334
EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN.
[CHAP. IX.
that there be no traces of Basque roots in the Celtic languages of the British Isles, that fact does not affect the question as to the origin of the small dark peoples of Wales, Scotland, and of Ireland.
Traces of the Neolithic Culture in Basque Dialects.
The identification of the Neolithic aborigines with the Iberic race of history, and with the modern Basques, is confirmed in a most unexpected manner by the recent philological inquiry carried on by the Abbé Inchauspé[1] into the dialects of the Pyrenees. He points out that the Basque names for cutting tools are as follow:—
Axe ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
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Aizcora.
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Pick ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
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Aitzurra.
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Knife ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
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Aizttoa.
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Scissors ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
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Aizturrac.
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Aizcora is composed of aitz (aitza, atcha), a stone, and gora high, lifted up = stone mounted in a handle.
Aitzurra = aitz, and urra to tear asunder, a stone to tear in sunder the earth.
Aizttoa = aitz, and "ttoa". a diminutive = little stone.
Aizturrac = aiztto, a small stone or knife, and urra to tear asunder, the final c marking the plural. This then means " little stones for tearing asunder," in contradistinction to Aitzurra, or a stone for tearing asunder—i.e. a great stone.
These words, with the exception of the third, which is confined to the Valley of Roneal in Spanish Navarre, are used by the Basque-speaking peoples both of France and Spain. Their derivations are accepted by Prince Lucien Bonaparte, and they prove that the Neolithic
- ↑ Matériaux, 1875, p. 218.
