Euskal Etxeak

XXXXXXXXXXXXXCULTURE KULXXXXXXXXTURA EUSKALTZAINDIA DETERMINES THE CORRECT SPELLING OF 10 THOUSAND EUSKALDUN SURNAMES Mugica or Muxika? urrerantzean norberaren deitura euskaraz jartzea errazagoa izan- A go da Euskaltzaindiak egindako “Euskal deituren izendegia” izeneko li- buruari esker. Liburu horretan 10.000 euskal deitura azaltzen dira jatorriz idazten ziren modura idatzita, beste hizkuntzen eraginez hain- bat abizenetan egindako aldaketak zu- zendu ahal izateko. Orain arte, 5.000 ale argitaratu dira eta Euskal Autonomia Elkarteko Erregistro Zibil eta Bake-Epaitegi guztietara ale ba- na igorriko da, bertako zerbitzuek erabil dezaten. Hemendik aurrera beraz, abize- na ofizialki aldatzeko ez da behar izango, orain arte bezala, Euskaltzaindiaren egiaztagirik, nahikoa izango baita abize- na liburuan azaltzea. Euskaltzaindia has just published a ficate with the correct spelling, and the rrotxategi, who coordinates the publis- Nomenclature with the 10 thousand demand was enormous and kept incre- hing, and the historian Txema Fernan- most common surnames spelled accor- asing. In 1996 for instance, 3,682 cer- dez Anakabe, have been devoted to ding to the Euskaldun patron. 5 thou- tificates indicating the correct Basque this work. The project was complicated, sand issues of this guide will be for sa- spelling of the surnames were reques- and the first difficulty was to determine le, and issues will also be sent to every ted. These certificates will not be neces- which surnames are Basque and which Civil Register Office and to every Court sary any more, provided the surname are not. This was not an easy task con- in the Autonomous Community in order appears in the Nomenclature. sidering the many exchanges existing to make the process of official change The Academy has respected its po- between Euskera, Spanish and Gascon. of spelling easier and faster. The No- licy of not disguising with Basque spe- This is the case, for example, of Kami- menclature will establish the official lling the names that do not belong to no and Palazio, which could be Basque spelling of the surnames, which will al- this language. Therefore the 10 thou- surnames. Because of all these difficul- ways try to be the original spelling, co- sand surnames included are indubi- ties the names included in the Nomen- rrecting the modifications introduced by tably of Basque origin. clature are not only the most common, the influence of Spanish and French. The foundations for the elaboration but also those that offered less doubts. Until the present in order to change of this document were laid nearly six The other surnames will be included in the spelling of their surname people years ago, and for two years two scho- a later edition. Determining the number had to present an Euskaltzaindia certi- larship holders, philologist Mikel Go- of Basque surnames is a practically im- The García dilemma One of the surnames appearing in the Nomenclature is García, spelt Gartzia in Basque. Gartzia was according to the experts a name from Navarre, synonym of gaztea. There was a king of Navarre with that name, who had been called that way because he was the youngest member of the family that made it popular. The name was liked in Castille, where it be- came a surname. There is even a Castillian saying that goes: “Those who had no name were called García”. At present García is the third most common surname in the world, according to the authors of the Nomenclature, but obviously not everybody called that way has Basque ancestors. However, all those wishing to do so can change it to Gartzia. The most common surnames in Euskadi are Agirre and Etxeberria-Etxebarria. 24 CULTURE KULTURA possible task. There are so many of them –most of them being the names of THE BASQUE DOCUMENTARY HERITAGE CAN ALREADY BE houses– that the Basque Country is one CONSULTED IN INTERNET of the places with more surnames in the whole world. Moreover, apart from those we can find here among the in- habitants of the Basque Country, we Badator is here have to consider those which have di- sappeared here but are still alive in rom now on it will be easier for everybody to le- places like Madrid, Valencia or South arn about the habits of the Basques in the Midd- America. And to cap it all, Basque spe- le Ages, or to discover how the slave auctions to- lling also varies, and especially in Ipa- F rralde. That is why the surnames of that ok place in Euskadi during the 17th century. The Ba- area have not been included in the No- dator program, launched a short while ago by the menclature for “the differences the Culture Department of the Basque Government, pro- French language has between spelling vides the opportunity to consult through Internet the and pronunciation are such that the names have been considerably altered Basque documentary heritage. and it is very difficult to determine the primitive form”, as the directors of the publication explain. For example Iza- girre can appear in ten different forms, At present the users of the net will with one “s”, with two, with a final “e”, only have to type the address without it, etc. www.irargi.org to have access to 46 Although in most cases the No- files from in and out of the Basque Au- menclature only substitutes “v” by “b” tonomous community, containing lots and “ch” by “tx”, there are some sur- of documents about Euskal Herria sin- prises in the list. For example the co- ce the year 1164, the date of the first rrect spelling of Arzalluz in Arzallus, documents, to the present. and that of Sarasola is Saratsola. In For the moment the service offers general the final “z” of the Spanish about 115,000 descriptions corres- spelling becomes in most cases, alt- ponding to as many documents, hough not always, “tz”. Abaiturrioz, amounting to about 15 million pages. for example, is written correctly in Bas- With a pleasant and easy finding sys- que Abaiturriotz, and Irioiz is Irigoitz. tem the users of the net will be able to “C” becomes “k” and “ch” becomes choose Euskera, Spanish, English and “tz”. So Calparsoro is Kalparsoro and French to obtain free information on Arichaga is Aritzaga. But the fricative any matter. ts and tz have not been the only pro- The organizers of this new data- blematic ones, the Spanish j has also base expect the number of descrip- brought about many doubts. Under this tions to reach 300,000. In their opi- letter sometimes an x can be found, but nion in five years time more than 90% sometimes there is a iota. So, in the ca- of the Basque documentary heritage of Euskadi-Irargi, located in the Rekal- se of Múgica Euskaltzaindia has cho- will be accessible for any citizen. Gra- de Palace of Bergara, has been in sen Muxica, the name it comes from, dually all the Town Councils files, the charge of this job. But this is only the and the correct spelling of the surname beginning. The organizers of the new Gogenola will be Goienola. ■ foral files, the church files and even those belonging to particular families service plan to create a net with seve- will be introduced in the net. ral European countries in order to bring to Irargi all the information All those interested in the Nomenclature about the Basques existing in the files and wishing to receive one issue can re- of Bruges, Antwerp, Louvain, Paris quest it in the Press Office of the Justice, 12 YEARS OF WORK and London, among other places. Economy, Work and Social Security De- partment of the Basque Government. Du- 12 years of hard work have been For some months Badator will que de Wellington 2 Lakua 01010 Vito- necessary to launch this service, which function experimentally, therefore the ria-Gasteiz, FAX: 945 189109 and telep- is a pioneer in its gender, for it is the users will have the chance to give their hone: 945 18 80 00. All Basque Centers first one of this description in Europe. suggestions and preferences in order will shortly receive an issue. The Center of Documentary Heritage to improve the service. ■ 25.

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