Basque
Euskara
Basque is an isolate: no relationship to any other language in the world has ever been demonstrated, despite centuries of attempts. It was already spoken in the Pyrenees before the Romans arrived, making it the only pre-Indo-European language of western Europe to have survived. Its grammar works on an ergative principle, which treats the subject of a verb differently depending on whether it takes an object.
- Family
- Language isolate
- Script
- Latin
- Speakers
- ≈ 750,000
- Where
- Basque Country (Spain and France)
- In the game
- Rare language
How to spot it
An isolate with no known relatives. Lots of k, tx, tz, and words ending in -ak, -tik, -rekin.
A few sentences
-
Goizero oinez joaten naiz mendira.
Every morning I walk up into the mountains.
-
Kotxea konpondu behar dut.
I need to get the car repaired.
-
Giltzak ahaztu ditut.
I have forgotten the keys.
-
Gaur asko euria egin du.
It has rained a lot today.
-
Gaur merkatura joango naiz.
I am going to the market today.