Big news: Euskaltel is no longer Basque-only

[hrotha]

It's pretty obvious the non-nationalist Basque government is going out of their way to make life difficult for Euskaltel, just because it's a mostly nationalist team.

It's leader Samuel Sánchez is GALLEGO', that is, from Galicia; which is located north of Portugal. Now I shall lecture those linguistic scientists: Euskadi isn't a Indo-European language; That is, doesn't have Sanscrit* roots. Some claim it comes from the Attila the Hun dudes; Other claim from the swamped Atlántida Continent. All I know is, it doesn't resemble any other language or dialect in the spanish península;The region has the highest per cápita income in Spain (althought Cataluña is the wealthiest Autonomous State as measured by GNP). It's cyclists are second to none. The fact that they remain with the fórmula 3+2=1 (Three provinces in Spain + two in France = ONE COUNTRY) speaks a lot about it's cultural heritage. If some elements were forced to adopt military style methods, they were just copying from their occupiers, which happen to be great teachers
(Just look at how they conquered the western hemisphere). MER

Haha, post of the year. Thanks for the lecture!

 

[El Pistolero]

I remember seeing a documentary that was trying to find evidence of Atlantis near the southern Spanish coast. So it's possible the Basques are descendants from Atlantis I guess. But to tell you the truth, Ricardo Ricco riding clean sounds more likely than that.

But what's life without a few interesting mysteries eh?

 

[hrotha]

I remember seeing a documentary that was trying to find evidence of Atlantis near the southern Spanish coast.

Good luck with that. Atlantis was meant to be fictional since the moment Plato first wrote about it.

 

[Kwibus]

Good luck with that. Atlantis was meant to be fictional since the moment Plato first wrote about it.

 

[ferryman]

A few corrections:

Samu is Asturian, not Galician.

Sanskrit is one of the oldest documented Indo-European languages, but it is not the language from which they all derived (though that was one of the early theories); it is on the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. These are satem-languages, whereas most of the Western European languages are centum-languages, believed to have split off from Indo-European earlier (hence the preservation of some Proto-Indo-European sounds in Sanskrit and its descendants that don't exist in Celtic, Germanic or Italic languages).

There are a lot of theories about the origin of the Basque language, and a number of fanciful theories linking it to the Turkic languages, the Caucasian ones and even Japanese; but none have proven capable of standing up to closer scrutiny and at the moment Basque is considered a true language isolate, with no brethren in the world.

There are, in the eyes of the Basques, 7 Basque provinces that make up the "greater territory" of the Basque country - the 3 that make up today's País Vasco (Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and Araba), Nafarroa (the most contentious, as its population is mixed, as are its opinions on the matter), and the 3 that make up Iparralde, or the French Basque country (literal translation: the north)(Zuberoa, Nafarroa Beherea and Lapurdi). This does not, of course, mean that all of them think that the seven should be united, or separate from anything else.

Enjoying this debate. Although largely discredited now, there was, for a time, a fairly strong support for the Picts speaking a dialect of Basque or at least a non Indo European language. There are still some non Indo European roots in place names in the north of Scotland that can't be explained. Also, some inscriptions in Ogham.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The most widely-accepted theory on Euskera at present is that Basque is the last remaining vestige of a language or family of languages that existed in Europe prior to Indo-European settlement. While most believe the Picts spoke a form of Celtic language, it is certainly possible if not probable that at least some language contact would have taken place between them and the pre-Celtic populace, which I think would make a case for the existence of pre-Celtic toponyms in isolated locations and some non-Indo-European vocabulary being found.

 

[ferryman]

The most widely-accepted theory on Euskera at present is that Basque is the last remaining vestige of a language or family of languages that existed in Europe prior to Indo-European settlement. While most believe the Picts spoke a form of Celtic language, it is certainly possible if not probable that at least some language contact would have taken place between them and the pre-Celtic populace, which I think would make a case for the existence of pre-Celtic toponyms in isolated locations and some non-Indo-European vocabulary being found.

I think it is largely accepted now that the Picts spoke a P Celtic language similar but different from the other Brittonic P Celtic speakers of the time. The intrigue is that scholars of the time (which unfortunately there are none known as yet of Pictish origin) insist that interpreters are needed when venturing into Pictland..

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Good luck with that. Atlantis was meant to be fictional since the moment Plato first wrote about it.

lol. you act as if you knew plato

 

[hrotha]

Meaning he wasn't writing about a pre-existing myth, but making up a fictional story of his own.

 

[El Pistolero]

Actually, he was most likely talking about a pre-existing myth. The Bible tells a similar story, the city only has a different name. An ancient city being destroyed by tsunamis doesn't sound too far fetched to me.

 

[Duartista]

Wasn't the story based on a volcanic eruption which destroyed the Minoan civilisation?

 

[El Pistolero]

Wasn't the story based on a volcanic eruption which destroyed the Minoan civilisation?

No, because the Minoan civilization didn't end after that volcanic eruption.

 

[hrotha]

Actually, he was most likely talking about a pre-existing myth. The Bible tells a similar story, the city only has a different name. An ancient city being destroyed by tsunamis doesn't sound too far fetched to me.

And there was a pre-existing myth about Atlantis before the 1930s-1950s, when Tolkien started writing about the fall of Númenor, but that doesn't mean the fall of Númenor wasn't a literary creation of his own but something he believed to have happened.

 

[coinneach]

basque nationalism

Well, you can read this both ways.
I probably know more about basque football than cycling.
Real Sociadad were doing quite well last year.
Their manager dropped a basque and replaced him with a non basque.
Results improved...manager got the sack.
To my mind, its a bit too close to Serbian mentality to ignore, and much as I like Real Sociadad, I think you have to make a stand against that type of nationalism....so I wish EE well with their new policy