The stone-age Basque language remains mystery to scientists

Deutsche Presse-Agentur ^ | 01 June 2006 | Sinikka Tarvainen

[Jeff Chandler]

old European societies were . . . matriarchal . . . life was remarkably peaceful.

Mutually exclusive conditions.

[BobS]

I spent some time in northern Spain and met some Basque people. Fine people that spoke in English to me- probably just to practice my own language. They live on some of the most fertile ground in Europe to grow things on. Very green veggies. Lambs that taste really good.

If I could do over now, I would live there and marry a wife that says screw the big cities, it's fine just exactly where we are right now.

[taxesareforever]

I am surprised that the scientists are "puzzled". They normally have an answer for everything. Not always correct but it is an answer.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

What's the cost of living like ?

[Thinkin' Gal]

Ping.

[thomaswest]

I am surprised that the scientists are "puzzled". They normally have an answer for everything. Not always correct but it is an answer.

Young earth creationist or 'intelligent design'?

[David Allen]

Apparently, that was before women had PMS.

[Jack Hammer]

Fascinating stuff - nice find!

[RoadTest]

"Why Euskera resisted the Indo-European and later Roman and other invasions and finally the onslaught of the Spanish language is also a mystery."

It's a fascinating subject.

If the Celtic dialects are known to linguists and relate to other languages, then this suggests that these people preceded the Celts in Europe, and perhaps were driven back into the district they're in now by the invading Celts.

[blam]

The Relationship Between The Basque And Ainu

"If the Celtic dialects are known to linguists and relate to other languages, then this suggests that these people preceded the Celts in Europe, and perhaps were driven back into the district they're in now by the invading Celts."

The Tocharian language A & B is an extinct European language that is most closely related to the ancient Celtic languages. The oldest paper ever found has Tocharian written on it and was found in China. Look to the east for answers.

It is suspected that the red-headed mummies found in the deserts of China spoke Tocharian.

[metmom]

bump for later read

[Cheburashka]

If the Celtic dialects are known to linguists and relate to other languages, then this suggests that these people preceded the Celts in Europe, and perhaps were driven back into the district they're in now by the invading Celts.
---
Celtic is a subfamily of the Indo-european languages, so that is pretty much what the article said.

[Eastbound]

"Shibumi" -- a Travanian tale of an assassin with strange talents who lives in the Basque region contains some interesting insights of the Basques.

[RayChuang88]

What is interesting is that many Basque people migrated to what is now northern Nevada state (of all things!) and turned that part of the state into a major sheep grazing area. From Reno east to Ely, the Basque influence is still there.

There used to be a lot of tensions between the ETA terrorists and the Spanish government but things have calmed down quite a bit now that the Basques in Spain have the type of autonomy that the Catalans enjoy in that country.

As for the origins of the Basque people, it's so baffling that some of the more far-out suggestions that they are the descendants of the Atlanteans when that continent sank ain't much more far-out than many of what anthropologists suggest nowadays.

[KarlInOhio]

old European societies were . . . matriarchal . . . life was remarkably peaceful.

Mutually exclusive conditions.

Are there 112 ways of saying "Yes, Dear" in their language?

[Hiddigeigei]

The Basque are thought to have been fishing American waters and salting their cod on the American mainland before Columbus.When Jacque Cartier "discovered' the mouth of the Saint Lawrence, he noted the presence of 1,000 Basque fishing vessels (Cod, by Mark Kurlansky, p. 29.).

[cryptical]

Young earth creationist or 'intelligent design'?

Why try to figure out where the language came from, it says in the Bible that it comes from the tower of Babel around 5000 years ago. Any other explanation is heresy, and the purveyor of that heresy should be burned at the stake.

[NCLaw441]

I lived in southern France, a town called Pau, in 1980-81. There is a large Basque presence there. The people were very friendly (which I think is more a function of small towns than being Basque). I heard some Basque spoken. I was able to speak French with them without the criticism I found in Paris and Bordeau. The French spoken there was slower and with a nasal character. Words like pain and vin were pronounced (roughly) as "pang" and "vang".

As for the women there, some were attractive enough, but very few caught my eye. This had more to do with hygiene than looks, though, as I recall.

[RightWhale]

An ice-cream shop has a sign saying 'izozkiak.'

Does that sound stone-age?