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Center for Basque Studies Basque Classics Series, No. 4 Koldo Mitxelena: Selected Writings of a Basque Scholar Compiled and with an Introduction by Pello Salaburu Translated by Linda White and M. Dean Johnson Center for Basque Studies University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada This book was published with generous financial support obtained by the Association of Friends of the Center for Basque Studies from the Provincial Government of Bizkaia. Basque Classics Series, No. 4 Series Editors: William A. Douglass, Gregorio Monreal, and Pello Salaburu Center for Basque Studies University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada 89557 http://basque.unr.edu Copyright © 2008 by the Center for Basque Studies All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Cover and series design © 2008 by Jose Luis Agote. Cover illustration: Sketch of Koldo Mitxelena by Antonio Valverde, “Ayalde,” courtesy the Mitxelena family. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Michelena, Luis. [Selections. English. 2008] Koldo Mitxelena : selected writings of a Basque scholar / compiled and with an introduction by Pello Salaburu ; translated by Linda White and M. Dean Johnson. p. cm. -- (Basque classics series ; no. 4) Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: “This work brings together a number of texts by Koldo Mitxelena concerning the Basque language--a non-Indo-European language of unknown origins--and its history and literature. Includes text of his unification proposal that made “unified Basque” possible”--Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-1-877802-80-5 (hardcover) -- ISBN 978-1-877802-81-2 (pbk.) 1. Basque philology. 2. Basque language--History. 3. Basque literature--History and criticism. I. Salaburu Etxeberria, Pello. II. University of Nevada, Reno. Center for Basque Studies. III. Title. IV. Title: Selected writings of a Basque scholar. V. Series. PH5024.M4913 2008 499’.92--dc22 2008044218 The Center for Basque Studies wishes to gratefully acknowledge the generous financial support of the Bizkaiko Foru Aldundia / Provincial Government of Bizkaia for the publication of this book. Koldo Mitxelena: Selected Writings of a Basque Scholar Table of Contents Mitxelena’s Life and Legacy – An Introduction by Pello Salaburu ............................................ 11 Editor’s Note and Glossary ..................................... 33 1. The Basque Language ...................................... 45 Basques and Their Language ............................ 46 On the Question of Names .............................. 47 Scientific Interest of Basque ............................. 49 Borders ................................................. 52 The Antiquity of Basque ................................ 54 Basque Structure ........................................ 56 Ergative Constructions .................................. 59 The Basque Verb ........................................ 60 Basque Dialects ......................................... 62 Bonaparte’s Classification ............................... 65 Kinship with Other Languages .......................... 67 By Way of Epilogue ..................................... 72 2. Basques and Their Name ................................... 85 3. Romanization and the Basque Language .................... 111 4. History and Prehistory of the Language..................... 125 5. Relatives of the Basque Language ........................... 135 6. The Ancient Consonant System and Aspiration in Basque ... 157 7. About Basque Phonetics. The Distribution of Aspirated and Unaspirated Occlusives ...................... 181 8. General Characteristics of Literature in the Basque Language ....................................... 191 9. Foundations for a History of Basque Literature ............. 211 10. History of Basque Literature – Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries ...................................... 227 11. Orthography............................................... 253 12. From Arantzazu to Bergara ................................. 273 13. Standardization of the Written Form of a Language: The Basque Case ........................................... 283 14. Common Language and Basque Dialects .................... 301 15. Basque Vocabulary (Essay about an Interpretation of the Basque Language) ...................................... 327 Abbreviations for journals and books used in Mitxelena’s text . 333 Notes .......................................................... 335 Selected Bibliography ........................................... 361 Index .......................................................... 365 Mitxelena’s Life and Legacy An Introduction by Pello Salaburu Koldo Mitxelena1 was and remains one of the most important and pro- ductive intellectuals in Basque history. Even today, twenty years after his death, his writings are still considered standard references for anyone concerned with the Basque language in the broadest sense that this term can have. Mitxelena’s solid academic background, his erudition, his sin- gular intellectual prowess, gained him many friends and admirers—and also, of course, a number of enemies. He never shrank from publicly expressing his opinion on a wide range of issues, particularly on matters internal to the Basque language, on which he was our most outstanding authority, but also on matters peripheral to Basque (practical usage pro- posals, for instance), and on much more general questions of a cultural or political nature. Thanks to Koldo Mitxelena, to his total dedication and vast intellectual contributions, Basque language studies eventually took a giant step forward and moved into their rightful place as a profes- sional field of academic research. Mitxelena’s proposals were also cru- cial for the development of euskara batua, or unified literary Basque, which was to become the much-needed standard for this ancient lan- guage. These two contributions—his rigorous analysis and intellectual authorship of the standardization of the language—were vital not only for our knowledge and understanding of Basque, but also for bringing it to the forefront in education and the mass media in the Basque Country today. Life Koldo Mitxelena was born in Rentería (province of Gipuzkoa, in the Spanish Basque Country) in 1915. He died in San Sebastián in 1987. As 12 Koldo Mitxelena: Selected Writings of a Basque Scholar we shall see, his life was far from monotonous, for personal as well as political reasons. Mitxelena was brought up in a Basque nationalist household, and the influence of nationalism colored the rest of his life. It should be remembered that unlike other countries, where classical European schools of thought (Libertarianism, Socialism, Communism, right-wing ideologies, etc.) dominated the political scene, twentieth-century Spain saw Catalan and Basque nationalist movements also playing decisive roles. Indeed, they were crucially important when it came to formulat- ing the current Spanish state, and remain so for anyone trying to under- stand Spain today. In the Basque Country,2 nationalism has always been present in public life, but ever since the death of General Franco (1975) and the subsequent end of the dictatorship, its role has been particu- larly apparent. Indeed, since the return to democracy in the early 1980s, the Basque Nationalist Party has uninterruptedly governed, alone or in coalition, the autonomous region of Euskadi. The Basque president, or lehendakari, has always been a nationalist. In elections held during these years, over half the population of Euskadi has consistently voted for one of the three nationalist parties: the large Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), founded in 1895; the smaller Eusko Alkartasuna (EA), formed by a group that split from the PNV in 1986; and a party that has had several names (from Herri Batasuna to Batasuna) and traits, according to the needs of the moment. This self-defined “left-wing nationalist” party was formed after the death of Franco as a coalition of various small, radical parties and has carried a great deal of weight in Basque political life—much more than warranted by the percentage of votes obtained (approximately 10 to 18 percent in Euskadi). The main diference between these three nationalist options is that the first two are democratic, while the third is always considered the political arm of the terrorist group ETA. For this reason, it was out- lawed several years ago, although its leaders still command a great deal of attention from the news media. So as we were saying, Mitxelena was born to nationalist parents who lived in a small coastal town of some 5,000 inhabitants. His father, nicknamed Xexteroa (basket-weaver) by the villagers, was an artisan who made baskets in the basement of the family home in the upper part of town. It was in this house that Koldo was confined for three long years of his childhood, due to a tumor in his leg. Until he was eight years old, he had to content himself with watching life from the window and Mitxelena’s Life and Legacy 13 never went out to play. Consequently, he took refuge in reading. One of the few magazines available at the time in Basque (Zeruko argia, later entitled Argia and still published today) became his companion, as did the novels of Jules Verne and Emilio Salgari, which he read voraciously in Spanish.3 Thanks to his illness, Mitxelena advanced far beyond his years and was put ahead of his class when he finally returned to school. Until the age of twenty, his time was confined mostly to work at home and family life, which brought him into contact with ELA, the Basque nationalist