Standard Basque - Reasons For Basing On The Central Dialect

Reasons For Basing On The Central Dialect

These are the reasons for basing the standardised Basque on the central dialect, the Gipuzkoan, according to Koldo Zuazo:

1. Linguistic reasons: the central dialect is the meeting point of all Basque-language speakers. The westernmost dialect – Biscayan—is strange for the speakers from other dialects; and the same occurs with the easternmost dialect—Zuberoan.
2. Demolinguistic reasons: the central area and the western area were in 1968—and still are—the zones where most Basque-language speakers live. Moreover, it was—and it is—in Gipuzkoa and the surrounding areas where the Basque language is strongest.
3. Sociolinguistic reasons: since the 18th century, the central dialect—and, more precisely, the Beterri sub-dialect—is the most prestigious one.
4. Economic and cultural reasons: Bilbao is certainly the most important Basque city, but it is not Basque-speaking. The same goes for Gasteiz, Iruñea, and Baiona-Angelu-Biarritz. So Gipuzkoa, the only Basque province with a multipolar structure—i.e. with no head city, all the province being a big city—is the main Basque-speaking city.

Koldo Zuazo (a Basque-language scholar, apologist of the use of Basque dialects, especially his own, the Biscayan) says that "taking all these characteristics into account, I think that it is fair and sensible having based the Euskara Batua on the central Basque dialect, and undoubtedly that is the reason of the Batua being so successful."