Euskara

A pre-indo-european language
isolate in the Pyrenees (ISO 639-3: eus)

By Tarin A. Stefens
Language Background

Names: Basque, Euskara, Vascuence

Family: Vasconic (Language Isolate)

Speakers: ~464,000

Dialects: Middle & Western Basque, with focus

on unified Euskara Batua. Eastern Navarrese, South

High Navarrese, & Alavan are all extinct.

(Simons, Gary F.)

Syntax
Ergativity
(1) Miren ibilli da.
Mary:ABS walk:PERF auxiliary verb
‘Mary has walked’
(2) Mirenek liburu bat irakurri du
Mary:ERG book one:ABS read:PERF auxiliary verb
‘Mary has read one book’
(Manandise 1988)
(3) Txori-a zuhaitz-ean dago
bird-IDV tree-INE be.3SG.PRS
‘The bird is sitting on the tree’
(4) Gatu-a-k txori-a arrapa-tze-n du.
cat-IDV-ERG bird-IDV catch-VN-INE PRS.3SG<3SG
‘The cat is catching the bird’
(Kortmann 2011)
Syntax (cont.)
SOV/Scrambling/Free Word Order

(5a) Mikelek bonba egin zuen

Micheal:ERG bomb:the/a:sg:ABS make:PERF auxiliary (past)

(5b) Bonba Mikelek egin zuen

I. What did Michael make?
(5c) Mikelek egin zuen bonba II. Who made the/a bomb?

(5d) Bonba egin zuen Mikelek

‘Michael has made the/a bomb.’
(5e) Egin zuen Mikelek bonba

(5f) Egin zuen bonba Mikelek

(Manandise 1988)
Syntax (cont.)
SOV/Scrambling/Free Word Order

(7) Ba-da bala.

ENC-PRS.3SG ball Thetical clauses
‘There was a ball.’

(8) Ba-dakit.
ENC-know.PRS.3SG<1SG Only synthetic verb
‘I know.’

(Kortmann 2011)
Syntax (cont.)
Phrase Structure

(9) etxe haundi hori

house big DEM Adjectives follow nouns
‘that big house’
(10) aita-ren etxe-a
father-POSS house-IDV Genitives precede nouns
‘father’s house’
(11) aita-k erosi du-en etxe-aRCs precede relativized
father-ERG buy.PTCP PRS.3SG<3SG–SUB house-IDV
‘the house father has bought’
(12) iri barne-ko etxe-a
town inside-DEL house-IDV Post- instead of prepositions
‘the house inside town (i.e. in the town center)’

(Kortmann 2011)
Syntax (cont.)
Phrase Structure

(13) Ikusi dut.

see.PTCP PRS.3SG<1SG Finite auxiliary follows non-finite verb
‘I have seen him/her.’
(14) Ez dut ikusi.
NEG PRS.3SG<1SG see.PTCP Negative clauses invert VP
‘I haven’t seen him/her.’

Phrasal/Syntagmatic Inflection
(15a) etxe-ak ‘houses’
(15b) etxe haundi-ak ‘big houses’
(15c) etxe haundi haiek ‘those big houses’

(Kortmann 2011)
Syntax (cont.)
Differences in Parts of Speech

(16) Ezti da.

honey be.3SG.PRS
‘It is sweet;’ literally, ‘It honeys.’ Syntactic context is the only hint
(17) Ezti-a gusta-tzen zait.
honey-IDV please.PRS3SG.1SG.DAT
‘I like honey.’

(18) Eri da.

ill be.3SG.PRS
‘(S)he is ill.’ Verbs vs. adjectives is morphological
(19) Eri-a da.
ill-IDV be.3SG.PRS
‘(S)he is invalid/sickish.’
Parting Words
Sources
Hualde, J. I., & Urbina, J. O. (1993). Generative studies in Basque linguistics. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins Pub.

Kortmann, B., & Auwera, J. V. D. (Eds.). (2011). The Languages and Linguistics of Europe : A Comprehensive Guide. Retrieved from
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Manandise, E. (1988). Evidence from Basque for a new theory of grammar, New York: Garland Pub.

Simons, Gary F, and Charles D Fennig. “Basque.” Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Twenty-First Edition, SIL International,
www.ethnologue.com/language/eus.