Debate: Basque - unique language? - OpenLearn

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I've heard that the Basque language is unrelated to any other language in the world. (here, and elsewhere - http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/voices/facts.shtml (no 3)

Is this true? If so, how can that be possible? Surely all languages mix with others at some point?

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Debate: Basque - unique language

Nick Lusty

15 Dec 201015:17

Of couse, as one other reader wrote, Basque contains many imported words nowadays, and I assume the French and Spanish dialects are probably drifting apart as each absorbs new words from its nation's dominant language. Certainly if you watch the Spanish native Basque television, you hear a lot of Spanish words, though they are often spelt differently as both languages are phonetic, but with different sound-letter mappings. (e.g. tx for ch)
There are also a few Basque words that have made it into Castilian, such as izquierda which has replaced the Latin word "siniestra", at least in its non sinister context.
It is not totally surprising that there is a language unrelated to Castilian in Spain, any more than it is surprising that there is a Welsh language in Wales. Both precede the invasions that dominated their language - Roman/Arab in the case of Spain, and Germanic/French in the case of the Spain. That they managed to maintain the language quite effectively up to the oppression under Franco, can be partially attributed to geography, and the fact that the language is so different from Castilian. That it has recovered since Franco's death is largely due to the immense political effort, much as in the UK where S4C and schools have supported the regrowth of the local language.

Basque - unique language?

Archive Comments

23 Aug 200523:41

I've heard that the Basque language is unrelated to any other language in the world. (here, and elsewhere - http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/voices/facts.shtml (no 3)
Is this true? If so, how can that be possible? Surely all languages mix with others at some point?

Re: Basque - unique language?

Archive Comments

08 Feb 200617:08

Hi there or should I say "kaixo"?

I grew up in the Basque country,and learnt Basque at school for a few years, so the topic interests me. It is true that it didn't evolve on its own, but not much is known about it. It is just one of the very few non Indo-European languages left. The truth is that nobody knows where it comes from and there are all sort of theories. One is that it was the language spoken in the Iberian Peninsula by the Iberians, the people who later mixed with the Celts and were the ones the Romans found when they arrived.

Not true the Basques were never invaded. That is a phalacy of 19th Century nationalism that we are still enduring today

Ana

Re: Basque - unique language?

Archive Comments

08 Feb 200614:53

A lot of misinformation about Basque flies back and forward - some of the postings here being prime examples - so if you're looking for reliable answers from a properly researched source on the topic take a look at Larry Trask's 'History of Basque' (1997, Routledge). It's mostly pretty technical on the linguistic side, and at 450 pages it's not exactly light reading, but the first 80 pages concentrate on the history of the language and its genetic relationships with neighbouring (and not-so-neighbouring) languages.

Re: Basque - unique language?

Archive Comments

23 Jan 200623:29

Could it be that most european languages are actually huge jumbles of parts of other independant older languages. If you take Britain as an example you can see all the influences from various invaders and neighbouring countries. Many words trace back to all sorts of purer earlier languages from other regions.
Whilst reading some Spanish history recently I noticed that the various invading forces in spain never really conquered or colonised the Basque Country. This sugests that it may survive from the very first early settlers in Spain. Various regional forces brought thier languages to Spain, the most influencial being obviously the Roman Empire and the Muslim Empire. Many place names in Spain are Arabic: Al Andalus, Benidorm, Alicante.
I think the Basque language never had these external influences on it.
As for the other Spanish languages, I have read that they evolved individually as the Muslim invasion divided the country and left small areas of Christian latin speaking peoples seperated from each other.
Is it possible that the language was originally wider spread throught that area. Or that other unique languages could have existed today given the right circumstances?

Re: Basque - unique language?

Archive Comments

17 Sep 200512:39

Im from the basque country, and yes the basque language(euskera) is unique in the world.No comes from latin.
Thanks for your post; unfortunately we've had to remove the part which was not in English.
[Edited by: Simon (moderator) on 17-Sep-2005 12:48]

Re: Basque - unique language?

Archive Comments

01 Sep 200509:11

I'd been under the impression that Basque was one of the Finno-Ugrian languages, which include Finnish and Hungarian. A quick Google suggests it ain't necessarily so ...

Re: Basque - unique language?

Archive Comments

01 Sep 200523:29

Definitely not. Basque is unique as far as is known. However apparently there is a native American language in Canada which has some Basque-like words in it. This could be because the Basques had contact with these people at some time in the past or could be coincidence. I don't remember the details- I read it in a book called The Basque History of the World, by Mark Kursonsky, (or some such name- he wrote a book about cod as well). It's very unlikely that there is a true link between the languages, any more than us saying karate or shushi proves a link between English and Japanese!

Nick P

Re: Basque - unique language?

Archive Comments

02 Sep 200510:16

Those words could even be from contact with Basque sailors or traders in the 1700s.

Re: Basque - unique language?

Archive Comments

31 Aug 200501:39

There are other more widely spoken languages where no definite link has been proved with any other, or is a matter for debate. Japanese and Korean for example.
The bigger and more intriguing question is why there are so many groups of unrelated languages. Or perhaps there is an underlying relationship between them all.
This could account for what linguists call the universal grammar, deep within all languages, and that allows us to translate between them with a fair degree of accuracy. Unless that is the language instinct as proposed by Pinker and others, is so basic to the human psyche that we will spontaneously develop a language if we need to.
This could mean for example that if when groups of early humans spread around the world, and they did so before developing the capacity for speech, then obviously when did language come along it would have happened in isolated and unrelated pockets. Some of these would have developed and spread into major families- Indo-European, Semetic etc etc, while some would have remained isolated and unique such as Basque.
There's really no way of knowing- as they say languages don't leave fossils!

Nick P

Re: Basque - unique language?

Archive Comments

26 Aug 200511:11

It is possible and its not the only example. The language of the Circassians, Adyghe-Xabza (I think) is another one, in fact linguists have tried to connect it to Euskadi (Basque) but nothing conclusive as yet.

Re: Basque - unique language?

Archive Comments

26 Aug 200507:26

Linguistic experts have not been able to establish a connection between Basque in its pure form and any other language, and I believe they've tried very hard.
It's thought of as the oldest known language- one piece of evidence for this is because of the number of "stone" related words they have, which implies that it's been around since the stone age.
However the spoken language, certainly in the Spanish Basque regions uses a large number of Spanish loan words, in the same way as spoken Welsh uses English words, we use French words etc. This is hardly surprising as Basque has been surrounded by and colonised Spanish and French speakers for many hundreds of years, and had no official status for most of that time, (and still doesn't in France).
Its uniqueness poses another problem for Basque independence and even the language's very survival. It's said to be very difficult if not impossible to learn, unless you're a native speaker, or learn it from an early age,(I've never tried). This means that the Basque region which has always had a large influx of immigrants from other parts of Spain because of its industries, has been swamped by non-Basque speakers, who haven't learnt the language, so Spanish has come to dominate. There has been a similar situation in Catalonia, but Catalan is a Latin language, closely related to Spanish, and therefore easy for a Spanish speaker to learn.
There is now a strong Basque education system, where Spanish is taught as a second language, so at the moment the future for the language is looking stronger, but that is largely due to the current political climate in Spain which is encouraging the minority languages, following the serious attempt to kill them off during the Franco era.
However most Basques along with the Catalans and Galicians know that they have to be bi-lingual to propser in the modern Spain.

Nick P

Re: Basque - unique language?

Archive Comments

24 Aug 200522:21

Your assertion that Basque must be related to some other tongue, seems almost self-evident. I am not a scholar in that subject but it seems to me that IT IS POSSIBLE that Basque came from a small group of people who were isolated from the mass of humanity and managed to set up a society independant of those around them.

This seems to me to be a feasible explanation of the uniqueness of their language. I think the subject could be explored by psycologists rather than linguists. Psycological markers are inherited, and maybe a medical scholar could shed light on this mystery

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Originally published: Tuesday, 23rd August 2005
Last updated on: Tuesday, 23rd August 2005

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Debate: Basque - unique language?

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