Ba al zekien Sabino Aranak euskaraz mintzatzen?

Abstract

The Basque nationalist leader Sabino Arana (1865-1903) taught himself the Basque language, only when he was an adult. Even though Arana wrote some texts in Basque his main language was Spanish, and some authors argue that he was unable to speak in Basque. This article examines Arana’s ability to speak this language, and the circumstances under which he did so. The evidence of hitherto unexplored sources suggests that he certainly was able to speak in Basque, albeit he was not fluent. He used to address peasants and fishermen in Basque and he also delivered some political speeches in this language. Nevertheless, Arana did not normally communicate in Basque with educated Basque speakers (who were also fluent in Spanish), nor with the members of his own nationalist party.