# Latin was ripped off from Basque. Deliberately. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 17, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381 "2009-07-17T20:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/1 "2009-07-17T20:47:43Z")
[Edo Nyland is a certifiable kook or a great comedian](http://www.islandnet.com/~nyland/latin.htm): > [@](#): > > Students are taught in school that Basque is mostly borrowed and distorted Latin. The following examination of the words does not bear this out. Instead, it is clear from the following decodings of words that Latin is almost totally formulaically manipulated Basque, which stands to reason because Basque is a far older language (see Old Egyptian). So… the tribesmen around the River Tiber consciously developed their own language by ripping off Basque but deliberately hiding [del]all[/del] _almost_ all traces because… they hated linguists? They thought historical linguistics was the Devil’s work? Oh, and he has some great little decodings of Latin words. It was not a peaceful process: > [@](#): > > As many Latin words are quite long, the detailed notation is used here for clarity. All Basque words are shown in italics. The meaning of the name “Latin” is interesting because it tells us that everybody had to memorize the invented words, whether they liked it or not: > > Latin, .la-ati-in. > .la ela _ela_ word > ati ati _atxiki gogoz_ to memorize > in. ino _inornahi_ everybody > “Everybody memorize the words” > [@](#): > > attingo (to touch) at. - .ti - in. - .go > at. ate _atezatu_ to stretch out > .ti eti _etikoa_ ethical > ine ine _inertzia_ relaxing > .go ego _egoski_ to nurse > “Stretch out for ethical and relaxing nursing.” > [@](#): > > haruspa (sooth sayer) .ha - aru - us. - .pa > ha ha _haurresan_ prediction > aru aru _arrunki_ simply > us. usa _usain hartu_ to suspect > .pa apa _apaindu_ to make up > “Her prediction, I suspect, she simply made it up.” He doesn’t stop with Latin. [The Greeks were also jealous of those damned Basques and had to get in on the hot linguistic isolate action!](http://www.islandnet.com/~nyland/greek.htm) But, you know, _secretly_. Or their catamites would have laughed at them. > [@](#): > > In my article on the Scottish Ogam inscriptions, I explained how they were agglutinated from the first syllables of Basque words. It was clear that this was done by people very knowledgeable of the Basque language. Almost exactly the same process can be detected in most Greek words. It appears that the main instruction given to the linguists, who made up the Greek vocabulary, was that the substratum Basque word should not be recognizable in the newly created words. [The Jews, never one to pass up a deal, made Basque their bitch even more than most groups](http://www.islandnet.com/~nyland/yiddish.html): > [@](#): > > The inventors of the Romance languages and English used mostly that half of the Basque language which begins with vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV and VCCV), but the linguists making up Yiddish used the entire Basque vocabulary (CV and VC words), which allowed much more flexibility in word invention. Vowel-linking was not always maintained. It turned out that all Yiddish words, supplied by [Leo] Rosten [author of “The Joy of Yiddish”], could be broken up into Basque roots, sometimes with surprising results. In many words the meaning thus obtained with the Basque dictionary was related to the translation shown in Rosten’s book. A few of the Yiddish words in my translation turned out to be highly undesirable language, however, that is no reason to omit them here. > [@](#): > > cockamamy (mixed up), kok-ama-mi: kok (bellyfull) ama (mother) mi (my): “Bellyfull from my mother”. Freud explained! > [@](#): > > chometzdik (fermented), kome-etz.-.dik: komenigarri (beneficial) etzaldi (rest) adikor (understandable): “That he needs beneficial rest is understandable”. (Needs to sleep it off). Classic “Just-So Story” fallacy here, I think. > [@](#): > > farbissen (unpleasant), .far-bizi: ifar (north) bizi (to live): “To live in the north”. I resemble that remark! ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/2 "2009-07-17T21:02:50Z")
The biggest news is that languages have _inventors_. Zamenhof is not alone! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/3 "2009-07-17T21:22:14Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > The biggest news is that languages have _inventors_. Zamenhof is not alone! No, [conlangs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructed_language) are very common in the world. _Successful_ conlangs are pretty much Esperanto, simplified versions of English, and, by some measure, modern Hebrew. Esperanto is not the first, [nor is it the best](http://www.xibalba.demon.co.uk/jbr/ranto/), but it is the only made-from-scratch conlang to achieve anything that even smells like mainstream success. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/4 "2009-07-17T21:23:50Z")
Oh Lord, this guy again. When I was a much younger pup and starting to get into the study of Basque I ran across his webpage. Dude’s off his rocker. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/5 "2009-07-18T00:14:31Z")
I have seen some suggestions that Basque may be the oldest language in Europe, and it’s possible there were some borrowings. But linguists agree that Latin and Greek have too much in common with Proto-Indo-European to come from anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/6 "2009-07-18T00:32:07Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > _Successful_ conlangs are pretty much Esperanto, simplified versions of English, and, by some measure, modern Hebrew. Don’t forget Klingon. 😉 I can’t believe I haven’t heard of this nutball before, but I’m glad I did - he’s hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/7 "2009-07-18T01:48:15Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I have seen some suggestions that Basque may be the oldest language in Europe, and it’s possible there were some borrowings. But linguists agree that Latin and Greek have too much in common with Proto-Indo-European to come from anywhere else. He’ll just say that the Proto-Indo-Europeans ripped off Basque. ---
**Author:** ![phi2dao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@phi2dao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phi2dao)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/8 "2009-07-18T04:04:49Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > He’ll just say that the Proto-Indo-Europeans ripped off Basque. He wouldn’t say that. He doesn’t even think that Proto-Indo-European even exists [http://www.islandnet.com/~nyland/i-efraud.htm](http://www.islandnet.com/~nyland/i-efraud.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/9 "2009-07-18T04:09:48Z")
… I’m thinking this guy is so nuts he may not even be able to get funding from the Academy of the Basque Language… If he was an almond tree, we’d have enough almonds to feed the world! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/10 "2009-07-18T14:36:51Z")
Some years ago I came across some website that showed a . . . Hebrew(!) origin for Basque. It’s been so long I don’t recall whether the person was serious or whether it was a parody. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/11 "2009-07-19T03:06:55Z")
> [@Edo Nyland](#): > > Students are taught in school that Basque is mostly borrowed and distorted Latin. What the heck kind of schools would be teaching that to anybody, anyway? **Edo Nyland:** Yes, yes, I may be mad–_mad I tell you!_–but there are other people whom I just made up who are equally mad in the _opposite direction_, so it all balances out, you see! Or did schools actually teach kids that “Basque is mostly borrowed and distorted Latin” back in Franco’s day or something? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/12 "2009-07-19T04:06:34Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > What the heck kind of schools would be teaching that [Basque is “borrowed and distorted Latin”] to anybody, anyway? I actually skipped past this little gem when I was putting the OP together, which is why I didn’t riff on it, but it’s just as crazy as everything else he’s saying: Basque is the _textbook example_ of a linguistic isolate. It’s the language people point to when they want to demonstrate that there are still mysteries left in the world of historical linguistics. Nyland seems to have a linguistic pareidolia: He sees patterns in languages that nobody else in the world sees. His problem, though, is that he _clings to them_, and demands that they be right even in the face of all historical evidence to the contrary. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/13 "2009-07-19T17:33:18Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Don’t forget Klingon. 😉 > > I can’t believe I haven’t heard of this nutball before, but I’m glad I did - he’s hilarious! Well, if we’re going to go that far, let’s include Elvish, too. It’s been around longer. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-was-ripped-off-from-basque-deliberately/503381/14 "2009-07-20T01:25:33Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Well, if we’re going to go that far, let’s include Elvish, too. It’s been around longer. Since the age of middle earth, I hear.