Editing Basque language (section)

== Names of the language ==
{{See also|Basques#Etymology of the word Basque}}
In Basque, the name of the language is officially {{lang|eu|euskara}} (alongside various [[Basque dialects#Dialectal divergence|dialect]] forms).

In French, the language is normally called {{lang|fr|basque}}, though {{lang|eu|euskara}} has become common in recent times. Spanish has a greater variety of names for the language. Today, it is most commonly referred to as {{lang|es|vasco}}, {{lang|es|lengua vasca}}, or {{lang|es|euskera}}. Both terms, {{lang|es|vasco}} and {{lang|fr|basque}}, are inherited from the Latin [[ethnonym]] {{lang|la|[[Vascones]]}}, which in turn goes back to the Greek term {{lang|grc|Οὐάσκωνες}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|ouáskōnes}}), an [[ethnonym]] used by [[Strabo]] in his {{lang|la|[[Geographica]]}} (23 CE, Book III).<ref name=Trask>{{cite book |author-link=Larry Trask |last=Trask |first=R.L. |title=The History of Basque |publisher=[[Routledge]] |date=1997 |isbn=0-415-13116-2}}</ref>

The Spanish term {{lang|es|vascuence}}, derived from Latin {{lang|la|vasconĭce}},<ref>{{cite web |url=http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta?TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=vascuence |title=Diccionario de la lengua española |publisher=[[Real Academia Española]] |access-date=22 November 2008}}</ref> has acquired negative connotations over the centuries and is not well-liked amongst Basque speakers generally. Its use is documented at least as far back as the 14th century when a law passed in [[Huesca]] in 1349 stated that {{lang|osp|Item nuyl corridor nonsia usado que faga mercadería ninguna que compre nin venda entre ningunas personas, faulando en algaravia nin en abraych nin en '''basquenç''': et qui lo fara pague por coto XXX sol}}—essentially penalising the use of Arabic, Hebrew, or Basque in marketplaces with a fine of 30 [[solidus (coin)|sols]] (the equivalent of 30 sheep).<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Callaghan |first=J |title=A History of Medieval Spain |date=1983 |publisher=Cornell Press |isbn=978-0801492648}}</ref>