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Life
Answer to an article
Expert answers the article of the 'Wall Street Journal'
11/09/2007
The author of a translation dictionary from English to Basque answers the article published on Monday in the Wall Street Journal, related to the Euskera. The letter, defends Basque comparing it with many other languages.
Mikel Morris, author of a translation dictionary from English to Basque, answers the article written in the Wall Street Journal. The article, publishes on Monday, criticises Basque language and the fact that teachers in the Basque Country have to take a year off work to learn the language.
In the answer, Mr. Morris says "it is a shame that the author didn't contact expert people to write the article". The he also compares Basque language with other minor language or even how "every language creates neologisms when new concepts come up".
In what follows we reproduce the whole letter written by Mikel Morris, author of the translation dictionary from English to French Leading English-Basque dictionary, answering the article written by Mr. Johnson in the Wall Street Journal.
The letter
Dear Mr. Johnson, My name is Mikel Morris and am the author of the Leading English-Basque dictionary .
Thus, I feel that I am qualified to speak on this subject. It is a shame that you did not contact expert people who are actually familiar with languages in general and with Basque in particular. To begin with, Leopoldo Barreda is hardly an authority to have an informed opinion of Basque since he knows hardly any Basque (and I am skeptical as to whether he could get by in any other language other than Spanish). It is scientifically false to say that a language is more ancient than another and wholly inaccurate to say that a language such as Basque is little suited to modern life. Every bona fide linguist knows that any language can express any idea, especially when language planning has taken place.
I fail to understand what you mean by "newly minted" words such as aireportu, zientzia, demokrazia. Every language creates neologisms when new concepts come up. You should study the case of Icelandic or even French. Basque is no exception.
Your observation on shepherd is an example of gross ignorance of not Only Basque but of English as well. The origin of the word shepherd is sceaphierde, (From Old English) from sceap "sheep" + hierde "herder," from heord "a herd" ( Cf. M.L.G., M.Du. schaphirde, M.H.G. schafhirte, Ger. dial. schafhirt.) The Webster dictionary defines "shepherd" as "1 : a person who tends sheep" Thus, you probably meant "herder" or "drover" rather than "shepherd", but then again that term is too general in English and is usually combined with the animal being driven.
You mention that Basque numbers have no relationship to Indo-European And that would seem to be a disadvantage. Are European children in Finland, Hungary, Estonia and Turkey at an equal disadvantage? I think not. Finns pray to "Jumala", is that bad or equally as bad as "Jainkoa"? Why?
I am especially amazed at Joseba Arregi (who writes his surname as Arregi not Arregui as you write it though you could have written it as Arregy to make it more palatable to an English-speaking readership;-)). If you quoted him correctly, he has turned full circle in what he had been working for when he basked in power in the PNV. He helped me with my own dictionary project.
As for statistics, I fail to see where you got the figure 450,000,000 speakers for Spanish. Are you including Anglos who speak "Taco Bell" English in the States? German tourists who can order a beer in pidgin Spanish in the Costa Brava? George Bush? Indians in Guatemala who can barely utter a sentence in intelligible Spanish? An authoritative estimate from the Ethnologue Survey (SIL) gave a figure of 332,000,000 in 1999. Has Spanish acquired an extra 120,000,000 since 1999? If so, that is truly amazing but hardly plausible.
Finally, we get to the crux of the problem: is Basque an official language? If so, it should be equal in every way to Spanish. If not, that should be so stated and either be accepted as a fact or changed. Swedish is still official in Finland even though a small minority actually uses it as their mother tongue. I can hardly feel sorry for Spanish-speaking teachers who refused to learn Basque before. I myself, a native speaker of English, was able to give classes in Basque and Spanish at a High School.
It is a shame that you won't answer me but at least you are confronted With some facts and questions. Although I understand your rabidly pro-Spanish leanings, you should, in the name of good journalism, get your facts straight and talk to competent people who know something about languages.
Sincerely Yours
Mikel Morris
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