Advances in Proto-Basque Reconstruction with Evidence for the Proto-Indo-European-Euskarian Hypothesis

This comprehensive volume offers a new perspective on Proto-Basque, detailing its connections to Proto-Indo-European and revealing significant sound correspondences.

This book presents a groundbreaking reconstruction of Proto-Basque, emphasizing previously overlooked sound alternations and asymmetries in sound distribution. By utilizing the comparative method, it reveals significant sound correspondences in basic vocabulary between Proto-Basque and Proto-Indo-European. This approach not only sheds light on the linguistic connections between these two ancient languages but also enriches our understanding of the evolution of modern Basque varieties, historical Basque, and Aquitanian.

Advances in Proto-Basque Reconstruction with Evidence for the Proto-Indo-European-Euskarian Hypothesis builds on a long-standing tradition of Basque scholarship, employing both the comparative method and internal reconstruction. It is grounded in the phonetic principles of sound change and phonological typology, leading to a radically new perspective on the proto-language. The findings illustrate previously unrecognized patterns in Basque sound systems, enhancing our comprehension of its historical development.

The book not only supports the idea of a distant genetic relationship between Proto-Basque and Proto-Indo-European but also provides valuable insights into the unique linguistic characteristics of both languages. With a detailed appendix featuring Proto-Basque/Proto-Indo-European cognate sets, this comprehensive volume will engage linguists, archaeologists, historians, and geneticists, while particularly appealing to scholars specializing in historical linguistics, phonetics, phonology, language change, and the studies of Basque and Indo-European languages.