Events & Culture July 27, 2015
Kaixo! Agur! Is that Spanish, French...? No! You are hearing BASQUE! As I stepped off the train in San Sebastian, I thought I had arrived at the wrong place. I thought to myself, am I still in Spain?! What language is that sprawled across all the signs? Kaixo, Agur, Eskerrik-asko. Its not Spanish, French, nor any dialect of either, it’s Basque! Many people do not know that Spain has more than one official language. Other than Spanish, there is: Catalan that people know of from Barcelona, Gallego, from Galicia in the north and Basque, from right here in San Sebastian or, as the say in Basque, Donostia. Basque, also known as Euskera is one of the oldest languages known to man. About 1 million people speak it, within the area of only 3,900 square miles. Its origins are unknown, however it is said to somewhat resemble Gealic with, strangely enough