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'''Basque''' is a [[language]] spoken by approximately 1 million people the [[Basque country]] in [[France]] and [[Spain]].

'''Basque''' is a [[language]] spoken by approximately 1 million people the [[Basque country]] in [[France]] and [[Spain]].

It is unusual in being a language isolate not related to the surrounding [[Indo-European language]]s.

It is unusual in being a language isolate not related to the surrounding [[Indo-European language]]s.

In Basque, the [[subject and predicate|subject]] of an intransitive [[verb]] and the object of a transitive one are in the absolutive [[grammatical case|case]], while the subject of a transitive verb is marked with the ergative case. That is, Basque is an [[ergative versus accustive patterns|ergative language]]. In Basque, the language is called ''euskara'' (although dialect spellings exist, such as ''euskera''<ref>''Euskera'' entry in Euskaltzaindia's on-line dictionary [http://www.euskaltzaindia.eus/index.php?sarrera=euskera&testua=&gakoa=&option=com_hiztegianbilatu&view=frontpage&Itemid=410&lang=eu&bila=bai]</ref> and ''eskuara''<ref>''Eskuara'' entry in Euskaltzaindia's on-line dictionary[http://www.euskaltzaindia.eus/index.php?sarrera=eskuara&option=com_hiztegianbilatu&view=frontpage&Itemid=410&lang=eu&bila=bai]</ref>, '''''euskara''''' is the preferred variant).

In Basque, the [[subject and predicate|subject]] of an intransitive [[verb]] and the object of a transitive one are in the absolutive [[grammatical case|case]], while the subject of a transitive verb is marked with the ergative case. That is, Basque is an [[ergative versus accustive patterns|ergative language]]. In Basque, the language is called ''euskara'' (although dialect spellings exist, such as ''euskera''<ref>[http://www.euskaltzaindia.eus/index.php?sarrera=euskera&testua=&gakoa=&option=com_hiztegianbilatu&view=frontpage&Itemid=410&lang=eu&bila=bai ''Euskera'' entry in Euskaltzaindia's on-line dictionary]</ref> and ''eskuara'',<ref>[http://www.euskaltzaindia.eus/index.php?sarrera=eskuara&option=com_hiztegianbilatu&view=frontpage&Itemid=410&lang=eu&bila=bai ''Eskuara'' entry in Euskaltzaindia's on-line dictionary]</ref> '''''euskara''''' is the preferred variant).

The [[Royal Academy of the Basque Language]], ''Euskaltzaindia'', was founded in 1919 in order to research the language and to safeguard it. This Academy formulates rules for the normalisation of the language, thus promoting an academic standard (called ''euskara batua'', wich means unified Basque).

The [[Royal Academy of the Basque Language]], ''Euskaltzaindia'', was founded in 1919 in order to research the language and to safeguard it. This Academy formulates rules for the normalisation of the language, thus promoting an academic standard (called ''euskara batua'', wich means unified Basque).

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==External link==

==External links==

*[http://www.euskaltzaindia.eus/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4173:erakundearen-berri-en&catid=78:ren-berri&lang=en ''Euskaltzaindia'', Academy of the Basque Language].

*[http://www.euskaltzaindia.eus/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4173:erakundearen-berri-en&catid=78:ren-berri&lang=en ''Euskaltzaindia'', Academy of the Basque Language].