El vascuence en Aoiz (siglo XVII)

Abstract

During the XVIIth century the population of Aoiz (Navarra), a village situated in the centre of the valley of Longuida and other Basque-speaking lands, was mainly bilingual. Vicars, doctors and the majority of the neighbourhood could speak the popular Basque which was considered the «natural» and «mother» tongue and was learned in the family. Spanish was learned at school where it was the official language.

Some neighbours and inhabitants, and their wives and servants from the surrounding villages were monolingual Basque speakers. As a result vicars were required to speak Basque, the language everybody in the village knew.