Euskara, most commonly known as Basque, is a language isolate, this is, that is unrelated to any other existing languages of the world, living or dead.
Linguistically speaking, it is a great mystery.
Put differently, imagine that Euskara is a living being who is genetically different from any other species and not even experts know where it originated from. Strange, isn’t it?
And just as its origin is strange, so is its phonetics.
The Euskara language is dominated by the “k” and the “x”, and its words have very few vowels, which makes it very different from the other languages we are used to hearing.
On the other hand, and despite its peculiarities, it is one of the oldest languages in the world and has managed to stay alive over the years. It is said that those who speak it (mainly the inhabitants of the so-called Basque Country), consider the language an important symbol of nationalism and identity, which proudly distinguishes them as a community.
Now, not everything about this language is a mystery.
Up next is a bit of what we do know about the Euskara language.
It is one of the few non-Indo-European languages in Europe.
It is the official language (alongside Spanish) in the Basque Country and in the Euskara speaking area of Navarra.
Even though it is not official in France, the language is considered part of the French cultural heritage.
Of the total Euskara speakers, 93% (approximately 700,300 people) live in Spain and the remaining 7% (approximately 51,200 people) in France.
There are around 400,000 more people who consider themselves passive speakers (they understand Euskara, but have difficulties speaking it).
Although Euskara has borrowed heavily from Romance languages (especially Latin and Spanish), it maintains a unique grammatical structure.
According to the atlas of languages in danger of extinction prepared by UNESCO, Euskara is in a “vulnerable” situation.
The above information gives us a glimpse of Euskara, but in my opinion, nothing can tell us more about a language than a look at its own words. That is why to finish this blog entry, I leave you with some words of this mysterious language.
Aupa
It is used as a colloquial greeting and Basques commonly use it to cheer on the soccer teams.
Txikitos
It refers to the name of a popular wine drink served in bars in the Basque Country.
Jatorra
This word is used to describe someone who is a friendly, good person.
¡Aspaldiko!
It’s an expression of surprise, which is used when you haven’t seen someone in a while, and it means “long time no see!”
Goxo
I wrote this word last as the dessert of the article since it means chocolate, candy, or caramel.
The Mystery of Euskara
Euskara, most commonly known as Basque, is a language isolate, this is, that is unrelated to any other existing languages of the world, living or dead.
Linguistically speaking, it is a great mystery.
Put differently, imagine that Euskara is a living being who is genetically different from any other species and not even experts know where it originated from. Strange, isn’t it?
And just as its origin is strange, so is its phonetics.
The Euskara language is dominated by the “k” and the “x”, and its words have very few vowels, which makes it very different from the other languages we are used to hearing.
On the other hand, and despite its peculiarities, it is one of the oldest languages in the world and has managed to stay alive over the years. It is said that those who speak it (mainly the inhabitants of the so-called Basque Country), consider the language an important symbol of nationalism and identity, which proudly distinguishes them as a community.
Now, not everything about this language is a mystery.
Up next is a bit of what we do know about the Euskara language.
The above information gives us a glimpse of Euskara, but in my opinion, nothing can tell us more about a language than a look at its own words. That is why to finish this blog entry, I leave you with some words of this mysterious language.
It is used as a colloquial greeting and Basques commonly use it to cheer on the soccer teams.
It refers to the name of a popular wine drink served in bars in the Basque Country.
This word is used to describe someone who is a friendly, good person.
It’s an expression of surprise, which is used when you haven’t seen someone in a while, and it means “long time no see!”
I wrote this word last as the dessert of the article since it means chocolate, candy, or caramel.
0