Editing Basques (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Barscunes transparent.png|thumb|right|Barscunes coin, Roman period]]

The English word ''Basque'' may be pronounced {{IPAc-en|b|ɑː|s|k}} or {{IPAc-en|b|æ|s|k}} and derives from the French ''Basque'' ({{IPA|fr|bask|lang}}), itself derived from [[Gascon language|Gascon]] ''Basco'' (pronounced {{IPA|oc|ˈbasku|}}), cognate with Spanish ''Vasco ''(pronounced {{IPA|es|ˈbasko|}}). Those, in turn, come from [[Latin]] ''Vascō'' (pronounced {{IPA|la|ˈwaskoː|}}; plural ''[[Vascones|Vascōnēs]]''—see [[#History|history section]] below). The Latin {{IPAslink|w}} generally [[betacism|evolved into]] the [[bilabial]]s {{IPAslink|b}} and {{IPAslink|β̞}} in Gascon and Spanish, probably under the influence of Basque and the related [[Aquitanian language|Aquitanian]] (the Latin /w/ instead evolved into {{IPAslink|v}} in [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]] and other [[Romance languages]]).

Several coins from the 2nd and the 1st centuries BC found in the Basque Country bear the inscription ''barscunes''. The place in which they were minted is not certain but is thought to be somewhere near [[Pamplona]], in the heartland of the area that historians believe was inhabited by the ''Vascones''. Some scholars have suggested a Celtic etymology based on ''bhar-s-'', meaning "summit", "point" or "leaves", according to which ''barscunes'' may have meant "the [[mountain people]]", "the tall ones" or "the proud ones", and others have posited a relationship to a [[Proto-Indo-European]] root ''*bar-'' meaning "border", "frontier", "march".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/130014?idi=en&clave=130014&op=4&primR=1&regs=10&EIKVOGEN=Barscunes&pos=4&epi=120849#mrc1 |title=Vascones – el nombre (Auñamendi Encyclopedia) |publisher=Euskomedia.org |access-date=2010-08-22 |archive-date=2010-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306152012/http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/130014?idi=en&clave=130014&op=4&primR=1&regs=10&EIKVOGEN=Barscunes&pos=4&epi=120849#mrc1 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In Basque, people call themselves the ''euskaldunak'', singular ''euskaldun'', formed from ''euskal-'' (i.e. "Basque (language)") and ''-dun'' (i.e. "one who has"); ''euskaldun'' literally means a Basque-speaker. Not all Basques are Basque-speakers. Therefore, the [[neologism]] ''euskotar'', plural ''euskotarrak'', was coined in the 19th century to mean a Basque person, whether Basque-speaking or not. Alfonso Irigoyen posits that the word ''euskara'' is derived from an ancient Basque verb ''enautsi'' "to say" (compare modern Basque ''esan'') and the suffix ''-(k)ara'' ("way (of doing something)"). Thus, ''euskara'' would mean literally "way of saying" or "way of speaking". One item of evidence in favour of that hypothesis is found in the Spanish book ''Compendio Historial'', written in 1571 by the Basque writer [[Esteban de Garibay]]. He records the name of the Basque language as ''enusquera''. That may, however, be a writing mistake.

In the 19th century, the Basque nationalist activist [[Sabino Arana]] posited an original root ''euzko'', which he thought came from ''eguzkiko'' ("of the sun", related to the assumption of an original [[solar deity|solar religion]]). On the basis of that putative root, Arana proposed the name [[Basque Country (greater region)|Euzkadi]] for an independent Basque nation, composed of seven Basque historical territories. Arana's neologism ''Euzkadi'' (in the regularized spelling ''Euskadi'') is still widely used in both Basque and Spanish since it is now the official name of the [[Autonomous Community]] of the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=de la Granja Sainz |first= José Luis |author2=Santiago de Pablo |author3=Coro Rubio Pobes |date=2011 |title=Breve historia de Euskadi : de los fueros a la autonomía |edition=1st |location=Madrid |publisher=Debate |isbn=978-84-9992-039-9 |oclc=947160667}}</ref>