2023-11-09 19:13:38
Thursday, November 9, 2023, 6:13 p.m.
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Kepa Diegez has collected words about the weather in the book ‘Eguraldi Basque’ (Alberdania). The author presents a journey through the Basque Country, taking the reader from town to town to discover the ‘aroitzak’, that is, words about the weather, used in daily conversations.
Diegez has prepared numerous researches, articles, books and lectures related to the weather, and this time he presented this “narrative essay”, which aims to show, explain and teach. “We linguists often write for experts, but we lack publicity”, he admits. But it is also a novel, because there is a protagonist, a time traveller, who talks to citizens and experts. “There is an internal story, and the knot will be released in the last episode,” he said.
In this journey through the ages, the reader will encounter some languages created by the mind of the author: arotitz, a word related to the weather; arotiztegi, weather dictionary; Aroterri, the town of the Era, the Basque Country, finally; ostagi, atmospheric phenomenon, invented by Azku, not used today, but encouraged by the author.
In the lexicon of the weather, Diegez has included about a thousand words used in the vernacular, which are listed in an index at the end of the book. It is also determined how these words are written in united Basque, as well as in which countries they are used. In total, the language of 96 villages is included, with a section dedicated to each village. In this way, the reader has the opportunity to go directly to a town or region to learn which languages are used,
Wind guide
The age walker will cross all the countries of the Basque Country, starting with Getxo, the town of Bizkaia that still preserves the original language, located in the westernmost part, and ending in Eskiula, a Basque-speaking town outside the Basque Country, on the Biarno side. It is a “winding journey” that does not follow a specific order, “the wind takes the age traveler from one place to another, all kinds of winds, north, south, west and east”, explains the author, because many words about the weather are related to the wind.
The protagonist will use numerous meeting places to engage with citizens and experts in the words of the era: cultural centers, town halls, Basque language schools, Basque associations, bars, churches or parks. And fictional and real people will appear in his journey. “I was with Anjel Lertxundi in Zarau and I received what he said”, explained the author.
The editor Jorge Giménez Bech believes that it is a “rich book”. “It tells a lot about the Basque language and the vitality of the Basque language.” At a time when there is “a lot of talk” about the usefulness of Basque, he recalled that Basque is a “community of speakers”, “and we often forget that”. The editor emphasized that the book contains this.
In fact, Kepa Diegez also mentions the collective feeling in this work, since “the community must approve this word, it must inevitably share it”. These words collected in the book are accepted by the community, they have not been lost, but he has admitted that many are “sleeping”, hence the importance of this work, to make it known. “Some words are used by local elders, but not by young people, because they have been shown to say it in a different way.” However, he also mentioned that this happens in many languages.
Author
Kepa Diegez (Bilbo, 1960) has a degree in Information Sciences and Basque Philology, and a PhD in Linguistics and Basque Studies (EHU). He has prepared many weather-related researches, articles, books and lectures; among others: the communication ‘Basics and components for making a Basque dictionary about ethnometeorology’ (15th Conference of Euskaltzaindia, 2001); Weather and culture among Basques (Gaiak, 2008); ‘Analysis of the Basque meteorological lexicon’ (UZTARO 120, 2022) and ‘Analysis of the Basque meteorological lexicon: culture and cognition’ (ASJU, 271, 2022). In the field of work, since 1985 he has been teaching in various schools, faculties and Basque schools, always in the field of Basque.
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