Language Learning: Basque
In this month’s Language Learning series, we explore Basque.
Basque is the only surviving Paleo-European language spoken in Europe. The language is spoken in the western Pyrenees in a 3,900 square mile area in northern Spain and southwestern France. About 800,000 natives are estimated to speak Basque, making it the most spoken language isolate in the world. A language isolate is a language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other languages.
The Basque sound pattern is similar to that of Spanish, but the number of distinctive sounds is relatively low compared to other languages. Basque has five vowels and two series of stopped consonants, one voices and one voiceless.
Little is know of its origins, but it is likely that an early form of the language was present around the area of today’s Basque Country prior to the arrival of the Indio European languages in Western Europe. Since the 10th century Basque has slowly lost speakers to Castilian Spanish.
Since 1968 Basque has been immersed in a revitalization project. They have faced many challenges and obstacles, but have also faced success. There has been an implementation and acceptance of Unified Basque as the standardized version of the language. Basque has been integrated into the education system and media. They have established a new legal framework and worked on collaboration between public and private institutions. Several campaigns for Basque language literacy has also been implemented.
