CHAP T ER II.
OF THE EUSKALT)TINES,' ABORIGINES OF THE ïSOTJiTH-WESTER^
PARTS OF EUROPE^-51
Section ”L A7umesWÊGenercil Survey—Sources of
Information.
I tjis well known that countries of considerable^extent •on
both sides of the Pyrenees, and On the^coast of thé gW of
Biscay, both in Spain and France, are inhabited‘^ p e o p l e
who constitute a particular race, and preserve among th'éiu2
selves an ancient language, termed by the French “ Basque,?'
and by the Spaniards “ Bascuence,” or “ Lengua Basdongada.&
These people call their^ national idiom “ Euskara, Eusquer-a^”
or “ Eskuara,” and' they give themselves the appellation of
Euskaldunac or Euskaldunes, which includes all. those who
possess or make use o f the Euskarian language.* - Faces who
speak foreign idioms have been called by them Erdaldunac, a
term which is said to have been bestowed on a ü other nations,
such as the Carthaginians, Romans, as well as the modern Castilians,
and to mean “ the newly arrived,” or those who are supposed
to have entered Spain at a later period than the Euskal-
dunac. They term the country which they inhabit Euskalerria
* Euskaldunac is said to be a contracted form-of Euskara-duna, plural, Euskara-
dunac, and to be derived from Euskara and dma to possess or use. The root
concealed in the word Euskara is Eusk, or Esk, which seems1 to be the,primitive
designation of the race. By Don Jose F. de Aizquebel, this name is derived from
Euski, which, as he says, means the East, or the Sun. Erdaldunac is said by the
same writer to mean ‘c Advenas." Erdara is an Euskarian name, derivedtirom Erdu,
to. come or arrive*
.©if Etmcpiererria-.* A (grammar of the Euskarian language was
fu ||is h e d as^hrly as 1607, in Mexico* for»’the use of the numerous
Biscayansmho.werli^ettled imthat^ country • the author
w ^B alth a sa r de iEiehabiei a> native-fof-Guipuscoa,' but this
idiom waS-veFy'di'ttlWk.nowh in* Eurdpepand there existed
in ihonlyhen wereichiefly sermons and
catechisms* until t h ^ w f e ^ r a t e d i i ' i n .^ » p u b l i s h e d
bi^'calibrated grammar, efetittedtf* Eiffn%bsible vencido>” or
Arte $eda Lengua^BaeclIpgadai” , T h e . same.,indefatigable
writer eoibpllld >a. diction®^ of the- Biscayan, Latin, and
Ga^tilidn,'w h ic h v^s?prifef|^at S t^ ^ b a stian ^b? 1745,t- and
the “ prelogo ” of which-is the lea’fliestilapGount .that deserves
n d ti& a ta h e Euskarian language randdtf|structure and relations.
/> By Larramendb. the knguagedwa^©^l|*Cantabric,
,an’i the people who©s.pt%Ji|it were«su.pp@sedr4o;be descend-
' huts ofHth^Caitabri, whoWddon|’VCsisted the a k # Rome.
This,-as M. de^umbol^hasibhsdrV^y. was^a mistake, brim
' part afrfjsfat of national vanity*1 >-The- Basque's-of France -
anddhe B i s c ^ a n s - o f S p a in >1^ , [with gm a rte i^ ^ jb d ity ^ h q
supposed^to have*desponded - f r o m ^ e ^ '^ c b b ^ and Varduii,
whosetfluntry theyj^ occupy, than from -thfji C% ^ b n , who
lived beyond them towards the w,e$iipm«e the time of Lar-
ramendi seVeral natives of Spain Imve-engaged in the attempt
to elucidate-the history of the Biscayan- idiomn lwhich they
have regarded a s fc 'a p c ie n td a h g u a g e o f their co u n try ^ but
* See extracts from Juan Bautista M W primitive de Espana, by
% . frying,,of;Bost(m, 1829.5 and WvVon,Humboldt,PrufungderUntei?uchungen
iMLbey die alten Bewohner Hispaniens. ' , b ^ ,
I + biccionario Trilingue del Castellano, Bascuence y Latin. Su autor El Padre
Maliiid de IimmmiMli, a» la Goiiipafflade Jems, dedicado a la-mrn noble m
, leal provincia de Gulpa-coa, *745, » »mo. in &U , Pliego, de las pdfecone.
de el Basquence. . _ _ _ ,,
+ The best known of these works are Astarloas « Apologia de la Lengua Bascon-
gada” and Erro’s “ Alfabetode la lengua primitiva,” and his « Mundo primitive.|
There are likewise several works in'the Spanish "language,- on the Biscayan and
Iberian antiquities, H w f t l l insctipbhs,: enmsj and oUoK monument of Spam,
of which the .most celebrated are those,of Velasquez, Zuniga, and Flores, who
Wrote on the Cdtiberian and Turdetan or Beetle coins, and inscriptions. The same
subject-was treated likewise by Jacob Barry, a Dutch consul, at Seville. Of
ilater date Is-the work'of Iztueta, on the ancient Usages,- Dances, and Games of
Guipuscoa.