[Jim K]

Hi, Jack404,

I think you are confusing Basque with Catalán, which is spoken further east around Barcelona. Its roots are in Spanish and French and it does share words with Spanish. (American tourists are often confused or amused by Catalán references to a visit some years back by a Pope "Joan" - the Spanish Juan or English John is "Joan" in Catalán.)

Basque, on the other hand, has no known connections with any other language, ancient or modern. It is spoken primarily in Gipúzkoa province around Tolosa and Eibar. Geographically, the Basque country is in Spain and France, along the west end of the Pyrenees mountains. The French Basque region is also an arms making area; Hendaye is right in the middle, and Bayonne is just to the north.

If you are curious, Google "Basque" or "Eibar" and look at those mindboggling strings of mixed up consonants; that is Basque. Though most people in the area speak Spanish, there are few borrowings from that language, and Basque and Spanish speakers cannot even begin to understand each other.

[Edited to add:] In fact, in Basque, Basque isn't even called Basque, it is called Euskara.

BTW, we usually pronounce the name "Eibar" as "eye-bar"; it would more accurately be "ay-ee-bar", with the first syllable rhyming with "day" (as pronunced in U.S. English).

Jim