Basque varieties: historical dialects and standard

Basque is a non-indoeuropean language spoken in southwestern Europe, in both sides of the Pyrinees. It is not related to any known language, although it has coexisted with Iberian, Celtiberian, Latin, Castillian Spanish and French. Basque people have lived in the surroundings of the bay of Biscay since before the Romanization (~2nd c. BC). Nowadays, Basque shares territoire with French in the northern Basque Country. It is not officially recognized by the French goverment (any minority language is), even though it has around 631,000 speakers (2016). On the other hand, Basque lives with Spanish in the southern Basque country, where it is official in Bizkaia, Araba and Gipuzkoa, but partly official in Nafarroa. There are around 700,000 speakers in the southern Basque Country, and another 300,000 scattered around the world (mostly in the Americas).

Currently, there are five historical varieties of Basque: Western, Central, Navarran, Navar-labortan and Eastern (Zuazo, 2014, 2019). 

In 1968, a standard variety of Basque was developed, as a unifying linguistic tool, and thanks to the normalization laws of the 80's, standard Basque has become the variety of school and public services. This has provided access to a better communication among Basque speakers of all the territoire.

Nowadays, more than half of the Basque speakers have acquired Basque through schooling, which means that their main variety is standard Basque. Some even have the standard as their home variety, hence the linguistic map of the Basque Country is going through a process of change. Most of southern (and little of the northern) territoire of the BC lost their local historic variety one or more centuries ago, which is why a new informalized standard is now their local Basque variety. This variety is employed in familiar and friendly settings and has contributed greatly to the revival of Basque in areas where it was in great danger. 

In short, we could say that Basque has six varieties now! Five historical varieties and a newer localized standard, which changes from area to area.

Interesting fact: the standard is known as "batua" in Basque, which means "unified".

What do you think about the relevance of creating a standard in revitalization settings? We'll read you! ⬇️

HOW TO CITE: Cactus Mapping [@cactusmapping] & Minority Languaging [@minoritylanguaging2]. (2022, August 8). Basque varieties: dialects and standards / Euskal hizkerak: euskalkiak eta estandarrak. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/ChAH6hNMchV/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=