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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 throughout the
Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...
. Heavily based on the literary tradition of the central areas (
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 ...
and Lapurdian dialects), it is the version of the language that is commonly used in education at all levels, from elementary school to university, on television and radio, and in the vast majority of all written production in Basque. It is also used in common parlance by new speakers that have not learnt any local dialect, especially in the cities, whereas in the countryside, with more elderly speakers, people remain attached to the natural dialects to a higher degree, especially in informal situations; i.e. Basque traditional dialects are still used in the situations where they always were used (native Basque speakers speaking in informal situations), while ''batua'' has conquered new fields for the Basque language: the formal situations (where Basque was seldom used, apart from religion) and a lot of new speakers that otherwise would not have learned Basque. ''Euskara batua'' enjoys official language status in Spain (in the whole Basque Autonomous Community and in the northern sections 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, ...
) but remains unrecognised as an official language in France, the only language officially recognised by that country being
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
.


History

The standard version of Basque was created in the 1970s by 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 ...
(Royal Academy of the Basque Language), mainly based on the central Basque dialect and on the written tradition. Having been for centuries pressured by acculturation from both Spanish and
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, and particularly under the rule of
Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ...
in which the Basque language was prohibited and came closer to extinction in Spain, the Academy felt the need to create a unified dialect of Basque, so that the language had a greater chance of survival. The 1968
Arantzazu Congress Arantzazu ( Spanish, ''Aránzazu'') is a town and municipality located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain. Toponym * Etymologically Aránzazu means place of hawthorn and comes from B ...
took place in the sanctuary of Arantzazu, a shrine perched in the highlands of Gipuzkoa and a dynamic Basque cultural focus, where the basic guidelines were laid down for achieving that objective in a systematic way (lexicon, morphology, declension and spelling). A further step was taken in 1973 with a proposal to establish a standard conjugation. The debate arising from this new set of standard language rules (1968–1976) did not prevent Standard Basque from becoming increasingly accepted as the Basque standard language in teaching, the media, and administration (1976–1983), within the context of burgeoning regional government ( Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country, 1979; Improvement of the Charter 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, ...
, 1982).


Reasons for basing on the central dialect

Here are the reasons for basing the standardised Basque on the central dialect, the
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 ...
, according to
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 ...
: # Linguistic: the central dialect is the meeting point of all Basque speakers. The westernmost dialect,
Biscayan Biscayan, sometimes Bizkaian ( eu, Bizkaiera, es, Vizcaíno) is a dialect of the Basque language spoken mainly in Biscay, one of the provinces of the Basque Country of Spain. It is named as ''Western'' in the Basque dialects' classification ...
, is difficult to understand for the speakers from other dialects; and the same occurs with the easternmost dialect, Zuberoan. # Demolinguistic: the central area and the western area were in 1968 and still are the zones in which most Basque speakers live. Moreover, it was and is in Gipuzkoa and the surrounding areas that Basque is strongest. # Sociolinguistic: since the 18th century, the central dialect, more precisely, the Beterri sub-dialect, is most prestigious. # Economic and cultural: Bilbao is certainly the most important Basque city, but it is not Basque speaking. The same is true for
Gasteiz es, vitoriano, vitoriana, , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = Spanish, Basque , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
,
Iruñea Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...
, and Baiona-
Angelu Anglet (; , eu, Angelu )ANGELU
Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...
. This left Gipuzkoa, the only Basque province with a multipolar structure and no powerful city. Koldo Zuazo (a scholar and supporter of Basque dialects, especially his own,
Biscayan Biscayan, sometimes Bizkaian ( eu, Bizkaiera, es, Vizcaíno) is a dialect of the Basque language spoken mainly in Biscay, one of the provinces of the Basque Country of Spain. It is named as ''Western'' in the Basque dialects' classification ...
) said that "taking all these characteristics into account, I think that it is fair and sensible having based the ''euskara batua'' on the central Basque dialect, and undoubtedly that is the reason of the Batua being so successful".


Usage

In the 21st century, almost all texts in Basque are published in the standard variety, i.e. administrative texts, education textbooks, media publications, literature texts, etc. The most widely used ISO 639-2 code is the EU code that always refers to standard Basque. ISO 639-3 code is EUS. The Eu-ES and Eu-FR codes have also been used, but the standard Basque used in Spain and France forms just one language, and most software translators prefer the EU code. Currently the standard form of the language is widely used in education. In the Basque Autonomous Community and in the north of peninsular
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, ...
Standard Basque is the most widely used working language. In the French Basque Country, Basque is used in several
ikastola An (, plural ) is a type of primary and secondary school in the Basque Autonomous Community, Navarre and (to a much lesser extent) the French Basque Country (see Basque Country) in which pupils are taught either entirely or predominantly in the ...
s and in one lyceum, but its use lags far behind
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, the only official language of France. Nowadays all school materials and all the written productions of teachers and students are always written in the standard form of Basque. Different university studies are currently offered in (Standard) Basque at some universities in Spain, France and USA.


Advantages of Standard Basque

According to
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 ...
, there are six main advantages that ''euskara batua'' has brought to the Basque language: #Basque-speakers can easily understand each other when they use ''batua''. When they use traditional dialects, difficulties in understand one another increase, especially between speakers of non-central dialects. #Before the creation of ''batua'', Basque speakers had to turn to Spanish or French to discuss modern topics or work subjects: Euskara Batua gives them a suitable tool to do so. #''Batua'' has made more adult people than ever able to learn the Basque language. #The geographic reach of the Basque language has been in retreat for centuries. Old maps reveal that Basque was formerly spoken in a significantly larger area than today. However, now, thanks to the
euskaltegi An ''euskaltegi'' is a centre for learning the Basque language. They can be either public or private. The term ''euskaltegi'' is made up of the words ''euskal'' coming from the Basque name of the Basque language and ''-tegi'', a suffix indicatin ...
s and
ikastola An (, plural ) is a type of primary and secondary school in the Basque Autonomous Community, Navarre and (to a much lesser extent) the French Basque Country (see Basque Country) in which pupils are taught either entirely or predominantly in the ...
s, thanks to primary schools, high schools and universities that teach ''batua'', the Basque-speaking area is expanding anew, as Basque speakers can now be found in any part of the Basque Country, and at times even outside it. #''Batua'' has given prestige to Basque because it can now be used in high-level usages of society. #Basque speakers are more united: since ''batua'' was made, the internal boundaries of the language have also been broken, and the sense of being a community is more alive. With a stronger speakers' community, Basque language becomes stronger. All of those advantages have been widely recognised and so have been used by Badihardugu, an organisation supporting the traditional dialects.


Criticism

Standard Basque has been described as an " artificial language" by its critics, a "plastified Euskeranto","Euskeranto" is portmanteau of ''Euskera'' and ''
Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...
'', a constructed language taking vocabulary from several European languages.
La politisation des langues régionales en France
' , '' Hérodote'',
Philippe Blanchet Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince Philippe, Count o ...
, page 29, 2002/2 (N°105)
as it is at times hardly
mutually intelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...
with the dialects at the extremes (namely the westernmost one or
Biscayan Biscayan, sometimes Bizkaian ( eu, Bizkaiera, es, Vizcaíno) is a dialect of the Basque language spoken mainly in Biscay, one of the provinces of the Basque Country of Spain. It is named as ''Western'' in the Basque dialects' classification ...
, and the easternmost one or Zuberoan). Then, Basque purists (such as Oskillaso and
Matías Múgica Matías is the Spanish version of Matthias (given name), Matthias. In Scandinavian languages (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Finnish) and in Portuguese it is unaccented as Matias. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Matías Alemann ...
) have argued that its existence and proliferation will kill the historic and genuine Basque languages. Others argue that Standard Basque has safeguarded the future of a language that competes with
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and Spanish. Research by the Euskaltzaindia shows that Basque is growing most in the areas where ''euskara batua'' has been introduced and taught in preference of local dialects. Indeed, this has permitted a revival in the speaking of Basque, since many of the current elder generations cannot speak the language in part as a result of the suppression of public use during most of
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 â€“ 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
's dictatorship. Another point of contention was the spelling of ⟨h⟩. Northeastern dialects pronounce it as an aspiration while the rest do not use it. Standard Basque requires it in writing but allows a silent pronunciation. Opponents complained that many speakers would have to relearn their vocabulary by rote.
Federico Krutwig Federico Krutwig Sagredo (Getxo, 15 May 1921 – Bilbao, 15 November 1998) was a Spanish Basque writer, philosopher, politician, and author of several books, with ''Vasconia'' standing out in the political domain for its influence in the early ...
also promoted the creation of an alternative literary dialect, this time based on the Renaissance Labourdine used by Joanes Leizarraga the first translator of the Protestant Bible. It also featured an etymological spelling. The mainstream opinion accepts the batua variant because of the benefits it has brought: On the other side, some Basque authors or translators such as Matías Múgica note that the batua works as a mere
pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...
and, as such, it implies a severe loss of spontaneity and linguistic quality over the traditional dialects.


Basque dialects

The relation between the Standard Basque and the local dialects is well summarized as follows by William Haddican: The following dialects were the pre-''batua'' Basque and make up the colloquial or casual register of Basque, the ''euskara batua'' being the formal one. They were created in the Middle Ages from a previously quite unified Basque language and diverged from each other since then because of the administrative and political division that happened in the
Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...
. They are spoken in the Spanish and French Basque regions. Standard Basque was then created using Gipuzkoan as a basis, also bringing scattered elements from the other dialects. They are typically used in the region after which they are named, but have many linguistic similarities. ;Spain *
Biscayan Biscayan, sometimes Bizkaian ( eu, Bizkaiera, es, Vizcaíno) is a dialect of the Basque language spoken mainly in Biscay, one of the provinces of the Basque Country of Spain. It is named as ''Western'' in the Basque dialects' classification ...
*
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 ...
*
Upper Navarrese Upper Navarrese (sometimes called High Navarrese) is a dialect of the Basque language spoken in the Navarre ( eu, Nafarroa or ''Nafarroa Garaia'') community of Spain, as established by linguist Louis Lucien Bonaparte in his famous 1869 map. He ...
;France *
Lower Navarrese Navarro-Labourdin or Navarro-Lapurdian ( eu, nafar-lapurtera) is a Basque dialect spoken in the Lower Navarre and Labourd (Lapurdi) former provinces of the French Basque Country (in the Pyrénées Atlantiques ''département''). It consists of ...
* Lapurdian * Zuberoan


See also

* ''
Egunkaria ''Egunkaria'' (Basque for ''The Daily'') for thirteen years was the only fully Basque language newspaper in circulation until it was closed down on 20 February 2003 by the Spanish authorities due to allegations of an illegal association with E ...
'' newspaper, and its successor '' Berria''. * EITB, Basque television and radio broadcasting corporation
Ethnologue
on languages in Spain * Languages of the European Union


References


Bibliography

* {{citation , first=Rudolf P.G. de , last=Rijk, author-link=Rudolf de Rijk , title=Standard Basque: A Progressive Grammar , publisher= MIT Press, location=Cambridge, Massachusetts , year=2008


External links


How the Basque language has survived
(audio documentary) Basque language Basque dialects Standard languages Languages attested from the 1960s