I have a dream of slowly migrating the original parts of this site – the parts you can find with the menu on the left of each page – to the more modern blog format of the newer version of Buber’s Basque Page. One of my first forays was to copy my translation of MG […]
In researching my “Basque Facts of the Week,” I rely pretty heavily on Google Translate. While I can get the gist of an article written in Spanish, the details often elude me. And the situation for Euskara is even worse – while I have a rudimentary understanding of the language, I certainly can’t understand a […]
It seems like a simple question: what is the Basque word for God? But, like almost everything Basque, there is a lot of nuance in this simple question. The modern words for god and God in Basque are not typical Basque words. Does that mean they were borrowed? Or created by a priest only semi-literate […]
Learning Euskara can be a daunting challenge as it is simply so different from English, Spanish, or French. During Franco’s time, the use of Basque was discouraged or even outright forbidden and this led to the decline of the language. However, this also motivated people to create new institutions, new avenues, new places for people […]
Why are the Basques called the Basques? Baskijski, Baskický, Baskisk, Vasco, Baskilainen, Baskisch, βασκικός, Vasco, Baskijski, Bass, баскский. All of the names for the Basques are similar and seemingly have nothing to do with what the Basques actually call themselves, Euskaldunak. Where does the word Basque even come from? A full list of all of […]
The most basic element of a written language is the alphabet. However, because Euskara wasn’t standardized until the 1970s, spelling of Basque names and words was all over the place, often borrowing from Spanish and French. With standardization, the chaos finally settled and now there is a common alphabet used in all parts of the […]
The cardinal directions are so ingrained in our culture, language, and identity. Whether one is from the northwest or the southeast, the west coast or east coast, these directions almost define us. And they are relative. I might be from the northwest of the United States, but I’m also from southern Idaho. At a higher […]