Valdizarbe y el euskara en el siglo XVII

Abstract

In this article centring on the Valdizarbe area, the everyday life of its inhabitants in the XVII century is illustrated via a study of several judicial cases. The use of the Basque language is patent in the light of the testimonies of the local population. The different social classes living in the area at the time knew and used the language in their day-to-day activities. A good example of this is the Eguiarreta family; which formed part of the middle nobility, a family of certain social prestige and unaccustomed to working the land. A few brief paragraphs in Basque taken from the cases under study also appear in the article. These help understand the particularities of the local dialect and go some way towards clarifying the Basque name for the village of Puente la Reina