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
).
* ''Itsuki Irratia'': FM 107.3 (
Bermeo
Bermeo is a town and municipality in the ''comarca'' of Busturialdea. It is in the province of Biscay, which is part of the autonomous region of the Basque Country in northern Spain.
With a population of 16,765, it is the most important fishing ...
).
* ''Matrallako Irratixa'': FM 102.8 (
Eibar
Eibar ( eu, Eibar, es, Éibar) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is the head town of Debabarrena, one of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Gipuzkoa.
Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat ...
).
* ''Radixu Irratia'': FM 105.5 (
Ondarroa
Ondarroa is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, northern Spain.
Main sights
*Church of St. Mary, ...
).
* ''Tas-Tas'': FM 95.0 (
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
).
Newspaper
* ''Goiena'':
Debagoiena
Debagoiena ( es, Alto Deva) is one of the seven eskualdeak/comarcas of Gipuzkoa, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (L ...
Magazine
* ''Aikor'':
Txorierri
Txorierri is a valley of Biscay, Basque Country, separated from Bilbao by low mountains Monte Artxanda and Monte Abril. It includes the municipalities of Erandio, Loiu, Sondika, Derio, Zamudio, Lezama and Larrabetzu Larrabetzu is a town and mu ...
.
* ''Anboto'':
Durangaldea
Durangaldea (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Duranguesado'') is a comarcas of Spain, comarca of Biscay located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the seven ''eskualdeak/comarcas'' or regions that compos ...
.
* ''Bagabiz Aldizkaria'':
Gernika
Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...
.
* ''Barren'':
Elgoibar.
* ''Begitu'':
Arratia.
* ''Berton'':
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
.
* ''Bizkaie'':
Txurdinaga,
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
.
* ''Drogetenitturri'':
Ermua
Ermua is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. In 2019, Ermua had 15,880 inhabitants.
Ermua is a town in the Durangaldea comarca of the province of Biscay in nor ...
.
* ''Eta kitto!'':
Eibar
Eibar ( eu, Eibar, es, Éibar) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is the head town of Debabarrena, one of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Gipuzkoa.
Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat ...
.
* ''Kalaputxi'':
Mutriku
Mutriku ( es, Motrico) is a coastal town located in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country in northern Spain. It has a population of around 5000 and provides access to the Bay of Biscay. It is the site of the worl ...
.
* ''Pil-pilean'':
Soraluze.
* ''Prest!'':
Deusto
Deusto, also known as Deustu in Basque and formerly known as ''San Pedro de Deusto'', is one of the eight districts of Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption ...
,
Bilbao
)
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize = 275 px
, map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao
, pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption ...
.
Television
''GOITB'' Debagoiena
Debagoiena ( es, Alto Deva) is one of the seven eskualdeak/comarcas of Gipuzkoa, Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (L ...
.
* ''Urdaibai Telebista'':
Gernika
Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the mu ...
.
See also
*
Basque dialects
Basque dialects are linguistic varieties of the Basque language which differ in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar from each other and from Standard Basque. Between six and nine Basque dialects have been historically distinguished:
*Biscayan ...
Notes
References
{{reflist
External links
Bizkaiera hiztegitxoa
Basque dialects
Biscay