Most of the world’s 6500 languages are in danger of
extinction; Basque is one of them. A language unrelated to
any other in the world, Basque has about 660,000 speakers in
southwestern France and northern Spain, and tens of
thousands of speakers in the diaspora (especially
California, Idaho and Nevada). It is considered endangered
because most Basque speakers prefer another language for
everyday use, and many do not pass on the language to their
children; further, there are no longer any monolingual
speakers of Basque
Many endangered language communities attempt to ‘save’ their
language by teaching it in schools. However, such efforts
usually overlook the role other educative institutions (like
the religious) play in revitalizing (or jeopardizing)
languages. Specifically, my work on the Basque case shows
that religion can play a significant role in speakers’
language use and ideologies (how speakers understand the
meaning, function and values of languages). My archival
research shows that the loss of familiar address forms in
Basque can be attributed, in part, to the religious
identities linked to familiar and formal forms of address
between the 16th and 19th centuries. Throughout this
period, France—including its Basque-speaking regions- was
embroiled in religious conflicts between Catholics and
Protestants. Protestants attempted to win converts by
translating the New Testament in 1571, and a fragment of the
Old Testament around 1700; no Catholic version of the Bible
was published until 1865. Protestant texts used familiar
address forms with single addressees; Catholic texts used
formal address forms with single addressees, using familiar
forms sparingly and almost exclusively to show disdain. By
the end of the 18th century, Catholicism had won out over
Protestantism in France, thereby inscribing the familiar
address forms with a negative cast that contributed to their
loss over time. The loss of familiar forms is important,
given the central role they play in signaling authentic
Basque identity.
My ethnographic work among Basque immigrants also suggests
that the gendered nature of religious vocations has
contributed to the disuse of Basque by women over time. That
is, men have traditionally been able (and encouraged) to use
Basque in carrying out their vocations as priests and monks,
while women have not; most were confined to cloistered
convents where only Spanish or French were used. These
patterns parallel those in schools and the occupational
domain, where Basque is considered a language more
appropriate for the construction of masculine than feminine
identities.
By bringing religion to the forefront on the Basque case,
this research will inform revitalization efforts in hundreds
of other endangered language communities, including those in
India. To my knowledge, no research has examined how the
ideologies ascribed India’s thousand language varieties
intersect with those attributed its many religions, and how
those ideologies affect language use. Indeed, a literature
review I have conducted shows that research on endangered
languages pays scant attention to religion in any way. As
such, this research should make a significant contribution
to the field.
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