Aquitanian language

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The Aquitanian language was spoken in ancient Aquitaine (approximately between the Pyrenees and the Garonne, the region later known as Gascony) before the Roman conquest and, probably much later, until the Early Middle Ages.

Archaeological, toponymical and historical evidence strongly suggest that it was a dialect or group of dialects of the Basque language. The most important of this is a series of votive and funerary texts in Latin which contain about four hundred personal names and seventy names of gods.

[edit] History

Aquitanian and Basque languages are most commonly considered nowadays to be a remnant of the Paleolithic languages spoken in Western Europe before the arrival of Neolithic colonists (5th millennium BCE) and the Indo-Europeans (c. 1300 BCE, Celts most probably).

Aquitanian origins may possibly be traced more or less directly to the Chalcolithic culture of Artenac.

For other more marginal theories see Basque language:Hypotheses on connections with other languages.

[edit] Relations with other languages

If the relationship with Basque is accepted, then the language would have no other known related languages. Many of the names on the inscriptions contain some elements that are without a doubt Basque:

The use of these words and elements in names in Medieval Basque is known well enough to conlude that there was a historical continuity between the pre-Roman era and the Middle Ages. However, some of the Aquitanian names have no modern equivalent and it seems that during the pre-Roman and Roman era, an ancient form of Basque was spoken in Aquitania.

[edit] Geographical extent

In red the pre-Indo-European tribes that might have spoken Aquitanian, Basque or other maybe related languages in the 1st century

Since ancient times there are clues that indicate the relation between Southwestern France and the Basques. During the Roman conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar, Aquitania was the territory between Garonne and the Pyrenees. Inhabited by a tribe of horsemen, Caesar said that they were very distinct in customs and language from the Celts of Gaul. During the Middle Ages, this territory was named Gascony, a name derived from Vasconia, and cognate with the word Basque.

There are many clues that indicate that Aquitanian was spoken in the Pyrenees, at least as far west as Val d'Aran. The placenames that end in -os, -osse, -ons, -ost and -oz are considered to be of Aquitanian origin.

To the south of the Pyrenees, the picture is less clear, as the historical record is scant. The Caristii, Varduli and Autrigones, who occupied the greater part of the region that is now the Western Basque Country have been claimed as either Basques or Celtic depending on who you read. Recent archaeological findings in Iruña-Veleia ^[1] have confirmed that Basque language was spoken in the area though.

Cantabrians are also mentioned as relatives of Aquitanians, as they sent troops to fight on their side against the Romans.

The Vascones, who occupied modern Navarra are usually identified with the Basques (Vascos in Spanish), their name being one of the most important proofs. In 1960, a stele with Aquitanian names was found in Lerga, which could reinforce the idea that Basques and Aquitanians were related.

[edit] See also

• Aquitani
• Gallia Aquitania
• Duchy of Vasconia
• Basque people
• Northern Basque Country
• Vasconic languages
• Pre-Indo-European
• Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula

[edit] External links

• Aquitanian Language by Jesús Rodríguez Ramos

[edit] References

• Trask, L.R. (1997) The History of Basque, London/New York ISBN 0-415-13116-2 [1]
• Michelena, L. (1954) De onomástica aquitana, in Pirineos 10, 409-458