Revitalizing Basque informal address form hika: Current discussions regarding gender

Language, Discourse & SocietyDecember 2024

Beñat Muguruza [1], Garbiñe Bereziartua [2]

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.14207513 

[1] University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain, E-mail: benat.muguruza@ehu.eus, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8095-1927
 
 
[2] University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain, E-mail: garbine.bereziartua@ehu.eus, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4987-3315
 
 

Abstract

The Basque language is considered a gender-neutral language because it does not show grammatical gender. Nonetheless, Basque has some traits in which gender-markers are present. The most prominent could be the informal form of address, hika (derived from the singular second-person personal pronoun “hi”), in which the addressee’s gender needs to be marked in the verb. However, the use of hika is quite limited these days, especially the forms used to address women. Most Basque speakers only use the formal andgender-neutral address term, zuka. In recent years, however, we are witnessing efforts to revitalize hika, with a clear focus on its femaleforms. Hika is reclaimed among women associated with positive values, such as (self-)confidence and sisterhood. At the same time, the use of hika poses two issues. First, it is based on a gender binary system, which may not respond to current gender diversity insociety. Second, there is a tendency of a sexist use of hika through the preference for male forms. Meanwhile, the address form zuka does not present either of these challenges. Speakers may face a dilemma: they are strugglingto recover an address form that can discriminate against some speakers, while there is already a gender-neutral address form that is used by most Basque speakers. To explore actual speakers’disposition about hika and the gender issues its use has implicated, we organized six focus groupdiscussions with 24 people of different profiles who have daily contact with hika. In addition, we also conducted seven dyadic interviews with more qualified participants. Most of the participantsdo not identify hika as a potential threat for gender-inclusive language. They think making an effort to revitalize the informal address form — especially among women — is worthwhile.

Keywords: forms of address, gender, gender inclusive language, Basque language, hika

References

Alberdi, X. (1993). “Hika tratamenduaren balore sozio-afektiboak”. Fontes Linguae Vasconum 64, 425–442. Alberdi, X. (1996). Euskararen tratamenduak: erabilera. Iker 9. Bilbo, Basque Country: Euskaltzaindia. Alberdi, X. (2018). “Forms of address in Basque”. Pragmatics 283, 303–332.

Alberdi-Zumeta, L. (2019). “Eta hik ze uste dun/k? Azpeitiko gazteak hitanoaren inguruan hizketan: usteak, balioak eta diskurtsoak”. BAT Soziolinguistika Aldizkaria 113(4), 129–154.

Antonov, A. (2015). “Verbal allocutivity in a crosslinguistic perspective”. Linguistic Typology 19(1), 55–85. Azkue, X. (2000). Hitanoa Zumaian. Zumaia, Basque Country: Zumaiako Udala.

Aztiker (2021). Amasa-Villabonan hitanoren egoeraren azterketa, 2020. Amasa, Basque Country: Amasako Udala.

Barquín, A. (2008). Euskararen erabilera ez sexista. Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country: Emakunde.

Basque Government, Government of Navarre & Public Office of Basque (2024) VII. Inkesta Soziolinguis- tikoa. Vitoria-Gasteiz: Basque Government.

Beitia, I. (2017). “Tokanoka tribua. Eskoriatzako gazteak eta hitanoa: uste, balore eta jarrerak”. BAT Sozio- linguistika Aldizkaria 103, 139–166.

Bereziartua, G. & Muguruza, B. (2021). “Basque informal talk increasingly restricted to men: The role of gender in theform of address hika”. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies 17(1), 360–376. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52462/jlls.22

Bereziartua, G. & Muguruza, B. (2024) “‘Are you man enough?’: Gender as a decisive factor in the choice of Basque personal pronouns”. Language and Communication 94, 28–40. DOI: https://doi. org/10.1016/j.langcom.2023.11.004

Bonnin, J.E. & Coronel, A.A. (2021). “Attitudes toward gender-neutral Spanish: Acceptability and adoptabil- ity”. Frontiers in Psychology 6. Article 629616. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2021.629616

Della Sudda, M. & Paoletti, M. (2022). “Excluante, l’écriture inclusive”. Travail, genre et sociétés 47, 149–152.

Echeverria, B. (2001). “Privileging masculinity in the social construction of Basque identity”. Nations and Nationalism 7(3), 339–363.

Echeverria, B. (2003). “Language ideologies and practices in (en)gendering the Basque nation”. Language in Society 32, 383–413.

Echeverria, B. (2020). “Witches” and Wily Women. Saving Noka through Basque Folklore and Song. Reno, Nevada: Center of Basque Studies.

Fábregas, A. (2022). “El género inclusivo: Una mirada gramatical”. Cuadernos de Investigación Filológica 51, 25–46.

Garcia-Ruiz, M., Manterola, I., & Ortega, A. (2024). “Parental ideologies in multilingual Family Language Policies inthe Basque Autonomous Community (Spain). Sociolinguistic Studies 18(1-2), 59–79. https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.24849

Gondra, A. (2024). “Ideological effects of language revitalisation and standardisation on traditional home languagespeakers: the case of Basque”. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2024.2326506

Gustaffson, M., Bäck, E.A., & Lindquvist, A. (2015). “Introducing a gender-neutral pronoun in a natural gender language: the influence of time on attitudes and behavior”. Frontiers in Psychology 6. Article 893.

Haddican, B. (2018). “The syntax of Basque allocutive clitics”. Glossa: A Journal of general linguistics 3(1):101, 1–31. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.471

Irvine, J.T. & Gal, S. (2000). “Language Ideology and Linguistic Differentiation”. In: Paul V. Kroskrity (ed.), Regimes of Language: Ideologies, Polities, and Identities, 35–83. Santa Fe, N.M.: School of American Research Press.

Juanena, A. (1991). “Hizkuntz sexismoa eta euskara”. Jakin 65, 97–110.

Laka, I. (1996). A brief gramar of euskara, the Basque language. Bilbo: UPV/EHU.

Legorburu, O. (2018). “Genero rolek hitanoaren erabileran izan duten eragina: Antzuolako herritarren diskurtso eta praktikak”. BAT Soziolinguistika Aldizkaria 109, 111–138.

Lindqvist, A., Renström, E.A. & Gustafsson, M. (2019). “Reducing a Male Bias in Language? Establish- ing theEfficiency of Three Different Gender-Fair Language Strategies”. Sex Roles 81, 109–117. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-018-0974-9

Lobe, B. & Morgan, D.L. (2021). “Assessing effectiveness of video-based interviewing: a systematic com- parisonof video-conferencing based dyadic interviews and focus groups”. International Journal of SocialResearch Methodology 24(3), 301-312. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2020.1 785763

Mendívil, J.L. (2020). “El masculino inclusivo en español”. Revista Española de Lingüística 50(1). 35–64. Oyharçabal, B. (1993). “Verb Agreement with Nonarguments: On Allocutive Agreement”. In Jose I. Hualde & Jon Ortiz de Urbina (eds.), Generative Studies in Basque Lingustics, 89–114. Amsterdam-Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Ozaita, J. (2014). “Hurbilpen bat tolosaldeko gazteek hitanoari buruz duten pertzepzio, diskurtso eta prakti- kara”. BAT Soziolinguistika Aldizkaria 91, 83–103.

Saguy, A.C. & Williams, J.A. (2022). “A little word that means a lot: A reassessment of singu- lar they in a new era of gender politics”. Gender & Society 36(1), 5–31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/08912432211057921

Schnitzer, N. (2021). “Le langage inclusif en français et en allemand: une tempête dans un verre d’eau?”, ILCEA 42, 1–18.

Schreier, M. (2014). Qualitative content analysis. In: Flick, U. (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis, 170–183. London: SAGE Publications.

Sczesny S., Formanowicz, M. & Moser, F. (2016). “Can Gender-Fair Language Reduce Gender Stereotyp- ing and Discrimination? ” Frontiers in Psychology 7(25), 1–11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/ fpsyg.2016.00025

Soziolinguistika Klusterra (2016). Azpeitiako hizkuntza erabileraren eta hitanoaren presentziaren kale-neu- rketa. Emaitzen txostena. Andoain, Basque Country: Soziolinguistika Klusterra.

Soziolinguistika Klusterra (2017). Usurbilgo hitanoaren kale-erabileraren azterketa. Emaitzen txostena.

Andoain, Basque Country: Soziolinguistika Klusterra.

Soziolinguistika Klusterra (2022). Azpeitiako hizkuntzen erabileraren kale neurketa. Andoain, Basque Country: Soziolinguistika Klusterra.

Swamy, V. & Mackenzie, L. (2022). Introduction. In Vinay Swamy & Louisa Mackenzie (eds.), Devenir non-binaire en français contemporain. Paris: Éditions Le Manuscrit.

Trask, R.L. (1997). The History of Basque. London, UK: Routledge.

Velázquez, L.A. (2021). “Los retos de traducir del inglés al español personajes de género no binario en tex- tos literarios”. Hesperia. Anuario de filología hispánica 24(2), 31–50.