Editing Basque language (section)

{{Short description|Language of the Basque people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} 
{{Infobox language
| name             = Basque
| nativename       = {{lang|eu|euskara}}
| states           = [[Spain]], [[France]]
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|eu|eus̺ˈkaɾa|IPA}}
| region           = [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country]]
| ethnicity        = [[Basques|Basque]]
| speakers         = 806,000
| date             = 2021
| ref              = <ref name=basquetribune>{{cite web | url=https://basquetribune.com/the-basque-language-gains-speakers-but-no-surge-in-usage/ | title=The Basque Language Gains Speakers, but No Surge in Usage – Basque Tribune | access-date=5 May 2024 | archive-date=30 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230023936/https://basquetribune.com/the-basque-language-gains-speakers-but-no-surge-in-usage/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>
| speakers2        = 434,000 [[passive speaker (language)|passive speakers]]<ref name="inkesta2016">{{in lang|fr}} [http://www.mintzaira.fr/fileadmin/documents/Aktualitateak/015_VI_ENQUETE_PB__Fr.pdf VI° Enquête Sociolinguistique en Euskal herria (Communauté Autonome d'Euskadi, Navarre et Pays Basque Nord)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821114111/http://www.mintzaira.fr/fileadmin/documents/Aktualitateak/015_VI_ENQUETE_PB__Fr.pdf |date=21 August 2018 }} (2016).)</ref>
| familycolor      = Isolate
| family           = [[Language isolate]]
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Basque language|Proto-Basque]]
| ancestor2        = [[Aquitanian language|Aquitanian]]
| dia1             = [[Biscayan dialect|Biscayan]]
| dia2             = [[Gipuzkoan dialect|Gipuzkoan]]
| dia3             = [[Upper Navarrese dialect|Upper Navarrese]]
| dia4             = [[Navarro-Lapurdian dialect|Navarro-Lapurdian]]
| dia5             = [[Eastern Navarrese dialect|Eastern Navarrese]] {{extinct}}
| dia6             = [[Souletin dialect|Souletin (Zuberoan)]]
| dia7             = [[Alavese dialect|Alavese]] {{extinct}}
| dia8             = [[Salazarese dialect|Salazarese]] {{extinct}}
| script           = * [[Basque alphabet]]
* [[Basque Braille]]
* [[Northeastern Iberian script]] (c. 80 BC)
| nation           = [[Spain]]
* [[Basque Autonomous Community]]
* [[Navarre]]
<br/>                [[France]]
*[[Pyrénées-Atlantiques]], [[Nouvelle-Aquitaine]]
| agency           = [[Euskaltzaindia]]
| iso1             = eu
| iso2b            = baq
| iso2t            = eus
| iso3             = eus
| lingua           = 40-AAA-a
| glotto           = basq1248
| glottorefname    = Basque
| map              = Euskalkiak.svg
| mapscale         = 0.8
| mapcaption       = Dialect areas of Basque. Light-coloured dialects are extinct. See {{slink|#Dialects}}
| map2             = File:Basque % (most recent).svg
| mapcaption2      = Basque speakers, including second-language speakers<ref>The data is the most recent available:
* from 2016 for [[Álava]], [[Biscay]] and [[Gipuzkoa]] (VI Mapa Sociolingüístico, 2016, Basque Government)
* from 2018 for [[Navarre]] (Datos sociolingüísticos de Navarra, 2018, Government of Navarre)
* from 2016 for [[Labourd]], [[Lower Navarre]] and [[Soule]] ([https://www.mintzaira.fr/fr/la-langue-basque/situation-socio-linguistique.html L'enquête sociolinguistique de 2016], Mintzaira)</ref>
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}
{{legend|#a02c2c|80–100%}}{{legend|#ff6600|50–80%}}
{{Col-break}}
{{legend|#ffd633|20–50%}}{{legend|#a2db7d|0–20%}}
{{Col-break}}
{{Col-end}}
| notice           = IPA
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym
|person = Basque (''{{linktext|Euskaldun|lang=eu}}'')
|people = [[Basques]] ({{lang|eu|Euskaldunak}})|language= Basque ({{lang|eu|Euskara}})}}
{{Basque culture}}
[[File:Basque as first language(corrected).JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Family transmission of Basque language (Basque as initial language)]] [[File:Irakatsia.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Percentage of students registered in Basque language schools (2000–2005)]]
[[File:Basque Country Location Map.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|Location of the Basque-language provinces within Spain and France]]

'''Basque''' ({{IPAc-en|'|b|æ|s|k|,_|'|b|ɑː|s|k}} {{respell|BASK|,_|BAHSK}};<ref>{{Cite OED|Basque}}; {{IPA|[bæsk]}} US; {{IPA|[bask]}} or {{IPA|[bɑːsk]}} UK</ref> {{lang|eu|euskara}} {{IPA|eu|eus̺ˈkaɾa|}}) is a language spoken by [[Basques]] and other residents of the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country]], a region that straddles the westernmost [[Pyrenees]] in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Basque is classified as a [[language isolate]] (unrelated to any other known languages) and the only language isolate in Europe. The Basques are indigenous to and primarily inhabit the Basque Country.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Porzucki |first1=Nina |title=How the Basque language has survived |url=https://theworld.org/stories/2018-05-16/how-has-basque-language-survived |website=The World from PRX |date=16 May 2018 |publisher=theworld.org |access-date=16 October 2022}}</ref> The Basque language is spoken by 806,000  Basques in all territories. Of these, 93.7% (756,000) are in the Spanish area of the Basque Country and the remaining 6.3% (50,000) are in the French portion.<ref name=basquetribune />

Native speakers live in a contiguous area that includes parts of four Spanish provinces and the [[French Basque Country|three "ancient provinces"]] in France. [[Gipuzkoa]], most of [[Biscay]], a few municipalities on the northern border of [[Álava]] and the northern area of [[Navarre]] formed the core of the remaining Basque-speaking area before measures were introduced in the 1980s to strengthen Basque fluency. By contrast, most of Álava, the westernmost part of Biscay, and central and southern Navarre are predominantly populated by native speakers of [[Spanish language|Spanish]], either because Basque [[Language shift|was replaced]] by either [[Navarro-Aragonese]] or Spanish over the centuries (as in most of Álava and central Navarre), or because it may never have been spoken there (as in parts of [[Enkarterri]] and south-eastern Navarre).

In [[Francoist Spain]], Basque language use was discouraged by the government's [[language policies of Francoist Spain|repressive policies]]. In the Basque Country, "Francoist repression was not only political, but also linguistic and cultural."<ref>Santiago de Pablo, "Lengua e identidad nacional en el País Vasco: Del franquismo a la democracia". In 'Le discours sur les langues d'Espagne : Edition français-espagnol', Christian Lagarde ed, Perpignan: Presses Universitaires de Perpignan, 2009, pp. 53-64, p. 53</ref> [[Francisco Franco|Franco]]'s regime suppressed Basque from official discourse, education, and publishing,<ref>See Jose Carlos Herreras, Actas XVI Congreso AIH. José Carlos HERRERAS. Políticas de normalización lingüística en la España democrática", 2007, p. 2. Reproduced in https://cvc.cervantes.es/literatura/aih/pdf/16/aih_16_2_021.pdf</ref> making it illegal to register newborn babies under Basque names,<ref>See "Articulo 1, Orden Ministerial Sobre el Registro Civil, 18 de mayo de 1938". Reproduced in Jordi Busquets, "Casi Tres Siglos de Imposicion", 'El Pais' online, 29 April 2001. https://elpais.com/diario/2001/04/29/cultura/988495201_850215.html.</ref> and even requiring tombstone engravings in Basque to be removed.<ref>See Communicacion No. 2486, Negociado 4, Excelentisimo Gobierno Civil de Vizcaya, 27 Octubre de 1949". A letter of acknowledgement from the archive of the Alcaldia de Guernica y Lumo, 2 November 2941, is reproduced in https://radiorecuperandomemoria.com/2017/05/31/la-prohibicion-del-euskera-en-el-franquismo/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420121914/https://radiorecuperandomemoria.com/2017/05/31/la-prohibicion-del-euskera-en-el-franquismo/ |date=20 April 2019 }}</ref> In some provinces the public use of Basque was suppressed, with people fined for speaking it.<ref>See for example the letter from the Military Commander of Las Arenas, Biscay, dated 21 October 1938, acknowledging a fine for the public use of a Basque first name on the streets of Las Arenas, reproduced in https://radiorecuperandomemoria.com/2017/05/31/la-prohibicion-del-euskera-en-el-franquismo/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420121914/https://radiorecuperandomemoria.com/2017/05/31/la-prohibicion-del-euskera-en-el-franquismo/ |date=20 April 2019 }}</ref> Public use of Basque was frowned upon by supporters of the regime, often regarded as a sign of anti-Francoism or [[Basque separatism|separatism]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/francisco-franco |title=Francisco Franco |author=<!--not stated--> |website=HISTORY |publisher=A&E Television Networks |date=2009-11-09}}</ref> Overall, in the 1960s and later, the trend reversed and education and publishing in Basque began to flourish.<ref>{{cite book |last=Clark |first=Robert |title=The Basques: the Franco years and beyond |year=1979 |publisher=University of Nevada Press |location=Reno |isbn=0-874-17057-5 |page=149 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/basquesfrancoyea00clar_0}}</ref> As a part of this process, a standardised form of the Basque language, called [[Standard Basque|Euskara Batua]], was developed by the [[Euskaltzaindia]] in the late 1960s.

Besides its standardised version, the five historic Basque dialects are [[Biscayan dialect|Biscayan]], [[Gipuzkoan dialect|Gipuzkoan]], and [[Eastern Navarrese dialect|Upper Navarrese]] in Spain and [[Navarro-Lapurdian dialect|Navarrese–Lapurdian]] and [[Souletin dialect|Souletin]] in France. They take their names from the historic Basque provinces, but the dialect boundaries are not congruent with province boundaries. Euskara Batua was created so that the Basque language could be used—and easily understood by all Basque speakers—in formal situations (education, mass media, literature), and this is its main use today. In both Spain and France, the use of Basque for education varies from region to region and from school to school.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://consejoescolar.educacion.navarra.es/attachments/article/368/Informe%20del%20Sistema%20Educativo%20en%20Navarra%202011-2012.pdf |title=Navarrese Educational System. Report 2011/2012 |publisher=Navarrese Educative Council |access-date=2013-06-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609175117/http://consejoescolar.educacion.navarra.es/attachments/article/368/Informe%20del%20Sistema%20Educativo%20en%20Navarra%202011-2012.pdf |archive-date=9 June 2013}}</ref>

Basque is the only surviving [[Paleo-European language]] in [[Europe]]. The current mainstream scientific view on the [[origin of the Basques]] and of their language is that early forms of Basque developed before the arrival of [[Indo-European languages]] in the area, i.e. before the arrival of [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] and [[Romance languages]] in particular, as the latter today geographically surround the Basque-speaking region. Typologically, with its [[agglutinative language|agglutinative morphology]] and [[ergative–absolutive alignment]], [[Basque grammar]] remains markedly different from that of [[Standard Average European]] languages. Nevertheless, Basque has borrowed up to 40 percent of its vocabulary from Romance languages,<ref name="Bakker 1988">"Basque Pidgin Vocabulary in European-Algonquian Trade Contacts." In Papers of the Nineteenth Algonquian Conference, edited by William Cowan, pp. 7–13. https://ojs.library.carleton.ca/index.php/ALGQP/article/download/967/851/0</ref> and the [[Latin script]] is used for the [[Basque alphabet]].

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