Souletin

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Zuberoan or Souletin is a dialect of the Basque language spoken in the Soule (Basque: Zuberoa) region of the Basque Country in France and together with the extinct Roncalese dialect it forms the Eastern group of Basque, a group that in ancient times possibly extended further east into the Central Pyrenees.

The dialect is marked by influences from the Bearnese and Occitan languages, especially concerning the lexicon, which happens to be very difficult to understand to speakers of dialects from the west (ie on the Spanish side). As opposed to other Basque dialects that have just five vowels, Souletin's more outstanding feature to the ears of other Basque speakers is the occurrence of a sixth vowel, /ü/, that may have resulted from an influence of the Bearnese vowel shift some centuries ago. Therefore it does not represent an enduring ancient vowel otherwise vanished from Basque language, but a secondary development.