Volume 2005, Issue 174

This issue of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language is devoted to Euskara (the Basque language) in order to take stock of its current social situation. It has the same aim as the chapter on Euskara (Azurmendi et al. 2001) included in the publication Can Threatened Languages be Saved? (Fishman 2001a). At that time we were writing from a perspective that depended more on the Reversing Language Shift (RLS) theoretical-empirical model propounded by Fishman (1991), now from a freer perspective. We are deeply grateful to Joshua A. Fishman for providing us with this new opportunity through this prestigious journal which he directs and edits, to show the recent evolution and current situation of Euskara to the fields of the sociology of language, of languages and of sociolinguistics in general. It is not the first time that we have to express our gratitude to him and we trust that it will not be the last.

This article is a general presentation of the policy carried out by the Basque Government for the promotion of the Basque language in the BAC. It introduces the General Plan for Promoting Basque Language Use, its effects and challenges. In short, this plan is a strategic plan for continuous advancement in language normalization. Its principle objective is to decide on and promote the language policy measures necessary to guarantee that those wishing to conduct their lives in Basque are able to do so.

This article deals with the sociolinguistic situation of the status of the Basque language in the territories of Navarre and Iparralde (the Northern Basque Country), which in one of the cases is partly due to the restrictive linguistic policy pursued by the Government of Navarre, and in the other case to the absence of a specific linguistic policy in Iparralde.

The basic objective of this article is to carry out a study of the current sociolinguistic situation in the Basque Country from the point of view of language skills (language competence, first language, language use, interest in and attitudes), not only from a synchronic point of view, but also from a diachronic perspective.

This article describes and evaluates language planning for Basque in the educational sphere, both for literacy, maintenance or cultivation in the case of L1 speakers and for acquisition by L2 speakers. The main focus is the primary and secondary educational system in the Basque Autonomous Community, which involves larger pupil numbers and greater change in language use than in other educational sectors and other Basque speaking areas.

As we look back in history it is always possible to come across a speaker who has in adulthood learnt Basque as a second language. Nevertheless, the teaching of Basque to adults as we know it today is a fairly recent phenomenon, which has developed over the past three decades. This article offers an overview of the adult Basquization and literacy program in the BAC—Basque Autonomous Community (of Araba, Biscay, and Gipuzkoa) — without forgetting that this phenomenon also exists in Navarre and in the Northern Basque Country, under French jurisdiction.

After reviewing some major features of the present Basque initiative to reverse language shift, this paper lists the principal routes open to language policy makers in the Basque Country. An attempt is made to formulate a sustainable discourse on language coexistence and Basque language survival based on recognition of the Basque speech community alongside users of other languages, on a revision of some arguments commonly used by both supporters and detractors of the Basque language maintenance initiative and on the establishment of a number of principles to guide future policy development. This is complemented by a rereading of the RLS model.

Maria-Jose Azurmendi BAT. Soziolinguistika Aldizkaria 43: Kale erabileraren IV. Neurketa, 2001 [IV Evaluation of street use, 2001] Iñaki Martínez de Luna Euskararen Jarraipena III. Euskal Herriko Soziolinguistikako Inkesta [The continuity of Basque III. Sociolinguistic survey of the Basque Country], by Hizkuntza Politikarako Sailburuordetza Iñaki Martínez de Luna Hacia una Socio-Lingüística Matemática [ Toward mathematical sociolinguistics], by J. L. Alvarez Enparantza

This paper deals with multilingualism and with the role that language policy plays in the maintenance (or disruption) of linguistic diversity. Focus is on today’s Italy and on the interplay between the actual complexity of multilingual repertoires diffused on the territory and the practical problems originated by the recent law in defense of minority languages. Particular attention will be paid to the issue of the standard and of newly elaborated languages. A series of case studies are introduced to represent the different patterns of language coexistence and language endangerment that can be found in the country.