Basque language, the oldest living language in Europe

Most linguists, experts and researchers say that #Euskara is the oldest European living language. Although its origins remain unknown, many renowned historians believe that it can be the direct descendant of the language spoken by the dwellers of the caves of Altamira, Ekain or Lascaux.

Basque language is currently spoken by more than 750,000 inhabitants of the Basque Country, a region that straddles the westernmost?Pyrenees?in adjacent parts of northern?Spain?and south-western?France. Many Basque men and women are bilingual. They chose to speak Euskera, but they are also proficient users of Spanish or French.

Basque is geographically surrounded by?Romance languages?but it is unrelated to them and to any other existing languages. Linguistically, Euskara is a?language isolate.

The mysterious origins of Euskara

The Basque language’s origins date back to the Neolithic, but it could be even older. Little is known of how this language was born, but it is likely that an early form of the Basque language existed before the arrival of the Indo-European languages in western Europe.

The first written evidence of Basque dates from the 1st Century BC. An archeological artifact know as "The hand of Irulegi" was uncovered in 2021.

Many centuries ago, Basque was spoken over a wide territory which stretched from the river Ebro to the south northwards to the banks of the Garonne and from the western Pyrenees as far as Catalonia. This territory was diminished due to invasions (by Celts, Romans, etc.). Since the XIX century, Euskara has lost half of its zone of influence.

The 20th Century

From 1939 to 1975, during Francisco Franco’s regime in Spain, the language and Basque culture were banned. Spanish dictator Franco enforced the use of Spanish and forbade other languages, including Euskara.

During this regime, Euskara was still spoken in isolated towns and farms in the Pyrenees Mountains and along the coast of the Bay of Biscay. In big cities, Basque language was silenced. Euskara speakers were reported to the police and some of them were taken to prison or forced to pay a fine.

However, people managed to preserve their customs and language over the 35 years long period. For example, in 1944 they established a secret school, ikastola.

After Franco died in 1975, Euskara started gaining popularity, especially among Basque nationalists. Some groups used it as a symbol against Franco's regime.

Euskara today

Despite the setbacks suffered throughout its history, Basque language is still alive in the Basque Country. Euskara Batua is nowadays used in publishing, media and education as well as in everyday spoken situations.