Description
The Basque language, unusual because it is not part of the Indo-European family, must be understood by anyone who wants to understand the Basques and their culture. The only comprehensive and practical introduction to the Basque language available for English-speaking audiences, King's text is written for those who wish to learn the language on their own but may also be used in the classroom. The Basque Language provides a series of forty well-paced and carefully prepared units. Each unit is comprised of: dialogues or narrative texts providing a glimpse into Basque social and family life; notes on grammatical structure; exercises emphasizing grammatical and communication skills; a useful vocabulary list; and keys to exercises. In addition, a comprehensive reference grammar section and an elementary reader contains fascinating selections about the Basque Country's geography, language, folk tales, and modern literature, as well as excerpts from a Basque newspaper. The book also includes a general, end-of-book vocabulary list and three indeces that cover grammatical concepts, Basque affixes, and English phrases. People will want to use the book for several reasons: scholars and specialists will find an invaluable description of the essential features of Basque grammatical structure based on current analyses; non-specialist language learners can achieve fluency in modern Basque. Those wishing to learn Basque for the reasons people learn any language will hav a fine tool at hand for travel, to expand their cultural horizons, to facilitate communication with Basque family or friends, or to learn about Basque heritage.

Reviews
"The Basque Language: A Practical Introduction will surely become a classic which will be used for many years. King is to be congratulated on a difficult endeavor which has been so well done." —Neile A. Kirk, Notes on Linguistics, November 1996

Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Note to Teachers
Study Units
Elementary Reader
Reference Section
Vocabularies
Indeces