How do the Basques refer to themselves, their country, and their language?
A16. The Basques call their language euskara (dialect variants euskera and eskuara). The word euskaldun (literally, `one who has Basque’) means `Basque-speaker’; the plural is euskaldunak, and this is what the Basques commonly call themselves. Where necessary, a native speaker is euskaldun zahar (literally, `old Basque’), while a person who has learned Basque as a second language is euskaldun berri (`new Basque’). The neologism euskotar means `(ethnic) Basque’, and can be applied to any Basque, whether or not he speaks the language; the word basko, borrowed from Spanish, has also been used in this sense. The Basques have traditionally called their country Euskal Herria, which means `the Basque Country’; this designation includes the territory of the traditional seven provinces, north and south. The neologism Euskadi means `the Basque state’; this is the name of the territory administered by the Basque Autonomous Government, but it is sometimes applied more widely to the entire Basque C
