Souletin dialect

Name

In English sources, the Basque-based term Zuberoan is sometimes encountered. In Standard Basque, the dialect is known as Zuberera (the province name Zuberoa and the language-forming suffix -era), locally variously as Üskara, Xiberera or Xiberotarra. In Spanish, Souletino or Suletino are used.

Distribution

Sometimes, the southern dialect Roncalese was included within Zuberoan. A Basque language variety close to Zuberoan may have extended farther east into the Central Pyrenees, as attested by place names and historical records about Basque language peoples ("Wascones, qui trans Garonnam et circa Pirineum montem habitant" in the Royal Frankish Annals).

Features

Zuberoan is marked by influences from Occitan (in particular the Béarnese dialect), especially in the lexicon. In contrast to other Basque dialects, which have five vowels, Zuberoan has six, with a [y] (written ü) markedly noticeable to speakers of other varieties of Basque. However, the sixth vowel may have resulted from an influence of the Béarnese vowel shift some centuries ago instead of being an ancient vowel lost in other dialects of Basque.

Another distinct characteristic is the use of verb forms xuka, a form of address including in third person verbs the interlocutor marker embedded in the auxiliary verb: jin da → jin düxü (s/he came → s/he came to you).

Example

This example of the "Orreaga" ballad composed by Arturo Campion shows some differences between this dialect and the standard Basque (Euskara batua).