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Standard Basque () is a standardised version of the Basque language, developed by the Euskaltzaindia in the late 1960s, which nowadays is the most widely and commonly spoken Basque-language version throughout the Basque Country. Heavily based on the literary tradition of the central areas (Gipuzkoan and Lapurdian dialects), it is the version of the language that is commonly used in education at all levels, from elementary school to university, on television and radio, and in the vast majority of all written production in Basque.
It is also used in common parlance by new speakers that have not learnt any local dialect, especially in the cities, whereas in the countryside, with more elderly speakers, people remain attached to the natural dialects to a higher degree, especially in informal situations; i.e. Basque traditional dialects are still used in the situations where they always were used (native Basque speakers speaking in informal situations), while batua has conquered new fields for the Basque language: the formal situations (where Basque was seldom used, apart from religion) and a lot of new speakers that otherwise would not have learned Basque.
Euskara batua enjoys official language status in Spain (in the whole Basque Autonomous Community and in the northern sections of Navarre) but remains unrecognised as an official language in France, the only language officially recognised by that country being French language.
The 1968 Arantzazu Congress took place in the sanctuary of Arantzazu, a shrine perched in the highlands of Gipuzkoa and a dynamic Basque cultural focus, where the basic guidelines were laid down for achieving that objective in a systematic way (lexicon, morphology, declension and spelling). A further step was taken in 1973 with a proposal to establish a standard conjugation.
The debate arising from this new set of standard language rules (1968–1976) did not prevent Standard Basque from becoming increasingly accepted as the Basque standard language in teaching, the media, and administration (1976–1983), within the context of burgeoning regional government (Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country, 1979; Improvement of the Charter of Navarre, 1982).
Koldo Zuazo (a scholar and supporter of Basque dialects, especially his own, Biscayan) said 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".
The most widely used ISO 639-2 code is the EU code that always refers to standard Basque. ISO 639-3 code is EUS. The Eu-ES and Eu-FR codes have also been used, but the standard Basque used in Spain and France forms just one language, and most software translators prefer the EU code.
Currently the standard form of the language is widely used in education. In the Basque Autonomous Community and in the north of peninsular Navarre, Standard Basque is the most widely used working language. In the French Basque Country, Basque is used in several and in one lyceum, but its use lags far behind French language, the only official language of France.
Nowadays all school materials and all the written productions of teachers and students are always written in the standard form of Basque.
Different university studies are currently offered in (standard) Basque at some universities in Spain, France and the USA. The Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning, (2007). ISSN: 1570 – 1239.
All of those advantages have been widely recognised and so have been used by Badihardugu, an organisation supporting the traditional dialects. "Euskalkien Aldeko Agiria" ("Document in favor of Basque Dialects"), from the Badihardugu website. Retrieved 2010-11-25.
Research by the Euskaltzaindia shows that Basque is growing most in the areas where euskara batua has been introduced and taught in preference of local dialects. Indeed, this has permitted a revival in the speaking of Basque, since many of the current elder generations cannot speak the language in part due to the suppression of public use during most of Francisco Franco's dictatorship.
Another point of contention was the spelling of ⟨h⟩. Northeastern dialects pronounce it as an aspiration while the rest do not use it. Standard Basque requires it in writing but allows a silent pronunciation. Opponents complained that many speakers would have to relearn their vocabulary by rote.
Federico Krutwig also promoted the creation of an alternative literary dialect, this time based on the Renaissance Lapurdian used by Joanes Leizarraga, the first translator of the Protestant Bible. It also featured an etymology orthography.
The mainstream opinion accepts the batua variant because of the benefits it has brought:
On the other hand, some Basque authors or translators such as Matías Múgica characterize batua works as a mere pidgin with a severe loss of spontaneity and linguistic quality over the traditional dialects.
The following dialects were the pre- batua Basque and make up the colloquial or casual register of Basque, the euskara batua being the formal one. They were created in the Middle Ages from a previously quite unified Basque language and diverged from each other since then because of the administrative and political division that happened in the Basque Country.
They are spoken in the Spanish and French Basque regions. Standard Basque was then created using Gipuzkoan as a basis, also bringing scattered elements from the other dialects. They are typically used in the region after which they are named, but have many linguistic similarities.
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