V. 10 N. 2 (2008): Ile, îlot, presque-île
Linguistica

Islas lingüísticas dentro del dominio español: El caso del vasco y del náhuatl

Ingrid Petkova
Universidad Eötvös Loránd

Pubblicato 01-12-2008

Parole chiave

  • Basque,
  • Nahuatl,
  • Spanish,
  • minority,
  • linguistic island

Come citare

Petkova, I. (2008). Islas lingüísticas dentro del dominio español: El caso del vasco y del náhuatl. Verbum – Analecta Neolatina, 10(2), 351–364. https://doi.org/10.1556/Verb.10.2008.2.5

Abstract

Basque and Nahuatl are special in that they form certain kinds of islands in the Spanish-speaking world. Both languages differ fromSpanish: Basque is not an Indo-European language, its origin is unknown; Nahuatl belongs to the Uto-Aztec language family. Basque is an agglutinating, whereas Nahuatl is an incorporating language. Both live in a close coexistence with Spanish, which is one of the most common spoken languages in the world. In spite of this co-existence with the dominant Spanish language and culture for centuries, Basque- and Nahuatl-speaking minorities have preserved their identity and vitality. This paper intends to give a brief overview of Basque and Nahuatl, linguistic policy, as well as literature in these two languages.