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Reference.org
Origin of the Basques
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<p>The origin of the <a href="/facts/Basque_people/leFXJxBH">Basques</a> and the <a href="/facts/Basque_language/rEMpH97p">Basque language</a> is a controversial topic that has given rise to numerous hypotheses. <a href="/facts/Basque_language/rEMpH97p">Modern Basque</a>, a descendant or close relative of <a href="/facts/Aquitanian_language/nwkPSqmN">Aquitanian</a> and <a href="/facts/Proto-Basque_language/7c0mRb74">Proto-Basque</a>, is the only <a href="/facts/Pre-Indo-European_language/2dM0Ts17">pre-Indo-European language</a> that is extant in western Europe. The Basques have therefore long been supposed to be a remnant of a pre-Indo-European population of Europe. </p><p>The main hypotheses about the origin of the Basques are: </p> <ul><li>Native origin, the mainstream theory, according to which the Basque language would have developed over the millennia entirely between the north of the <a href="/facts/Iberian_Peninsula/ztFXI8zt">Iberian Peninsula</a> and the current south of <a href="/facts/France/CxIeIKM3">France</a>, without the possibility of finding any kind of relationship between the Basque language and other modern languages in other regions.</li> <li>Basque-Iberism theorizes the existence of a kinship between the Basque and the <a href="/facts/Iberian_language/vRQrW9PJ">Iberian language</a>, and therefore between their speakers.</li> <li>Caucasian origin theorizes that the Basque language and the <a href="/facts/Languages_of_the_Caucasus/GXBJ449t">languages of the Caucasus</a> may have a direct relation, explaining why they share some <a href="/facts/Linguistic_typology/B72Bumgm">linguistic typologies</a> absent in the <a href="/facts/Indo-European_languages/L34TfgSr">Indo-European languages</a>.</li></ul>