Bizkaiera
| Biscayan | |
|---|---|
| Western Dialect | |
| Bizkaiera | |
| Pronunciation | /biskɑːiɑːn/ |
| Native to | Spain |
| Region | Biscay, into Álava and Gipuzkoa |
|
Native speakers
|
247.000 (2001) |
|
Basque
|
|
| Dialects | Western, Eastern, Alavese (extinct) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog |
bisc1236 (Biscayan)aval1237 (Alavan)
|
Biscayan
|
|
Biscayan, sometimes Bizkaian (Basque: Bizkaiera, Spanish: Vizcaino) is a dialect of the Basque language spoken mainly in Biscay, one of the provinces of the Basque Country of Spain.
It is named as Western in the Basque dialects' classification drawn up by linguist Koldo Zuazo, since it is not only spoken in Biscay but also extends slightly into the northern fringes of Alava and deeper in the western part of Gipuzkoa. The dialect's territory bears great similarity to that of the Caristii tribe, as described by Roman authors.
While it is treated as stylish to write in Biscayan and the dialect is still spoken generally in about half of Biscay and some other municipalities, it suffers from the double pressure of Unified Basque and Spanish.
Biscayan was used by Sabino Arana and his early Basque nationalist followers as one of the signs of Basqueness.
In the words of Georges Lacombe, because of the special features of this dialect, Euskera could well be divided into two groups of dialects: Biscayan and the rest. He argued that this dialect was so different from the rest, that the isoglosses separating it from the adjacent dialects (Gipuzkoan or central) are so close to each other that form a clear line; that is, the phonetic-phonological, morphosyntactic and lexical features of Biscayan coincide geographically to the point of creating a distinctively clear and defined dialectical border.
...
Wikipedia