Euskaltzaindia
Encyclopedia
Euskaltzaindia is the official academic language regulatory institution
which watches over the Basque language
. It carries out research on the language
, seeks to protect it, and establishes standards of use. It is known in Spanish
as La Real Academia de la Lengua Vasca (being under the royal patronage of the Spanish monarchy
, like the Real Academia Española
) and in French
as Académie de la Langue Basque.
in 1918, at a time when the Basque language was being proclaimed as a central cultural value to be protected and promoted. Important figures from the 19th century had already demanded the setting-up of an academy
in defence of the language (Ulibarri, 1832; Aizkibel, 1856; d'Abbadie and Duvoisin, 1862; Jose Manterola
, 1880 and Artiñano, 1886), and it was during the first two decades of the 20th century when various entities - some scientific and others more popular ones - also emphasized the need for its immediate creation. The scientific contributions of major foreign figures (Louis Lucien Bonaparte
, Van Eys, Hugo Schuchardt
, Dodgson, Gavel etc.) and from within the country (Arturo Campión, Azkue
, Urquijo etc.), as well as the express demand on the part of Basque language loyalist organisations (for example, Eusko Esnalea) created a favourable climate for the public authorities to take on the task of setting up the academy.
The first initiative in this direction came from the provincial government
of Biscay
, which the other three provincial governments in the peninsular
part of the Basque Country
subsequently joined (1918), with articles of association being approved and Euskaltzaindia being legally constituted in October 1919. One year later its journal "Euskera" was launched, the official organ for the publication of its rules and research work, which has survived to the present day.
The current internal structure and organisation can be summarised as follows: the academy is governed by a ruling body composed of the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Secretary
and Treasurer
. The heads of the Research and Watchdog Sections are also members. Plenary sessions must be held at least once a month. Under current rules the Academy has 24 full members and an unlimited number of associate members.The Academy is present throughout the area where Basque is used, with a head office in Bilbao
and regional offices in Bayonne
(Baiona), Donostia-San Sebastián, Iruñea-Pamplona
and Vitoria-Gasteiz
.
and cultural circumstances of the day. However, the initial articles defining Euskaltzaindias ultimate goals have simply been ratified over the years, with new details being added where necessary (e.g. article 1 in 1976). The aims of the Academy were set out as follows in the original articles:
Art. 1 - The aim of this institution is to watch over the Basque language, paying close attention to its promotion, both philologically and socially.
Art. 2 - Accordingly, the Academy deals with both these areas in their respective sections: the Research Section and the Tutelary Section, with members belonging to both.
It is thus clear that the work of Euskaltzaindia is concerned with both the corpus
and the status of the language. Since then the Academy has maintained these two sections in order to carry out its mission.
(1919-1936), the Academy managed to consolidate itself as an institution and set about its project of promoting the birth of a standard literary language
, although it was unable to provide a precise, solid academic formulation for that aim. On the other hand, its work in that period contributed decisively to a better understanding of the language through Resurrección María de Azkue
's studies (Morfología Vasca, 1923-1934) and far reaching surveys among speakers of the language
(Erizkundi Irukoitza, from 1922 onwards). The journal "Euskera" is a faithful witness to the work carried out at the time.
In 1936 and the years which followed, under the language politics of Francoist Spain the Academy's previous activities were reduced to silence until Azkue
, with the collaboration of Federico Krutwig
, was able to timidly reinitiate academic life at the beginning of the 1950s. The articles of association were reformed in 1954, new full members were elected and from 1956 on the Academy started to enjoy a more settled existence both in its internal affairs and in its public conferences and open meetings (first postwar congress: Arantzazu
, 1956).
The following decade (1956-1968) coincided with a new generation of collaborators, the increasing introduction of Basque in bilingual non-state schools (ikastola
k), the revival of the Basque language press and the first attempts at teaching basic literacy
in Basque, among other initiatives.
of the Basque language, known as "Euskara Batua
", or Unified Basque. Basque has been usually divided into 8 different dialects, varying in their level of mutual intelligibility. The first detailed dialectical analysis was by Louis Lucien Bonaparte
. However, many people have seen this as a weakness in the language's fight for survival in a world in which minority languages spoken in states are wiped out by the states' official language. Having been for centuries pressured on both sides by Spanish
and French
, and under the rule of Franco
coming close to extinction, the Academy felt the need to create a unified dialect of Basque, in order that the language have a greater chance of survival. The new dialect of Basque was heavily based on the Gipuzkoan
dialect of Donostia-San Sebastián - the dialect with the richest literary heritage.
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 in Euskadi
, 1979; Improvement of the Charter of Navarre
, 1982). Many people, however, continue to oppose the imposition of a single created dialect of Basque.
Euskaltzaindia counsels the Basque administrations wishing to officialize Basque place names.
It is funded by the Biscayne
, Gipuzkoan, Alavese
, Navarrese
, Spanish
, and French
authorities for culture.
The lesser-known organization Euskerazaintza strives to preserve the various Basque
dialects.
Language planning
Language planning is a deliberate effort to influence the function, structure, or acquisition of languages or language variety within a speech community. It is often associated with government planning, but is also used by a variety of non-governmental organizations, such as grass-roots...
which watches over the Basque language
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
. It carries out research on the language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, seeks to protect it, and establishes standards of use. It is known in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
as La Real Academia de la Lengua Vasca (being under the royal patronage of the Spanish monarchy
Spanish monarchy
The Monarchy of Spain, constitutionally referred to as The Crown and commonly referred to as the Spanish monarchy or Hispanic Monarchy, is a constitutional institution and an historic office of Spain...
, like the Real Academia Española
Real Academia Española
The Royal Spanish Academy is the official royal institution responsible for regulating the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, but is affiliated with national language academies in twenty-one other hispanophone nations through the Association of Spanish Language Academies...
) and in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
as Académie de la Langue Basque.
Creation
The Euskaltzaindia was established within the context of the Basque Renaissance (Eusko Pizkundea, 1876-1936) in the framework provided by the Congress of Basque Studies held in OñatiOñati
Oñati is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country, in the north of Spain. It has a population of approximately 10,500 and lies in a valley in the center of the Basque country. It lies about 40 km south of the Bay of Biscay and is about 236 m...
in 1918, at a time when the Basque language was being proclaimed as a central cultural value to be protected and promoted. Important figures from the 19th century had already demanded the setting-up of an academy
Academy
An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and skill, north of Athens, Greece. In the western world academia is the...
in defence of the language (Ulibarri, 1832; Aizkibel, 1856; d'Abbadie and Duvoisin, 1862; Jose Manterola
Jose Manterola
Don José Manterola Beldarrain , born in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa Province, Spain, was a Spanish writer who founded one of the most influential movements for cultivating the Basque language. As a member of the Navarrese movement, he was best known for founding the bilingual magazine Euskal-Erria in...
, 1880 and Artiñano, 1886), and it was during the first two decades of the 20th century when various entities - some scientific and others more popular ones - also emphasized the need for its immediate creation. The scientific contributions of major foreign figures (Louis Lucien Bonaparte
Louis Lucien Bonaparte
Louis Lucien Bonaparte was the third son of Napoleon's second surviving brother, Lucien Bonaparte. He was born at Thorngrove, mansion in Grimley, Worcestershire, England, where his family were temporarily interned after having been captured by the British en route to America A philologist and...
, Van Eys, Hugo Schuchardt
Hugo Schuchardt
Hugo Ernst Mario Schuchardt was an eminent linguist, best known for his work in the Romance languages, the Basque language, and in mixed languages, including pidgins, creoles, and the Lingua franca of the Mediterranean.-In Germany:Schuchardt grew up in Gotha...
, Dodgson, Gavel etc.) and from within the country (Arturo Campión, Azkue
Resurrección María de Azkue
Resurrección María de Azkue was an influential Basque priest, musician, poet, writer, sailor and academic. He made several made several major contributions to the study of the Basque language and was the first head of the Euskaltzaindia, the Academy of the Basque Language...
, Urquijo etc.), as well as the express demand on the part of Basque language loyalist organisations (for example, Eusko Esnalea) created a favourable climate for the public authorities to take on the task of setting up the academy.
The first initiative in this direction came from the provincial government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
of Biscay
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
, which the other three provincial governments in the peninsular
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
part of the Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
subsequently joined (1918), with articles of association being approved and Euskaltzaindia being legally constituted in October 1919. One year later its journal "Euskera" was launched, the official organ for the publication of its rules and research work, which has survived to the present day.
The current internal structure and organisation can be summarised as follows: the academy is governed by a ruling body composed of the Chairman, Deputy Chairman, Secretary
Secretary
A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...
and Treasurer
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
. The heads of the Research and Watchdog Sections are also members. Plenary sessions must be held at least once a month. Under current rules the Academy has 24 full members and an unlimited number of associate members.The Academy is present throughout the area where Basque is used, with a head office in Bilbao
Bilbao
Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...
and regional offices in Bayonne
Bayonne
Bayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
(Baiona), Donostia-San Sebastián, Iruñea-Pamplona
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
and Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz
Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital city of the province of Álava and of the autonomous community of the Basque Country in northern Spain with a population of 235,661 people. It is the second largest Basque city...
.
Goals
The Academy's articles of association set out the institution's objectives, first published in 1920. Those articles have been repeatedly reformed (and standing orders added) with the aim of adapting the institution to the linguisticNatural language
In the philosophy of language, a natural language is any language which arises in an unpremeditated fashion as the result of the innate facility for language possessed by the human intellect. A natural language is typically used for communication, and may be spoken, signed, or written...
and cultural circumstances of the day. However, the initial articles defining Euskaltzaindias ultimate goals have simply been ratified over the years, with new details being added where necessary (e.g. article 1 in 1976). The aims of the Academy were set out as follows in the original articles:
Art. 1 - The aim of this institution is to watch over the Basque language, paying close attention to its promotion, both philologically and socially.
Art. 2 - Accordingly, the Academy deals with both these areas in their respective sections: the Research Section and the Tutelary Section, with members belonging to both.
It is thus clear that the work of Euskaltzaindia is concerned with both the corpus
Text corpus
In linguistics, a corpus or text corpus is a large and structured set of texts...
and the status of the language. Since then the Academy has maintained these two sections in order to carry out its mission.
History
In the decade and a half prior to the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
(1919-1936), the Academy managed to consolidate itself as an institution and set about its project of promoting the birth of a standard literary language
Literary language
A literary language is a register of a language that is used in literary writing. This may also include liturgical writing. The difference between literary and non-literary forms is more marked in some languages than in others...
, although it was unable to provide a precise, solid academic formulation for that aim. On the other hand, its work in that period contributed decisively to a better understanding of the language through Resurrección María de Azkue
Resurrección María de Azkue
Resurrección María de Azkue was an influential Basque priest, musician, poet, writer, sailor and academic. He made several made several major contributions to the study of the Basque language and was the first head of the Euskaltzaindia, the Academy of the Basque Language...
's studies (Morfología Vasca, 1923-1934) and far reaching surveys among speakers of the language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
(Erizkundi Irukoitza, from 1922 onwards). The journal "Euskera" is a faithful witness to the work carried out at the time.
In 1936 and the years which followed, under the language politics of Francoist Spain the Academy's previous activities were reduced to silence until Azkue
Resurrección María de Azkue
Resurrección María de Azkue was an influential Basque priest, musician, poet, writer, sailor and academic. He made several made several major contributions to the study of the Basque language and was the first head of the Euskaltzaindia, the Academy of the Basque Language...
, with the collaboration of Federico Krutwig
Federico Krutwig
Federico Krutwig Sagredo was a Spanish Basque writer and politician, author of several books.Along with Felix Likiniano, he tried to create some resistance to the Francoist regime after the Spanish Civil War...
, was able to timidly reinitiate academic life at the beginning of the 1950s. The articles of association were reformed in 1954, new full members were elected and from 1956 on the Academy started to enjoy a more settled existence both in its internal affairs and in its public conferences and open meetings (first postwar congress: Arantzazu
Arantzazu
Arantzazu is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northern Spain.-External links:*...
, 1956).
The following decade (1956-1968) coincided with a new generation of collaborators, the increasing introduction of Basque in bilingual non-state schools (ikastola
Ikastola
An Ikastola is a type of primary and secondary school in the Basque Autonomous Community, Navarre and the French Basque Country in which pupils are taught either entirely or predominantly in the Basque language...
k), the revival of the Basque language press and the first attempts at teaching basic literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
in Basque, among other initiatives.
Euskara batua, unified Basque
The Euskaltzaindia has been a vocal and active advocate of the introduction of a unified dialectDialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
of the Basque language, known as "Euskara Batua
Batua
Standard Basque is a standardised version of the Basque language, developed by the Basque Language Academy in the late 1960s, which nowadays is the most widely and commonly spoken Basque-language version throughout the Basque Country...
", or Unified Basque. Basque has been usually divided into 8 different dialects, varying in their level of mutual intelligibility. The first detailed dialectical analysis was by Louis Lucien Bonaparte
Louis Lucien Bonaparte
Louis Lucien Bonaparte was the third son of Napoleon's second surviving brother, Lucien Bonaparte. He was born at Thorngrove, mansion in Grimley, Worcestershire, England, where his family were temporarily interned after having been captured by the British en route to America A philologist and...
. However, many people have seen this as a weakness in the language's fight for survival in a world in which minority languages spoken in states are wiped out by the states' official language. Having been for centuries pressured on both sides by Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and under the rule of Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
coming close to extinction, the Academy felt the need to create a unified dialect of Basque, in order that the language have a greater chance of survival. The new dialect of Basque was heavily based on the Gipuzkoan
Gipuzkoan
Gipuzkoan is a dialect of the Basque language spoken mainly in the province of Gipuzkoa in Basque Country but also in a small part of Navarre. It is a central dialect, spoken in the central and eastern part of Gipuzkoa...
dialect of Donostia-San Sebastián - the dialect with the richest literary heritage.
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 in Euskadi
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
, 1979; Improvement of the Charter of Navarre
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
, 1982). Many people, however, continue to oppose the imposition of a single created dialect of Basque.
Euskaltzaindia counsels the Basque administrations wishing to officialize Basque place names.
It is funded by the Biscayne
Biscay
Biscay is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Biscay. Its capital city is Bilbao...
, Gipuzkoan, Alavese
Álava
Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...
, Navarrese
Navarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
, Spanish
Culture of Spain
The culture of Spain is based on a variety of influences.The Visigothic Kingdom left a sense of a united Christian Hispania that was going to be welded in the Reconquista. Muslim influences were strong during the period of 711 AD to the 15th century, especially linguistically...
, and French
Culture of France
The culture of France and of the French people has been shaped by geography, by profound historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture and of decorative arts since the seventeenth...
authorities for culture.
Other
The current president is Andres Urrutia.The lesser-known organization Euskerazaintza strives to preserve the various Basque
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
dialects.