10 things you didn't know about Basque

Euskal dantzak

3th December, 2023

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“Kaixo”, “egun on”, “pintxo” “agur”, “bai”… Do any of these words ring a bell?

Basque is said to be a difficult language, but the thing is, it's unlike any other because its origins are unknown.

It's the oldest language in Europe. Want to know some more interesting facts about Basque? We'll tell you a few in this post.

1. The oldest in Europe

According to linguists and expert researchers, Basque - or Euskera as we call it - is the most ancient living language in Europe.

The origins of this language are as mysterious as they are unknown, as it has nothing to do with any other language. It's a linguistic puzzle!

Words in basque

2. Number of speakers

Today it's estimated to have around 750,000 speakers. Also, 62.4% of people living in the Basque autonomous region know some Basque.

3. Euskal Etxeak

These are places set up by Basque people, people we call the Basque diaspora, who emigrated to different countries. Today there are about 124 of them, and they're places to speak Basque and tell the world about our culture.

4. Official status

Basque has the official language of the Basque Country since 1979, alongside Spanish, and of the Basque-speaking part of neighbouring Navarra since 1982.

5. Number system

While Spanish numbers are decimal, Basque has a system of twenties, alternating the word ten with multiples of twenty.

6. No gender, no accents

Basque is a language that does not distinguish between genders and uses no accents, even though, curiously enough, the first words written in Basque date from the 1st century BC.

Maite, Pinpilinpauxa, Ur, Panpox, Zirimiri, Bihotz, Ongi etorri, Kaixo, Zorionak...

Some nice words

7. Dialects

These are known as "euskalkiak", which literally means "pieces of Basque". There are six kinds of Basque, each with its sub-dialects, language varieties and differences of phonetics, grammar and vocabulary.

8. Euskara Batua

The creation of a unified form of Basque was proposed by Euskaltzaindia, the Royal Academy of the Basque Language, in order to standardise it to make it easier for Basque speakers to communicate with one another.

9. International Basque Day

3rd December every year is Basque Day, made official by the Basque government and Euskaltzaindia since 1995.

10. Number of articles in Wikipedia

Basque is one of the best-represented languages in Wikipedia, coming in 34th place in this encyclopaedia. There are currently over 400,000 articles in Basque on the platform.

What did you think of these facts about the Basque language? Are you up for learning and practising a little? You can pick up a few words on our website for your next visit.

Vitoria-Gasteiz