It happens to most of us often, even though we live in towns where Basque is widely spoken: the substitute doctor at our clinic asks us to speak in Spanish (the regular doctor speaks Basque, but is on sick leave); the police officer who stops us at a traffic checkpoint demands that we speak Spanish; the South American who...
Note to our international readers: Txiki and Otaegi were two members of ETA executed in 1975 by Franco’s fascist regime, a few months before the Dictator’s death.
Fifty years have passed since Txiki and Otaegi were executed by Franco's fascist regime. On this very special anniversary, tributes to the two Basque militants are proliferating throughout the Basque Country, and...
Definition of diversity
‘Diversity’ is a concept that is used more and more in our society. Nevertheless, what do we mean by ‘diversity’? Since there is no concrete definition of the term, we shall examine the positions and intentions, usually political, that lie behind the meaning of the word. First of all, we must make it clear that the term...
It is often said that if someone fools you once, it is their fault; but if the same person fools you more than once, the fault is not theirs, but yours, for being naive.
It has been years since the Spanish judges of the Basque Autonomous Community began issuing judgements against the Basque language. Since then, there have been quite...
DAVID VALLS
Linguist and Catalan teacher.
Abstract:
In this article, Catalan linguist David Valls analyses the data from the latest Catalan sociolinguistic survey, published at the beginning of 2025. These are worrying data, exhibiting a continuous decline in the use of Catalan. Mr. Valls analyses the causes and proposes solutions to reverse this situation.
Catalan is still the most widely used stateless language...
We have very often lamented in Naziogintza Taldea that the process of assimilation of our nation in Spain and France has accelerated considerably in recent years. This process of assimilation has many aspects: political, linguistic, cultural, sociological... In the Southern Basque Country, in particular, Spanish cultural references are also spreading to the most Basque-speaking and nationalist areas, which until...
JUAN INAZIO HARTSUAGA
Abstract:
The anthropologist and activist in favor of the Basque language Juan Inazio Hartsuaga makes two interesting proposals in this article to revitalize our language.
Mr. Hartsuaga states that bilingualism is the phase prior to the death of any minoritized language. Wherever bilingualism is introduced, history shows us that the minoritized language disappears within a maximum period of 200...
In an article published in the BERRIA newspaper (“Deriba erreakzionarioa geldiarazi”, (17-10-2024) (https://www.berria.eus/iritzia/artikuluak/deriba-erreakzionarioa-geldiarazi_2132090_102.html) the philosopher Andoni Olariaga referred to the link between migration and colonialism. In the article he mentioned, among other things: “Being People and persons living in the global North, and knowing that we are based on a model of life based on the exploitation of the global...
In the last few weeks, a cultural incident made its way to the news that took us aback. Albeit not new and isolated, sparked uproar in Basque cultural circles. The young athletes of the rowing society Orioko Arraunketa Elkartea, entrenched in the town of Orio, receive guidelines and advice in Spanish during their training sessions. Orio happens to be...
The relations of love and hate between countries are reflected in the admiration or rejection that certain political figures tend to acquire outside their borders. For example, President Vladimir Putin is viewed with respect in Belarus, where he is a friend and ally of the People of Russia. In Ukraine, on the other hand, he represents old Russian imperialism...
