Gipuzkoan

Gipuzkoan is a dialect of the Basque language spoken in the Guipuzcoa (Basque: "Gipuzkoa") province of the Basque Country, Spain. It exists as a dual language status with Castilian (Spanish) in the region where it is spoken. Gipuzkoan vocabulary is used heavily in Batua, a standardised dialect of the Basque language used in teaching and the media.

The guipuzcoano or "gipuzkera" is a dialect from euskera, also known as central dialect, which is spoken in the central part of Guipúzcoa, as well than in Sakana and (Navarra).

Extension

The Gipuzkoan dialect is not spoken all over Guipúzcoa, but rather on the extent stretching from the River Deba to the River Oiartzun, the strip between Salinas de Leniz and Elgoibar belonging to the realm of the Bizkaian dialect, while the River Oiartzun and the River Bidasoa establish the limits for the tract where the High Navarrese dialect is spoken. However, the limit between Gipuzkoan and High Navarrese is gradually disappearing over Guipúzcoa, because the standard Euskera Batua has taken a broader space and established a foothold, little by little, among young Basques.

Guipuzcoan variants

Within the current "Guipuzcoan" spectrum there are mainly four sub-variants:

*The Beterri variant (from the area surrounding Tolosa zone, down until San Sebastián).
*The Goyerri variant.
*The Urola variant (from Zarauz to Motrico).
*Navarrese Guipuzcoan(Burunda, Echarri-Aranaz).

Relevance

The "guipuzcoano" has been one of the main historical dialects of basque, and it has been the literature language from the XVIII century towards. It has a notorial relation with the labortano and the higher-navarro.

ee also

*Euskaltzaindia, the Royal Academy of the Basque Language