Vasconic languages
| Vasconic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | France, Spain |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-5 | euq |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | (not evaluated) |
| Notes | † denotes an extinct language |
The Vasconic languages (from Latin vasco 'Basque'), also called "Basque-Aquitanian"[1] or "Aquitanian-Basque",[2] are a putative language family that includes Basque and the extinct Aquitanian language. The extinct Iberian language is sometimes tentatively included, although this remains controversial.
The consensus among scholars is that Aquitanian was a Paleo-European language genetically related to Basque, though there is debate over the exact nature of their relationship. Some linguists, like R. L. Trask, argue that it was a near-direct ancestor of Basque, while others, including Lyle Campbell, suggest that it may have been a close relative of Basque rather than its direct ancestor.[3]
Relationship with other language families
[edit]Various attempts have been made to tie other languages, modern or extinct, such as Iberian, the language of the Nuraghe, Tartessian, and the language of the Cantabri and various others to Vasconic. None of these theories have been able to provide convincing data, and they are rejected by most mainstream linguists.[4]
Linguists Theo Vennemann has proposed a Vasconic substratum hypothesis, which speculates that the ancestors of the Basque language spread across Europe at the end of the last glacial period when the Cro-Magnons entered Europe and left traces in the modern languages of Europe. Along with other hypotheses that seek to relate Basque to other languages of the world, this is widely rejected by historical linguists.[5]
See also
[edit]- Paleohispanic languages
- Paleohispanic scripts
- Prehistoric Iberia
- Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula
- Proto-language
- Vasconic substrate hypothesis
References
[edit]- ^ Gorrochategui 1995, p. 57.
- ^ Hualde 2021, pp. 21, 31–32.
- ^
- Trask 1997, p. 411: "probably all Basque scholars now accept that Basque descended more or less directly from Aquitanian"
- Campbell 2010, p. 18: "Although these attestations are sufficiently detailed to confirm that modern Basque and Aquitanian are related, they also show sufficient differences from Basque to suggest the possibility not of a direct ancestor, but as a relative, that possibly Aquitanian and Basque are sister languages representing two branches of the original proto-language."
- Hualde 2021, p. 21: "The Aquitanian(-Vasconic) names show an evident relation to Basque, but what the exact nature of this relation is remains uncertain. The language of the Aquitanian names may be either the direct ancestor of [Proto-Basque] or a close relative."
- Gorrochategui 2022, p. 106: "Research in the second half of the twentieth century (Michelena 1954; Caro Baroja 1954; Gorrochategui 1984) has demonstrated convincingly that Aquitanian was genetically related to the Basque language, in a much stronger and clearer way than with any other language"
- ^ Trask 1997.
- ^ "Review: Europa Vasconica-Europa Semitica Theo Vennemann, Gen. Nierfeld, in: Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna (Ed.), Trends in Linguistics, Studies and Monographs 138, Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, 2003, pp. xxii + 977" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 9, 2010. Retrieved July 11, 2009.
Bibliography
[edit]- Campbell, Lyle (2010). "Language Isolates and Their History". Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: 16–31. doi:10.3765/bls.v36i1.3900. ISSN 2377-1666.
- Hualde, José Ignacio (2021). "On the comparative method, internal reconstruction, and other analytical tools for the reconstruction of the evolution of the Basque language: An assessment". Anuario del Seminario de Filología Vasca "Julio de Urquijo". 54 (1–2): 19–52. doi:10.1387/asju.23021. ISSN 2444-2992.
- Gorrochategui, Joaquín (1995). "The Basque language and its neighbors in Antiquity". In Hualde, José Ignacio; Lakarra, Joseba; Trask, Robert Lawrence (eds.). Towards a History of the Basque Language. John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 978-90-272-3634-0.
- Gorrochategui, Joaquín (2020). Aquitanian-Vasconic: Language, Writing, Epigraphy. Prensas de la Universidad de Zaragoza. ISBN 978-84-1340-194-2.
- Gorrochategui, Joaquín (2022). "The Relationship between Aquitanian and Basque: Achievements and Challenges of the Comparative Method in a Context of Poor Documentation". In Chacon, Thiago Costa (ed.). Language Change and Linguistic Diversity: Studies in Honour of Lyle Campbell. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 105–129. doi:10.1515/9781474488143-010. ISBN 978-1-4744-8814-3.
- Trask, R. L. (1997). The History of Basque. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-16763-8.