"Nunc" Vasconice

Abstract

This article boils down to an exercise in internal reconstruction, although of a rather unusual sort, since the goal is to reconstruct a lexical item, the predecessor of Basque orain, meaning 'now'. The method is tested in the case of French maintenant and is then applied to Basque. Frequent appeal is made to the oldest literary monuments of Basque, in particular the works of Leizarraga, an attentive study of which has uncovered certain characteristics of usage which have hitherto escaped attention. In the course of the investigation several other matters are touched upon, such as: the oldest shape of the case ending -raino, the etymology of the suffix -danik, as well as that of the Spanish word izquierdo 'left', where we are able to vindicate Manuel de Larramendi's scholarship and erudition.