Late Basquisation is a minority

hypothesis A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obse ...

that dates the arrival of the first speakers of the Basque language in northeastern

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

from

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 January ...

to the 5th or 6th century AD – as opposed to the mainstream view of it being the last remaining descendant of one of the

pre-Indo-European languages The Pre-Indo-European languages are any of several ancient languages, not necessarily related to one another, that existed in Prehistoric Europe and Southern Asia before the arrival of speakers of Indo-European languages. The oldest Indo-Europe ...

Prehistoric Europe Prehistoric Europe is Europe with human presence but before the start of recorded history, beginning in the Lower Paleolithic. As history progresses, considerable regional irregularities of cultural development emerge and increase. The region o ...

History

The Basque language is a

language isolate Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...

that has survived the arrival of

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...

in western

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Basque (and its ancestors or closely related languages such as Aquitanian) historally occupied a much larger territory, including parts of modern-day

Béarn The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

, Rioja, Castile south of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

, and large parts of modern-day

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...

to the north.

Hypothesis

The "Late Basquisation" hypothesis set the historical geographical spread of the Basque or the

proto-Basque language Proto-Basque ( eu, aitzineuskara; es, protoeuskera, protovasco; french: proto-basque), or Pre-Basque, is the reconstructed predecessor of the Basque language before the Roman conquests in the Western Pyrenees. Background The first linguist wh ...

later in history. It suggests that at the end of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

and during the first centuries of the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

, migration of Basque-speakers from Aquitaine overlapped with an population whose most ancient substrate would be

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...

. The migration is alleged to have increased, with peaks in the 6th and 7th centuries. In his 2008 book ''Historia de las Lenguas de Europa'' (History of the Languages of Europe), the Spanish philologist and

hellenist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient ...

Francisco Rodríguez Adrados Francisco Rodríguez Adrados (29 March 192221 July 2020) was a Spanish Hellenist, linguist and translator. He worked most of his career at the Complutense University of Madrid. He was a member of the Real Academia Española and Real Academia d ...

has updated the debate by arguing that the Basque language is older in Aquitaine than in the Spanish Basque country, and it now inhabits its current territory because of pressure of the Celtic invasions.

Claimed evidence

According to the hypothesis of Late Basquisation, on top of a more ancient autochthonous Indo-European occupation, evidence appears of important Celtic establishments in the current territory of the Basque Country (though apparently not in the Pyrenean valleys of

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

). Both cultures coexisted, the Celtic elements being socially predominant, until the arrival of the Romans. This is observed all over

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its ca ...

and

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 ...

, thus being concluded that 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 ...

and

Varduli The Varduli were a pre-Ancient Rome, Roman tribe settled in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, in what today is the eastern region of the autonomous community of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country and western Navarre, in n ...

were not Basque tribes or peoples, but that they were Indo-Europeans like their neighbors

Autrigones The Autrigones were a pre-Roman tribe that settled in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, in what today is the western Basque Country (western regions of Biscay and Álava) and northern Burgos and the East of Cantabria, Spain. Their territory li ...

Cantabri The Cantabri ( grc-gre, Καντάβροι, ''Kantabroi'') or Ancient Cantabrians, were a pre-Ancient Rome, Roman people and large tribal federation that lived in the northern coastal region of ancient Iberia in the second half of the first mille ...

, and Beroni. The Late Basquisation hypothesis puts forward the following evidence: * Abundance of ancient Indo-European onomasty before

Romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

(as pointed out by María Lourdes Albertos Firmat). * Absence of vestiges in Basque language prior to romanization, in stark contrast with Aquitaine. * Deep romanization of the Basque depression (both the ''ager'' and the ''saltus'', as indicated by Caro Baroja and Juan José Cepeda). * Expansion of the Basque language in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

. * Homogeneity of the Basque dialects in the Early Middle Ages (pointed out by Luis Michelena). * Archaeological vestiges (Aldaieta, Alegría, etc.) * The genetic boundary between the Basques and their southern neighbors is quite abrupt, while it has a more diffuse character between Basques and their northern neighbors, which might indicate a displacement from Aquitaine to the south. ( Cavalli-Sforza).Cited in ''History of Basque'' by

Larry Trask Robert Lawrence Trask (10 November 1944 – 27 March 2004) was an American–British professor of linguistics at the University of Sussex, and an authority on the Basque language and the field of historical linguistics. Biography Born in Ole ...

, page 9.

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

*María Lourdes Albertos (1974) ''El culto a los montes entre los galaicos, astures y berones y algunas de las deidades más significativas.'' Estudios de Arqueología Alavesa 6:147-157. ISSN 0425-3507 *Agustín Azkárate (1993) ''Francos, aquitanos y vascones al sur de los Pirineos.'' Archivo Español de Arqueología. 66:149-176. ISSN 0066-6742 *Agustín Azkárate (2004) ''El País Vasco en los siglos inmediatos a la desaparición del Imperio Romano.'' En ''Historia del País Vasco. Edad Media (siglos V-XV)'':23-50. 84-9797-039-X *Julio Caro Baroja (1945) ''Materiales para una historia de la lengua vasca en su relación con la latina''. 84-7148-254-1 *Juan José Cepeda (1999) Dos depósitos monetarios de época altomedieval romana procedentes de Aloria (Álava). ''CSDIC'': 215-228. *Juan José Cepeda. 2001. ''El yacimiento arqueológico de Aloria''. *Iñaki García Camino. 2002. ''Arqueología y poblamiento en Bizkaia, siglos VI-XII''. *Manuel Gómez Moreno. 1951. De epigrafía vizcaína.'' Boletín de la Real Academia de Historia'' 128:210-217. *Hector Iglesias (2011
« Sur l'origine présumée du fractionnement dialectal de la langue basque »Revista ARSE 45 (2011)
: 65-95. *Luis Michelena. 1988. ''Sobre historia de la lengua vasca''. *Claudio Sánchez Albornoz. 1976. ''Vascos y navarros en su primera historia''. *Theo Vennemann. 2003. ''Europa Vasconica - Europa Semítica. Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs'' 138. *Francisco Villar & Blanca María Prósper (2005) ''Vascos, celtas e indoeuropeos. Genes y lenguas''. 84-7800-530-7 *Mikel Unzueta. 1994. Indigenismo prerromano en la vertiente cantábrica del País Vasco: fuentes documentales y contexto arqueológico. ''Illuntzar'' 94:101-112. *Mikel A. Unzueta, J. A. Ocharan. 1999. Aproximación a la conquista romana del Cantábrico oriental: el campamento o campo de batalla de Andagoste (Cuartango, Álava). ''Regio Cantabrorum'': 125-142. Basque Basque people 5th century in Hispania 6th century in Hispania 5th century in sub-Roman Gaul 6th century in Francia