Basaburu Txikiko euskararen lekukoak (I) [Witnesses of Basaburu Txikia’s Basque speech (I)]

Abstract

This article deals with two authors connected through the region traditionally called Basaburu Txikia. They left written evidence of the Basque language during the 19th Century. One of them is Mariano Erbiti of whom we only knew his name, up until now. It is to him we owe thanks for a translation of a doctrine to the Beinza-Labayen dialect, which was in the hands of Louis Lucien Bonaparte. In the first part of this article we create a portrait of the prince’s assistant. The other author is a Dominican called Miguel Ignacio Armasa. He was, up until now, an unknown navarran author in the basque language. He wrote at least some sermons in that language which have been recently recovered. We will transcribe the oldest of these sermons as well as give a brief biography of the author.