Basque Alphabet - List of Letters

List of Letters

The letters of the Basque alphabet are the 26 letters of the ISO basic Latin alphabet plus the ñ (and the ç, as a variant of the c).

This is the whole list, plus the IPA phonology:

Letter Basque name Pronounciation
A a /a/
B be /b/
C ze* (and its variant Ç ze hautsia*) /s/, /k/
D de /d/, /d̪/, /ð/
E e /e/
F efe /f/
G ge /g/, /ɣ/
H hatxe ∅, /h/
I i /i/, /i̭/
J jota /j/, /x/, /ʝ/, /ɟ/
K ka /k/
L ele /l/
M eme /m/
N ene /n/
Ñ eñe /ɲ/
O o /o/
P pe /p/
Q ku* /k/
R erre /r/, /ɾ/
S ese /s̺/
T te /t/, /t̪/
U u /u/, /u̯/
V uve* /b/, /β/
W uve bikoitza* /u̯/
X ixa /ʃ/
Y i grekoa* /i/, /i̭/
Z zeta /s̻/
* Although letters C, Ç, Q, V, W, and Y

are not used in writing traditional
Basque-language words, they were included
in the Basque alphabet for writing
words borrowed from other languages
that do use them.

All letters and digraphs represent unique phonemes. The main exception is when l or n are preceded by i, that in most dialects palatalizes their sound into /ʎ/ and /ɲ/, even if these are not written. Hence, Ikurriña can also be written Ikurrina without changing the sound, while the proper name Ainhoa requires the mute h to break the palatalization of the n.

H is mute in most regions, but in the Northeast is pronounced in many places, the main reason for its existence in the Basque alphabet. Its acceptance was a matter of contention during the standardization since the speakers of the most extended dialects had to learn where to place these h's, silent for them.

Read more about this topic:  Basque Alphabet

Famous quotes containing the words list of, list and/or letters:

    “Do your children view themselves as successes or failures? Are they being encouraged to be inquisitive or passive? Are they afraid to challenge authority and to question assumptions? Do they feel comfortable adapting to change? Are they easily discouraged if they cannot arrive at a solution to a problem? The answers to those questions will give you a better appraisal of their education than any list of courses, grades, or test scores.”
    —Lawrence Kutner (20th century)

    “I am opposed to writing about the private lives of living authors and psychoanalyzing them while they are alive. Criticism is getting all mixed up with a combination of the Junior F.B.I.- men, discards from Freud and Jung and a sort of Columnist peep- hole and missing laundry list school.... Every young English professor sees gold in them dirty sheets now. Imagine what they can do with the soiled sheets of four legal beds by the same writer and you can see why their tongues are slavering.”
    —Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)

    “This is the Night Mail crossing the Border,
    Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
    Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
    The shop at the corner, the girl next door.”
    —W.H. (Wystan Hugh)