On continental Basque dialects and some aspects of their chronology

Abstract The aim of this study was to analyze the innovations of the Basque in the Salazar Valley, which is located in northeastern Navarre, and compare them with those of the Continental Basque Country in order to try to obtain chronological and geolinguistic information on the innovations of the wide eastern Basque Country. To achieve my purpose, I drew upon descriptions of the Basque dialect spoken in the Salazar Valley. This study analyzed texts dating from the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries from the Continental Basque Country as well as samples from the last two centuries from the Navarrese Pyrenees. The data collected from this region were examined with regard to the behavior of the isoglosses within the Continental Basque Country in earlier stages. I examined innovations with particular attention to what geographical diffusion model they showed and how far they spread. In addition, I analyzed what isogloss boundaries are recurrent and what innovations were transferred from the Pyrenees toward Navarre. I found that the Basque spoken in Lower Navarre has undergone change that has spread toward Labourd. Regarding contact with other dialects, it shares features with Labourdin to the west, and with Souletin to the east. On the assumption that Lower Navarre and Labourd have recently converged, a future hypothesis to test would be whether Lower Navarre merged with Soule in earlier stages.