Batua
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Euskara batua (English "Unified Basque language") is a standardised version of the Basque language, nowadays the most widely and commonly spoken throughout the Basque Country. Heavily based on Gipuzkoan on account of its rich literary heritage, it is the version of the language found on the official texts, schools, TV, newspapers and in common parlance specially in the cities, as the countryside is mostly attached to the historic dialects.
Batua is a created language using unified orthography and is accepted as the literary standard. Today, it is widely used in teaching, public administration, communication and in the majority of Basque produced today. It enjoys official language status in Spain, but remains unrecognised in France, the only language officially recognised by the latter being French.
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[edit] History
The language was created in the 1970s by the Euskaltzaindia (Royal Academy of the Basque Language). Having been for centuries pressured on both sides by Spanish and French, and under the rule of Franco coming close to extinction in the Spanish side, the Academy felt the need to create a unified dialect of Basque, so that the language had a greater chance of survival.
The 1968 Arantzazu Congress laid down the basic guidelines for achieving that objective in a systematic way (lexicon, morphology, declension and spelling). A further step was taken in 1973 with a proposal to establish a standard conjugation.
The debate arising from this new set of standard language rules (1968 - 1976) did not prevent it from becoming increasingly accepted in teaching, the media, and administration (1976 - 1983), within the context of burgeoning regional government (Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country, 1979; Improvement of the Charter of Navarre, 1982).
[edit] Criticism
Batua has been described as an artificial language by its detractors, as it is at times hardly mutually intelligible with some of the historic dialects. Then, Basque purists (such as Oskillaso and Matías Múgica) have argued that its existence and proliferation will kill the historic and genuine Basque languages. This viewpoint seems to be refuted, however, with the majority of Basques[citation needed] appreciating that Batua has safeguarded the future of a language which is competing with French and Spanish.
Research by the Euskaltzaindia shows that Basque is growing most in the areas where Batua has been introduced and taught in preference of local dialects. Indeed, this has permitted a revival in the speaking of Basque, since many of the current elder generations cannot speak the language as a result of General Franco's dictatorship.
Another point of contention was the spelling h. North-Eastern dialects pronounce it as an aspiration while the rest do not use it. Batua requires it in writing but allows a silent pronunciation. Opponents complained that many speakers would have to relearn their vocabulary by rote.
Federico Krutwig also promoted the creation of an alternative literary dialect, this time based on the Renaissance Labourdine used by Joannes Leyçarraga, the first translator of the Protestant Bible. It also featured an etymological spelling.
[edit] Historic Basque dialects
The following dialects are the pre-Batua historic Basque, spoken in the Spanish and French Basque regions. Batua was then created using Gipuzkoan as a basis, also bringing scattered elements from the other dialects. They are typically used in the region after which they are named, but have many linguistic similarities.
Spain
France
[edit] See also
- Egunkaria and its successor Berria.
- Euskal Telebista Basque television and radio broadcasting
- Ethnologue on languages in Spain
