ORIGIN of BASQUES Iurii Mosenkis
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ORIGIN OF BASQUES Iurii Mosenkis Main (genealogical) part of the Basque language is North(east) Caucasian. Proto-Basque migration from Caucasus might continue (in several waves?) during the Neolithic period, from the Cardium Pottery/Impresso. The Basques spread in Northwest Europe with the Bell Beakers and R1b male haplogroup. Kura-Araxes/Khirbet-Kerak influence is not excluded AREA AND CONTACTS Basque is one among ‘Paleo-Hispanic’ languages. Several Greek and Latin words of ‘Mediterranean’ origin have Basque equivalents which might reflect more wide area of Basque in pre-historic times. Some Basque ‘mysterious’ words might be of Phoenician, Greek, Latin, Celtic, and Germanic origin Paleo-Hispanic languages Aquitanian Aquitanian language was an old form of Basque, and both languages belong to the Vasconic family. Iberian Iberian language had connections with Basque, but Iberian-Basque relations remain disputable. Frequent suffix of Iberian tribe-names -tan (Aquitani, Iacetani, Ausetani, Bastetani, Bergistani, Cessetani/Cossetani, Vescetani, Turdetani, Carpetani, Lusitani and many others) resembles Proto-West Chadic *danH- ‘family, clan, people’ (also Egyptian ‘family’ and South Cushitic ‘daughter’). Thus an old hypothesis about Iberians as mainly ‘Hamitic’ peoples may be accepted. Now Iberian can be used as a conventional name for ‘Hamitic’ (non-Semitic – in the case of Basque non-Phoenician – Afro-Asiatic) element of Basque. The element might be substrate, adstrate, or/and superstrate. Tartessian While Tartessos was interpreted by some scholars as an Aegean name because of -ss- suffix, P. Kretschmer (long before recent deciffrements of Tartessian inscriptions) explained the name of Tartessian king Arganthonios as Celtic because of Celtic argant- ‘silver’. South Spain was known in antiquity as a silver-rich country, and many scholars (J. G. Herder was among the first) think that Basque zilhar, zidar, zirar ‘silver’ was a source of Slavic-Baltic-Germanic names of the metal. Pre-historic Basque area: Basque-like substrate in Greek and Latin This problem is an object of discussion. Basque-like words in Old Irish are well- known, but does Latin include Basque-like substrate? A Vasconic language reached Italy1. E. g., Latin gutta ‘a drop of fluid’ of unknown origin : Basque guti, gutti, guttu ‘a 1 Dieterlen F., Bengtson, J. Confirmation de l’ancienne extension des Basquespar l’étude des dialectes de l’Europe de l’Ouest romane, Journal of Language Relationship / Вопросы языкового родства, 14/1 (2016), https://www.academia.edu/30676662/Confirmation_of_the_Basque_ancient_extension_through_study_of _Western_European_romance_dialects_180jlr2016_14_1_21_27 little, some’ : Proto-Kartvelian *k’ut’u- ‘small’2; North Caucasian cognates are also proposed. The name of Liguria (southeastern France and northwestern Italy) might reflect Basque ligor ‘dry land’. More surprising examples are Basque parallels of ‘Mediterranean’ (i. e. pre-Indo- European substratal) words not only in Latin but also in Greek. Pre-Greek larinos, Latin laridum ‘fat’ : Basque larru ‘skin, leather’ Pre-Greek makele ‘mattock’ : Basque makila ‘stick’ (if the latter is not from Latin bacilla) Pre-Greek mikos ‘small’ (/mikros, cf. kudos/kudros) : Basque miko ‘a little’, Proto-North Caucasian * k ‘small, young one’ Pre-Greek apion, Latin pirum < *pisum ‘pear’ : Proto-Basque * ‘pomace of apples, of grapes’ Pre-Greek ksule, hule, ksulon, sulon (Slavic-Baltic-Germanic parallels, but non-Indo- European substrate is not excluded)3 < *sule ‘wood’, Latin silva ‘forest’4 (and Old Norse usli ‘glowing ashes’?) : Proto-Basque *sul ‘wood’ Pre-Greek aphros ‘foam’ : Basque apar ‘foam’ : Georgian ’er , ’er-ul-i ‘froth’5. It is common ‘Mediterranean’ word rather than Greek loan in Basque or Basque-like loan in Greek. Greek ἴσοξ ‘whale-like fish’ (Hesych.), Latin esox ‘pike’, Celtic *esoks ‘salmon’ might be linked with Basque suge ‘snake’. As Nicolás Monto correctly underlines (pers. comm.), Greek and Latin words (because of intervocale -s- and the absence of s > r respectively) are late loans. These words might be a result of 1) wide prehistoric Basque area, including not only a part of Italy but also a part of Greece; 2) pre-Indo-European pan-Mediterranean koine; 3) an influence of pre-Greek and pre-Latin substrate languages on Basque. Early contacts Phoenician First Phoenicians appeared in the Iberian Peninsula in the Sea People time or short after the time. Their development occurred after the Bronze Age collapse about 1200 BCE. Phoenician element, but not strong, might be later brought in the Northwest Europe by migrants like ‘Milesians’, i. e. Celtic migrants from Spain to Ireland (S. Hewitt). Cf. Phoenician origin of Proto-Germanic *apan ‘ape’ and common monkey name in Latvian and Etruscan. Basque daguen-il ‘August’ (-il ‘month’) might reflect the name of Canaanite god of grain Dagon. 2 Basque-Kartvelian after: http://lingvoforum.net/index.php?topic=5114.50 3 Beekes, pp. 1037–1038. 4 Cf.: ‘The earlier etymologies connecting ὕλη with Lat. silva or with ξύλον must be rejected’, Beekes, p. 1530. 5 Basq.-Georg. after: Braun, J. Protokartvelian, Agade (Warszawa 2008), p. 17. Basque bozkario ‘happiness’ might be linked with enigmatic (without etymology) Greek makar ‘happy’ (particularly, in the name of the Canarian Islands, initially colonized by the Phoenicians) and Romanian bucur ‘happy’. Possible Phoenician source of the words might be related to Arabic Barak and Hebrew Baruch – names which mean ‘happy’. Basque ertz, eretz ‘side’ might be of Semitic origin. It was possible link with Proto- Germanic *ertho ‘earth’. Basque nagusi ‘master, chief’ : Ethiopian negus ‘emperor’ point to social organization. ‘H t c’ Non-Semitic Afro-Asiatic elements in Basque are very old, accepted during the migration and then in Spain. The earliest known prehistoric sample to date is an E-V13 from Catalonia dating from 5000 BCE. […] The only concrete evidence for this at the moment is the presence of the E-V13 subclade, commonest in the southern Balkans today, at a 7000-year old Neolithic site in north-east Spain, which was tested by Lacan et al (2011). However, since E1b1b has not been found in any of the various Neolithic sites from the Balkans and Central Europe, it is more likely that the Catalan E- V13 individual was descended from Mediterranean Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.6 If the Bell Beaker pottery was really similar to the Swifterbant one (while the Swifterbant culture was linked with Ertebølle) then ‘Hamitic’ element might be also accepted in Northwest Europe. These elements were studied by A. Trombetti, H. Schuchardt7, V. Blažek etc. Some elements might have both etymologies. E. g., Spanish gusano ‘worm, caterpillar’ of unknown origin (traditionally interpreted as ‘Iberian’8, cf. Proto-Afro-Asiatic *k c-am/n- ‘locust, ant, larva’) : Proto-Basque * u e ‘snake’, a cognate of Burushaski ɣu u /s ‘snake’. Greek Greeks might firstly appear in the Iberian Peninsula in the Mycenaean time (1450– 1200 BCE) or, if the ‘Minoans’ were Greeks, during previous centuries. Lebor gabala Erinn, or ‘The Book of Invasions in Ireland’, linked some invaders not only with Spain but also with Greece – it may point to the Sea People period. Basque arto ‘millet’ and at(h)eri ‘fine weather’ might reflect Greek artos ‘bread’ (cf. Sumerian urta ‘barley’) and aither ‘ether’ respectively. If Basque urre, urhe ‘gold’ ‘cannot possibly be linked to Lat. aurum id., from old Lat. *ausom’ (Trask) then cf. Greek okhros ‘yellow’ > Georgian oq’ro ‘gold’. Basque zitu ‘reaping, harvest’, which is traditionally compared with Greek sitos ‘bread’, is now derived from Latin sectum ‘cut’ (L. Trask). 6 http://www.eupedia.com/europe/Haplogroup_E1b1b_Y-DNA.shtml 7 Schuchardt, Hugo (1913): "Baskisch-Hamitische wortvergleichungen" Revista Internacional de Estudios Vascos = "Revue Internationale des Etudes Basques" 7:289–340. http://hedatuz.euskomedia.org/4881/1/07289340.pdf 8 http://www.cranberryletters.com/iberia/ Latin, Celtic, and Germanic Contacts of the Basques with Romans, Celts, and Germanic peoples are well-known. ‘Mysterious’ Basque arrain ‘fish’9 might be simply a form related to Latin rana ‘frog’. Basque negu ‘winter’ of unknown origin10 : Proto-Indo-European *sniegwh- ‘snow’, e. g. Latin ninguit ‘it is snowing’. Basque uzta ‘harvest, July’ of unknown origin, ‘but why is July harvest time?’11 : Latin Augustus. Basque artz ‘bear’ might be a loan from Celtic art- ‘bear’ whereas Basque silhar, sildar ‘silver’ might be related to Celtiberian silabur ‘silver’ (synonym of arganto ‘silver’). 9 Without etymology: Yu. V. Zytsar (pers. comm.), L. Trask’s dictionary, J. Bengtson’s e-database. 10 https://web.archive.org/web/20140820130434/https://cryptm.org/~nort/linguistics/Basque%20etymology.p df 11 https://web.archive.org/web/20140820130434/https://cryptm.org/~nort/linguistics/Basque%20etymology.p df BASQUE AND ANCIENT NEAR EAST More of preserved Kassite words have Basque parallels. Basque and Sumerian share not only basic (including verbs) but also cultural lexicon. Basque-Hurrian similarities are not so wide but also include basic and cultural words. In contrast, Basque-Cassite parallels are only common ‘Sino-Caucasian’ Kassite The hypothesis might be more serious than one can think. Despite only two dozens of Kassite words are preserved12, several of them demonstrate clear similarities with Basque ones. Yu. V. Zytsar mentioned Basque buru ‘head’ : Kassite barhu ‘head’ (which, acc. to him, ‘speaks nothing’)13. But cf. also: Probable parallels