As a publication prior to Euskera Ikerketa Aldizkaria, the review Euskera was the official publication of the Royal Academy of the Basque Language-Euskaltzaindia, published from 1920 to 2022. From 2023 onwards there are two publications: Euskera Ikerketa Aldizkaria and Euskaltzaindiaren buletina. The former publishes original research papers, book reviews and other content in the research area of Euskaltzaindia, and is published on paper and in electronic format. The second documents the academic life and work of Euskaltzaindia, and is published electronically. Euskera Ikerketa Aldizkaria comes out twice a year: the spring issue (January-June) published between March and April and the second (July-December) between September and October. To publish research papers the Editorial Committee requests the opinion of external assessors, using the double-blind PEER REVIEW system.
Arikala: organised leisure and the practice of informal Basque speech in a formal educational context
The following pages present a research study framed within a theoretical model that interrelates informal language, structured leisure, formal education, motivation, and linguistic attachment. The study explores the experiences and impact of interventions following the implementation of informal Basque language use through playful methodologies and organised leisure activities. The research employed a mixed-methods approach with a concurrent design. Parti­cipants included children from two ikastolas in Navarre (n = 86) who took part in the Arikala programme, as well as teachers and leisure-time educators (n = 32) who implemented the same programme in eight additional ikastolas across the Basque Country. Findings were analysed through the triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data. Among the main conclusions, it was found that the interventions fostered increased motivation and attachment to the Basque language among the children. Although the programme generally had a positive impact on most participants, statistical analyses revealed significant differences based on first language (L1) and gender: those who spoke Basque as their L1 and girls reported experiencing greater benefits. Furthermore, based on the experiences of teachers and leisure-time educators, the study concludes that there is a clear need for specific training aimed at developing informal language use.
Copyright (c) 2025 Odei Guirado Irasuegi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The erosion of female allocutive form of address noketa in Ortzaize
This fieldwork-based study seeks to analyse the use and more specially the decline of the female allocutive form of address noketa in Ortzaize, in Nafarroa Beherea (Lower Navarre). Based on a corpus made up of interviews with 18 residents of that place, the analysis of the use of the noketa familiar form of address hinges on two lines of research. On the one hand, from a morphological perspective, this work aims to analyse the variation of the verbal allocutive forms of the noketa collected from ten speakers, and specially the variants that would reflect its erosion. On the other hand, from a sociolinguistical point of view, the investigation plans on describing the accounts of practices and ideologies in relation to the noketa familiar form of address of the whole group of participants —including the younger generation—, and analysing their variation according to age. Indeed, the results obtained indicate that, from one generation to another, i) the influence exerted by sociolinguistic variants on the use of the noketa varies, ii) the usage domain narrows, but iii) that a gradual valorization of the noketa emerges in ideological discourses.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ana Jaunarena Mendiondo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
In this research, we analyze rhythm across Basque varieties, a topic that remains largely understudied. While the scarce studies available to date classify the Basque language as syllable-timed, some studies argue that it might approach other rhythmic classes, such as mora-timed. It has also been discussed if there are differences among Basque varieties. In fact, the different Basque varieties exhibit phonological alternations such as deletions, syncopes or apheresis. As all of these partially affect their syllabic structure, they could lead to cross-dialectal differences in their rhythm. The goal of this paper is thus to systematically analyze the varieties of Bermeo, Bilbo, Donostia and Baztan. Our results show that the different varieties do not differ in their percentages of vocalic intervals (V %), but do differ significantly in the standard deviation of their consonant intervals (ΔC), specifically between the varieties spoken in Baztan and Donostia. Furthermore, they suggest that, in certain aspects, these Basque dialects are closer to other languages classified as mora-timed than to the languages traditionally classified as syllable-timed.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maddi Ormazabal Sudupe, Ane Berro, Irene Delacruz-Pavía https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Demolinguistic projections: a tool for defining and discussing language policy in the Northern Basque Country?
The sociolinguistic survey conducted every five years is today the main tool used to assess the vitality of Basque language in the Northern Basque Country. With the 2021 survey being the seventh of its kind, actors and political decision-makers working in favor of the Basque language now have a solid data source on the evolution of Euskara’s situation in the territory, which can be put into perspective with the initiatives undertaken over the past 30 years in the field of linguistic policy planning. However, until now, these sociolinguistic data have not been exploited for the purpose of planning future linguistic policies for the Northern Basque Country territory. Furthermore, while multiple processes and dynamics influence the revitalization process of Euskara, there are currently few or no projection tools, especially for the long term. Demographics is one of these processes that influences the sociolinguistic situation, yet it remains little studied from this angle. The work that follows is therefore a methodological proposal for articulating sociolinguistic and demographic data with the aim of constructing 3 hypotheses for the evolution of the number and proportion of Basque speakers in the Northern Basque Country over the next 25 years. Taking into account the methodological, theoretical, and philosophical limitations of these hypotheses, the main objective of the team that developed this tool is to provide decision-makers and actors in linguistic planning with one tool among others, to serve the debate on the future directions of Euskara in the Northern Basque Country.
Copyright (c) 2025 Amande Anin, Christian Malmose, Virginie Boillet https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Speech among friends at the ikastola: implementation and results of a two-year intervention
This research was carried out together by the Mintzola Project of Euskaltzaindia, Ikastolen Elkartea association, and Mondragon University. During the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, we worked both in the classroom and during the students’ leisure time on various expressions commonly used in informal speech; the participants were primary school students in the fourth and fifth grades in ten ikastolas in different territories of the Basque Country. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the development of informal speech in a school context had an effect on informal speech among friends.
Copyright (c) 2025 Idurre Alonso Amezua, Aritz Bereziartua Arruabarrena, Jon Mentxakatorre Odriozola, Xabier Lasa Agirrezabal https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Ander Manterola Aldekoa: zeanuriztar etnografoari elkarrizketa
Copyright (c) 2025 Jon Mentxakatorre Odriozola https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Youth colloquial Basque in the BAB (Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz) area and its surroundings
This article investigates the linguistic practices of some young Basques aged 18 to 24 in the BAB (Bayonne-Anglet-Biarritz) area, focusing on vernacular language and «Basque-French» code-switching. It aims to describe these practices by examining phonetic innovations influenced by French and standard Basque, as well as loan translations and Internet-related vocabulary. The conclusions reveal that this new language register incorporates features of vernacular French and that the teaching of the standard Basque also influences this language of young people.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maddi Kintana Morcillo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Months of the year: an ethnolinguistic perspective
Some authors have made reflections from linguistic and anthropological perspectives about the names traditionally used for months in Basque. Given that this is such a deeply rooted and everyday matter in Basque culture, many people have expressed their opinions in one way or another, often inappropriately, as they have not used the proper tools. With the aim of giving this interesting topic a clear and structured treatment, the author proposes the use of an ethnolinguistic methodology, combining lexicon and culture, since they inevitably influence each other.
Copyright (c) 2025 Kepa Diéguez Barahona https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Charrando aragonés. La lengua aragonesa en su Zona de Uso Predominante
Copyright (c) 2025 Jon Artza https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Lights and shadows of the poetry of the Northern Basque Country, from the 1940’s
The objective of this article is to provide a general overview of the poetry of the Northern Basque Country since the 1940’s, taking into account works from both oral and written traditions. We see a giant on the subject, Itxaro Borda, whose prolific work could leave the productions of all the other poets in the shadows: we will not mention her, in order to bring to light the poets who remained in obscurity. We have not noticed a poetic group: each poet must be presented according to his own singularity. Finally, we will reflect on the future of poetry in the Northern Basque Country.
Copyright (c) 2025 Katixa Dolhare Zaldunbide https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Jean-Baptiste Elizanburu (1828-1891) idazlearen lo-kanta ezezagun bat: Haurcho bati
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">Artikulu honen helburua bikoitza da. Batetik, Louis Dassanceren funtsean dauden Jean-Baptiste Elizanburu idazle saratarraren hamabi olerki autografodun bildumaren berri ematea. Bestetik, erran delako bilduma horretako Harcho bati izenburuko lo-kanta ezezagun bat transkribatzea jatorrizko doinu eta letrarekin.
Copyright (c) 2025 Jabier Kaltzakorta https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Secondary Education students’ scientific argumentation: writing in Basque, Spanish and English
The present study aims to explore the written production of scientific arguments of Secondary Education students in Basque, Spanish and English at the discourse and lexicogrammatical levels. Argumentation elements (following Toulmin) were analysed in the texts written by 34 years 9 students, and the employed lexicogrammar was identified through a discourse analysis. Across-language similarities were found both in the use of argumentation elements and in the lexicogrammatical resources employed.
Copyright (c) 2025 Roberto Arias-Hermoso, Amaia Lersundi, Eneritz Garro Larrañaga, Ainara Imaz https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
De noms, de cognoms i de llengües subordinades
Copyright (c) 2025 Joan A. Argenter https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The names of the seasons have always given a great deal of importance to linguists and other scholars. So deeply rooted in Basque culture, many people have expressed their views in one way or another. In order to give a proper structure to this subject, the author proposes to use ethnolinguistic methodology, that is, to bring out the indispensable bridge between lexicon and culture. To this end, this study is guided by a classification based on general notions.
Copyright (c) 2024 Euskera ikerketa aldizkaria https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Basque sermons from Luisena in Redin (18th-19th c.): presentation, catalogation and first research results
In this work I present a collection of old sermons in Basque discovered in Lizoain valley (Navarre). It is so far the sole extensive documentary testimony in the Basque language of that area. I explain how the discovery was made, I describe, date and catalogue the corpus and, after identifying the authors, I collect biographic data. Then, I describe some linguistic features, document the sources and talk about translation habits. I conclude that the use of Basque for predication was starting to decline in the area.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ekaitz Santazilia https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
The Basque language in the early years of sound cinema (1930-1936)
This article analyzes the relationship between Basque and cinema in the early years of talking cinema. Firstly, the debates that emerged in the 1930s around linguistic diversity in cinema and the presence of other languages of the Spanish state on screen are presented. From there, the focus is placed on the discourses that were mobilized in favor of cinema in Basque, and after verifying the impossibility of creating Basque cinema, the first three films in which the Basque language could be heard are analyzed.
"Too many times they ask me where I come from". Newcomers in immersion programs and the question of identity
In this article we will report on a study, based on the statements of 32 teachers who work with newcomers in immersion programs (10-14 years); They are Basque teachers in the immersion program (specifically in the Eusle and HIPI language strengthening programs). The purpose of the research is twofold: 1) to find out what difficulties, obstacles and incidents the newcomers in immersion programs express in relation to identity, and the teachers’ reflections on them; 2) to know the interventions and practices that teachers implement in relation to the identity of newcomers in immersion programs, as well as their thoughts on the subject. The data were taken during a training process carried out by these teachers, in the “Course to specialize in the immersion of newly arrived students”, at the Faculty of Humanities and Educational Sciences (HUHEZI) of the University of Mondragon; the data come from the explanations written by the teachers in answer to question about the identity of the students. The data are analysed and categorized through content analysis. The results show that until now the teachers and students of the research have not been familiar with the concept of plural identity, nor have they taken it into account. Some have considered that identity is generally associated with a single society or territory, mostly with the original one. The teachers believe that in the future their beliefs and that they will have to revise their practices.
Copyright (c) 2023 Euskera ikerketa aldizkaria https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Literatura, lengua y lugar. Termodinámica aplicada
Copyright (c) 2025 Andres Urrutia Badiola https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
On the problem of sibilants in the Mikoleta manuscript
Traditionally, the Mikoleta manuscript has been understood to exhibit advanced neutralization of sibilants. However, Ulibarri (2015) argues that this view overlooks the use of the grapheme to represent (almost) any sibilant. This paper offers a graphophonological analysis of the Castilian and Basque sibilants found in the text Modo breve de aprender la lengua vizcayna, situating the Castilian system within the broader linguistic shifts of the period and examining the extensive use of . Additionally, evidence is presented for advanced neutralization within the Basque phonological system.
Copyright (c) 2025 Eneko Zuloaga https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
On lying: figurative language, indirect lies and the speaker’s commitment
The aim of this paper is to clarify what lies are, or what lying consists in. First, I explain the existing debate on the pragmatic definition of lies, focusing on three issues: the issue of saying, the issue of falsity, and the issue of the intention to deceive. Second, I address the problem posed by insincere implicatures in defining lies. In particular, I explain why I consider that these implicatures are to be considered lies and argue that relying on the idea of speaker commitment is the best way to define lies in general, and lies communicated by implicatures in particular.
Copyright (c) 2025 Joana Garmendia https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.eu
The children’s poetry of Juan Kruz Igerabide (1992-2005): thematic, metrical and stylistic analysis of the poems
There is an enormous lack of information on children’s poetry. While there are numerous studies on narrative, children’s poetry presents a clear void in the field of criticism and research, and even more so in Basque literature. In this context, this article analyses the characteristics of the children’s poetry of Juan Kruz Igerabide (Aduna, 1956), the main promoter of children’s poetry, through the literary analysis of his poems. A comparative analysis has also been carried out to examine whether the children’s poetry published by Juan Kruz Igerabide falls within the framework of Spanish children’s poetry. The results of the analysis of Igerabide’s poems show a strong tendency towards haiku, with the prevailing themes of nature, brevity, poetic images and stylistic figures affecting semantics. The comparison of Spanish lyric poetry with the children’s poetry of Juan Kruz Igerabide reveals that, although it differs in some aspects, the characteristics of Spanish children’s poetry are very similar to those of Igerabide’s children’s poetry detailed in this study.
Copyright (c) 2025 Oihane Calvo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Maria SS.ª Concepciocoaren Sermoia (preached in 1772): a copy of another sermon by Larramendi?
In a previous work (Lakarra 2023a), we demonstrated that an Assumption Sermon (Asuntzioko Sermoia, AS) without any date, place or author was in fact a copy of that given by M. Larramendi in Loiola on 14 August 1740. This by now published Conception Sermon (Kontzepzioko Sermoia, KS) is stored, together with the preceding one, in the AJF Archive in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The 1772 date it bears does not correspond to the work of the real author, but to the period when an unknown copyist preached somewhere (probably in the Goierri region), nor does it adhere to the time when the preserved testimony was produced, which dates from several years later. Unlike in the case of the AS, in regard to the KS we lack any information about extra-textual authorship or provenance and only an internal analysis of the text could be carried out in researching these precursors. Based on multiple reasons, we have shown that this copy of the KS is indebted to at least one earlier original (and perhaps also to more intermediate copies) and the analysis of its language (especially a detailed analysis of its remarkable lexicon) makes it almost inevitable that it came from Larramendi’s hand. The KS is not ordinary in terms of ornatus, and its enormous debt to the Diccionario Trilingüe and affinities with other texts by Larramendi are so numerous that our studies cannot lead us to any others. Besides the mentioned features, there is no shortage of different types of (textual and vocabulary) hapaxes or quasi-hapaxes, words which were not normalised until 1800 —although not present in the HH— even though the forms were created legitimately in texts by Larramendi himself and others in the manner foreseen there; one should not forget that they are repeated even in a short text like the KS, being used more profusely than usual to expand their understanding. In support of the previous set of arguments, we have also invoked innovation our means of analysis, e.g. Larramendi’s creation or «baptized» (basquised) by him, or by analysing the sentences he received from different sources and spread through words, providing not just one, but three or four of them; through them, we have examined the networks that strengthen and even surpass the evidence in favour of Larramendi’s authorship in each case, demonstrating their importance and their value in corroborating Larramendi’s authorship.
Copyright (c) 2025 Joseba Andoni Lakarra https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Combining Basque and interculturality: a novel experience in Basque-speaking municipalities
This article explains and analyzes a project that is being carried out to promote and make Basque and interculturality compatible in the educational communities of several Basque-speaking localities in the Association of Bascophone Municipalities (Udalerri Euskaldunen Mankomunitatea, UEMA), specifically in thirty-two municipalities at the time of writing these lines. In recent years, the number of families arriving from other countries to educational centers in Basque-speaking areas has grown, which has increased the challenge of living in Basque and at the same time guaranteeing communication and relationships with newly arrived families. Although the concern started from the school environment, work is currently being done as a pact between various agents of the municipality, that is, the area of intervention of the project is increasingly broader. The text will explain the theoretical foundations and principles of the project, the methodological aspects and the strategies created to face the challenges, as well as examples of various practices and aspects that should be mentioned in relation to the process.
Copyright (c) 2025 Amelia Barquín, Karmele Pérez https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
Fragmentarism in the postmodern text: the impossibility of narrating reality in the work Kandelikara by Harkaitz Cano
The analysis of the book Kandelikara. Buñueli buruzko film baterako apunteak, published by Harkaitz Cano in 2021, offers the possibility of understanding the main keys and ideas of postmodern narration. The text —unclassifiable in terms of genre— establishes from a fragmentary view and the experiences of Spanish film director Luis Buñuel a metaliterary dialogue between the avant-garde of the twentieth century and postmodernity. Along the way, it reflects from various perspectives, experiences and reflections, on the relationship between cinema and literature and creates a polyphonic narrative through different voices. Along with this, the collage structure of the text allows analyzing the limits between fiction and reality and facing the idea of the totality of every story, including that of History.
Copyright (c) 2025 Paula Solana https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0
New dates for the history of Basque in Alava and Navarra: The doctrine from Eulate (18th-19th centuries)
In this work, I study a recently appeared 18th-19th-century Basque text from Higher Amescoa. It is a unique testimony of the lost variety spoken there. I describe the document, and I show who wrote it and when. I also transcribe and edit the text. In the linguistic analysis, I compare it with the historical text corpus from the surrounding varieties. I conclude that Basque was still alive in Eulate at that time, and that such variety was linguistically related to Western and the bordering Alavese Basque.
Copyright (c) 2023 Euskera ikerketa aldizkaria
The Assumption Sermon with no known author, place or date: Larramendi’s unknown new text [Loiola 14.08.1740]
We have prepared an edition of a Sermon with no known author, date or source. An analysis of its form (both the rhetoric and lexicon therein) leads us immediately to the hypothesis that Manuel Larramendi was the author: employing figures and sketches that were rare at the time, and several words from the Northern Basque Country first witnessed in the Southern B. C. in his Trilingual Dictionary, which we were aware of from a small group of L’s own short B.-language texts, those borrowings that he ‘baptised’ and took as deriving from inherited words from the old tradition– that were normalised or he sought to normalise, as well as those –some dating from before the Trilingual Dictionary– that he invented and used (sometimes extended soon after, sometimes much later), and those created by L and only witnessed in this text or in others or a few more by L. According to the History Book on the College of Loiola, on 14 August 1740, the eve of the Assumption, L gave the Sermon there. The fact it was given in Loiola and made up of very particular grammatical and rhetorical audiences– could explain the various peculiarities of this Sermon, both in terms of ornamentation and lexical development (cf. Lakarra 1985b on the Sermon of Azkoitia [1737]). This discovery and its associated research show that the treasure of L’s texts in Basque is not as short as we thought and it leads us to confirm that we could still come across some more new ones.
Centenary of the chair of Basque at the Seminary of Pamplona
A century ago, in the year 1922, the Navarra provincial authority set up two chairs of Basque, one at the teacher training college and institute and the other for the Conciliary Seminary. This paper deals with the latter, created at the request of Euskaltzaindia. In its early years, especially in the 1920s, it enjoyed considerable prestige and success thanks to the firm support of both the diocesan authorities and the Seminary itself. Later on, changed circumstances (the Spanish Civil War and its consequences, and a lack of support from the authorities) put an end to this initial success, and even though the Basque language continued to be taught as a subject for several years, this came to an end before the centenary was reached.
Azkue's correspondence: letters written to his mother and sisters from abroad (1904-1906)
Resurrección María Azkue (1864-1951) went abroad in order to publish his dictionary, at least from early 1904 to January 1906. In France he went to Paris and in particular to Tours, and in England to London. This paper deals primarily with letters written from abroad, in Basque, to his mother and two sisters, Aurora and Diana. This series of letters Azkue sent from abroad is essential to understand the vicissitudes involved in publication of the Basque manuscripts in London and the triple dictionary (1905-1906), the later in Tours.
Zaldibiako hitz, esapide, esaera eta atsotitz batzuk
Informal speech in primary school children in their leisure time: the influence of Spanish or French on their spontaneous expressivity
This study was funded by the Mintzola Project of the Royal Academy of the Basque Language (Euskaltzaindia), by the Basque School Association (Ikastolen Elkartea) and by Mondragon Unibertsitatea. Our purpose was to examine whether speech among friends in a formal setting can have a positive effect on increasing informal speech in Basque among students. We present the first steps of this research here. Ten schools (ikastolas) from different territories in the Basque Country were selected, and the language habits of students in their fourth year of Primary Education at home, outside the home and at school were initially examined via a questionnaire in order to obtain baseline information about the sample in as much detail as possible. We then observed the participating children in the recreational areas of the schools in order to determine which language(s) they speak with their friends during their free time.