| For teaching purposes only; [References for this review may be found at <Nyland>] |
[Note: All Basque words are in Italics and Bold-faced Green]
AINU & BASQUE LANGUAGE * CORRELATION [Contacts] ----Please CLICK on desired underlined categories [to search for Subject Matter, depress Ctrl/F ]: Introduction An ancient language form that originated in the North African area of our most ancient civilizations has been studied by Nyland (2001). He found that many words used to describe names of places and things in northern Japan seem to be closely related to the ancient language, which Nyland called Saharan, and which later was predated by the Igbo Language of West Africa. Fortuitously, the Basque Language is a close relative to the original Saharan. Following is a discussion of this relationship: The language of the Ainu people of Northern Japan has been considered a language-isolate, apparently being unlike any other language on earth. Edo Nyland has noted taht few researchers found a relationship with languages in southeast Asia; others saw similarity with the Ostiak and Uralic languages of northern Siberia. The Ainu look like Caucasian people, they have white skin, their hair is wavy and thick, their heads are monocephalic (round) and a few have gray or blue eyes. However, their blood types are more like the Mongolian people, possibly through many millennia of intermixing. The Ainu are a semi-nomadic hunting and fishing group but also practice simple planting methods, which knowledge may have been acquired from the newcomers. The invading people, under their Yamato government, called them the Ezo, the unwanted, and forced the Ainu in fierce fighting to retreat north to the island of Hokkaido. The name Ezo likely is an abbreviation of the Basque word ezonartu (to disapprove of). The following summarizes the accounts by Nyland and others on the possible correlation of the two languages: ARCHAEOLOGY Archaeologists determined that the Ainu have been living on many of Japan's islands, from Okinawa to Sakhalin, for 7,000 years and likely longer. Their Jomon pottery is found everywhere; it is characteristic although somewhat clumsy and can be dated from 5,000 bce. until just before the Christian era. It is very attractive and is distinguished by the fantasy of its shapes with elegant and imaginative cord decorations. Some of the most striking finds were the clearly anthropomorphic clay and stone figurines resembling pregnant females with mask-like faces and protuberant eyes; very similar to those found in many other parts of the world, especially in Europe. A number of stone circles have also been found, similar to those in Cornwall (England) and Senegal (North-West Africa). A few still have the slender upright stone in the center, also found in the British Isles and elsewhere in Atlantic Europe and N.W. Africa. Around 300 bce., Mongolian type people moved in from Korea and aggressively forced the Ainu north onto the large island of Hokkaido where an estimated 17,000 of them are still living. Some 10 dialects have been recognized, such as those of Sakhalin, Hokkaido and the Kurils, but several are at the point of being lost forever. In Hokkaido, young Ainu are now making an effort to restore their ancient language and traditions. RELIGION There are many intriguing resemblances between the religious customs of the Ainu and the Shinto Japanese. The Ainu called their God Kami while the Japanese called him Kamisama. The Aleut and Eskimo word kammi means "ancient thing" or "at the beginning," one of a great many correlations between Ainu and Inuktitut. (The Eskimo people call themselves the Inuit; note the similarity between the names Inuk and Ainu). Bear worship is still part of the Ainu religion and is described in detail by Joseph Campbell in Primitive Mythology. This Paleolithic bear-worship may date back to before 100,000 bce., to the days of the Neanderthals. It appears to have been practiced worldwide; wherever the bear was not found (mainly in Africa), its place was taken by similar panther-worship. Bear worship was not tolerated in those areas later dominated by the major religions; therefore, it was only possible for anthropologists to study the religion in the peripheral areas of northern Europe and Siberia. This gave rise to the idea that the Ainu must have moved eastward through Siberia, even though the nearest people of their type are found almost 5,000 miles away. However, bear-worship has also been reported from Indonesia where languages similar to the Ainu language are still spoken (to be discussed with the Indonesian language). Could it be that the Ainu were part of the mass migration of "Caucasian" type Sea Peoples who fled the burning Sahara and, among others, became the "Caucasian" looking Polynesians and Maories? The following language comparison for the Ainu seems to indicate that this was the case. THE NAMES & WORDS OF JAPAN In books about Japan it is often remarked that many of the names of Japan's geographical features were taken over from the Ainu. For instance, the many names beginning or ending with ama (Goddess) are all thought to be of Ainu origin. In 1994 the newly married prince and princess of Japan traveled to the cave of the Goddess Amaterasu to ask her blessings for their marriage. The name Amaterasu is agglutinated from ama-atera-asu, ama (Goddess) atera (to come out, to appear) asturu (blessings flow): Blessings flow when the Goddess appears. This name is made up of perfect Basque! Other well-known names were similarly assembled such as Hokkaido: oka-aidu: oka (big meal) aiduru (looking forward to): Looking forward to a big meal; and Fujiyama, fa-uji-ama: fa (happy) uju (cry of joy) ama (Goddess): "A happy cry of joy for the Goddess" is uttered by everyone who reaches the top of the holy mountain, just like is still being heard on many other mountains of the world (e.g . at Croag Patrick in Ireland, on the last Sunday of July). The Basques even have a word for this yodel cry for the Goddess, which they call irrintzi. The name Amaterasu is made up with the vowel-interlocking Ogam formula, which was surprising to me because in the Ainu language itself there is not a hint of this agglutinating formula. Nyland then searched for more Japanese names and words which were assembled with the vowel-interlocking Ogam formula and found many such as Kamikaze and Samurai. The surprise which came from this comparison was that those words which showed vowel-interlocking were usually associated with fighting and male domination. This appeared to be true all over the Pacific, including Peru and Mexico. Could this mean that there were two major migrations, the first one many millennia ago from Mesopotamia which brought the peaceful people of the Goddess to the Pacific and a much later one, missionary based, bringing aggressive male domination and the language-distorting vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV) formula to these same areas? None of the Ainu words was the same as in Basque, but many were extremely close such as ikoro and koro (money), kokor and gogor (to scold), tasum and eritasun (illness), iska and xiska (to steal). A surprise was the Ainu word nok (testicle) which is much like the Basque word noka (familiarity with women). In English slang the same word is used in "to knock up" meaning "to cause a woman to become pregnant." In Indonesian nok means "unmarried young woman," while dénok means "slender, elegant woman." In Dutch slang the word is slightly altered to neuk (sexual intercourse). There is little doubt that the word goes way back to the Neolithic or even Paleolithic. From the following comparisons it seems clear that Ainu and Basque are genetically related. In comparing Ainu with Dravidian, there was no such a relationship, although Dravidian itself is obviously also related to Basque. Two separate branches of the same tree? The following words were taken from: An Ainu Dialect Dictionary edited by Shiro Hattori and printed mostly in Latin characters. This work provided a wealth of excellent material for comparison. Don't forget that the Basque "s" is pronounced as a soft "sh" and that our sharp "sh" is written as "x" in Basque. (The page column shows the word number/page number from his book): Pages AINU ENGLISH BASQUE ENGLISH 2/5 tontone to be bald tontordun crested, plumed 2/6 kepsapa bald head kepireska heads or tails 6/38 aspa to be deaf aspaldiko old, ancient 6/41 papus lips papar breast 6/69 taspare to sigh asparen to sigh 11/82 aske hand esku hand 12/94 poro monpeh thumb erpuru thumb 15/130 nok testicle noka familiarity with women 15/131 pok vulva puki vulva (slang) 16/133 uka'un sexual intercourse seukan to possess, to have 16/134 meno kupuri to menstruate kopor-kopuri goblet, quantity 17/136 kema leg, foot kemen vigor, strength 17/137 hera to limp herren cripple 18/149 kiski hair kizkur curly, wavy hair 18/152 kamihi surface of kamisoi nightgown, the skin 19/161 tur dirt lur dirt 23/188 hatcir to fall(down) atzeratu to fall (back) 24/194 hotkuku to stoop kukutu to stoop 24/201 mokor sleep makar sleep 28/1 siko to be born zikoina stork 28/4 hetuku to grow up gehitu to grow up 28/4 sikup to grow up siku miserly 29/14 sinki to get tired sinkulin crying, whining 29/15 yasumi to rest jaso to get better 29/16 tasum illness eritasun illness 29/16 araka illness arakatu to be examined 30/22 ukikosmare to sprain ukitu to touch, to affect 31/34 pirika to recover pirri shaky, jittery 31/36 kusuri drug kutsu infection 31/38 shuruku poison shurrut gulp, drink 34/2 okkai man oka egin to eat too much 34/3 meneko woman eme female 35/7 sukukur young man sukor, kuraia having a temper, strength 35/10 poro aynu adult porrokatu tired 35/11 onne kur old person onegi. kurrinka benign. moaning 36/12 ekasi old man ekarri to contribute, provide 36/13 hutci old woman hutsikusle fault-finding 36/13 ruhne mah old woman urrumakatu to sing a lullaby 36/16 pon to be very young ponte baptismal font 39/12 ona father onartzaile authority 40/16 po child poz happiness 42/31 uriwahnecin sibling aurride sibling 42/31 irutar siblings irutara three different ways 42/35 umatakikor to be sisters umatu to reproduce 44/52 kok son-in-law kok bellyful 45/56 aukorespa to be engaged aukeratu to choose, select 45/58 usante to marry usantza tradition 45/59 umurek married couple umotu to have children 47/68 ekkur guest ekuru peaceful, peace of mind 47/73 ipakasnokur teacher ikaserazi to teach 48/75 kusunkur enemy kuskusean spying 50/1 kotan village -kote multiplicity, many 50/2 porokotan city porrokatu to destroy 50/3 sinotusi open space sinotsu strange, unfamiliar 50/8 oiakunkur out of doors oian forest 51/10 ankahpaaki foreigner ankapetu to trample under foot 51/13 uraiki to make war jarraiki to attack 51/17 kotankoro tribal chief koroa crowned, glorified 52/18 tono official tontor plumed, feathered 52/21 u'ekari meeting ekarle bringer (of news) 52/21 u'ekarpa meeting ekarpen contribution 52/23 kotan orake to go to ruin oraka financial ruin 52/23 kiru to die out kirru blond 52/23 sikupu to perish siku shriveled up 53/32 isocise jail isolamendu isolation 56/1 itah language itano speaking in second person 57/12 kayo to cry out kaio seagull 58/15 ese to answer esetsi to argue 58/15 itasa answer itaun question 58/18 u'uste to pass along uste opinion 58/19 sonko information esonde advice 58/21 senpir backbiting senper suffering 58/22 sinititak to joke sinoti crazy 58/23 sunke falsehood suntsun foolish, idiotic 59/26 esina to conceal esinguratu to surround, to block 59/27 etekke confidential etekin profit, wages 59/28 eramankorka to pretend eramankor tolerant, enduring 59/28 ennuka to pretend enulkeria weakness, debility 60/40 itokpa to mark itoka quickly 64/1 ariki to come ariketa assignment, activity 64/2 koman to go komandante commander 64/5 eson asin to go away esonde advice 65/11 rutu to move aside urrundu to move away 65/12 somaketa to approach somaketa attention, perception 65/14 etaras to stop etapa stage, stretch 66/15 kus to pass through kuskusean to peek, to snoop 68/33 kaya sail kaiar very large seagull 70/2 ko'ekari to encounter elkarikusi to see each other 70/3 aske'uk to invite aske free, independent 70/5 ekari arki to go out,to meet ekarri to bring, to provide 70/7 umusa to bow kilimusi to bow 72/20 omonnure to praise omendatu to praise 73/24 kokor unpeki to scold gogor egin to scold 73/25 ikohka punishment iko hammer 75/35 ukonkep strength, contest ukondoka elbowing, forcing a way 75/35 puni strength, contest puntzet sword 75/39 inospa to pursue inozotu to be intimidated 76/40 oskoni to overtake oskol armour 76/41 akkari to outrun akarraldi to anger 76/46 ikasuy to help, assist ikastun student 77/50 kukocan to refuse uko egin to refuse 77/51 ese to undertake esetsi to attack, to debate 80/1 konte to give kontentatu to please 80/8 uk to receive ukan to have 81/12 ipuni to distribute ipuina to tell a story 81/13 esikari to rob esi fence, enclosure 81/14 iska to steal xiskatu to steal 83/29 ikoro money koro money 87/15 pita to untie,loosen pita fishing line 87/17 tekkas glove teka pod, covering 88/25 atusa naked atutxa better world 88/26 hantasine barefoot hankagorri barefoot 96/38 seku to suck sikui dry 97/46 cikaripe to prepare sikatu to dry 97/52 hu raw, unripe huruppa to swallow 158/21 eraman to get used to eramanpen patience, tolerance 187/59 peko ox menpeko controlled by It is easy to find hundreds more like the ones above, all it takes is time, but there is little reason for doing that. This comparison is quite convincing: the Ainu language is genetically related to the universal language, Saharan/Basque; the similarities are just too many to be accidental. Considering that the Ainu have probably been separated from the west since 5-7,000 bce. it is not surprising that the language has drifted away from the Neolithic language as it had developed in the Sahara. The fact that so many Ainu words are still clearly recognizable when compared to modern Basque words is nothing short of amazing and tells us that the ancient oral traditions had been faithfully maintained since they left the Sahara or Mesopotamia. The Ainu had no writing system but memorized their history and legends as yukar, which means that the poetry and epics were performed by memory professionals with elaborate display and ritual. Similarly, in the west, the universal language was maintained by regular meetings, probably at the central shrine on Malta, where the bertsolari (memory professionals) of all the tribes and regions met to reinforce and standardize their language and knowledge. The Pacific sea peoples settled on hundreds of islands, they scattered over the entire Pacific, and it must be assumed that the single unifying educational exchange practiced in the Mediterranean was impossible to repeat. Similar local meeting-islands must have been designated in the Marianas, Polynesia, Melanesia, Indonesia, New Zealand etc. but regular contact with the far-away Ainu could hardly have been maintained. Consequently, the formerly universal language drifted and diversified into what we know today as the many languages of the Pacific islands, including those of the Kurils and Aleutians. Several of the Pacific languages, such as Japanese and Hawaian, do not have the "r". It has been theorized that these languages have lost this letter over the centuries. Another suggestion was that the original "Caucasians" coming from Africa or Mesopotamia, around 5,000 bce., did not know this letter. However, it appears that the Ainu were the first to arrive in the Pacific and they have the "r". The lost "r" theory may well be correct. It is interesting to note that the name Ainu possibly comes from ain'u, an abbreviation of ainbanatu (to distribute, to scatter all over). Another origin could be the Basque word aienatu (the disappeared, departed).These astute navigators of the Pacific must also have discovered the west coast of North America at a very early date. The island-chain of the Aleutians was a ready-made pathway to Alaska, which must have been reached well before 6,000 bce., possibly before the east coast of North America was spotted. It may have been about the same time that the Eskimos started to spread east into Arctic Canada and Greenland, bringing along a pidgin-type, Ainu-related, Basque to Labrador and Greenland (See Eskimo). WERE THE AINU "NOMADS OF THE WIND"? There are indications that the Ainu sailed regularly to Alaska to obtain reindeer hides from the Aleuts established there, which they needed for their sails, exactly the same as was done by the Basques, the Irish and Scots who went to Arctic Norway for their reindeer-leather sails (Mt. Komsa people). The Ainu must have been great long-distance seafarers to keep up contact with their home base that may have been in Mesopotamia. All over the Pacific this incredible sailing tradition waned fast when the social structure changed after the coming of European or Asiatic domination. Today the Ainu still sail the ocean but mostly to fish. The complex navigational techniques, acquired over millennia had been the property of a few special families and were never popular wisdom. They are now lost. The astonishing amount of astronomical knowledge, which the members of such navigator families had to memorize, was taught them at a very young age and was built up during a lifetime on the ocean. To these highly skilled and proud people the Pacific was not hostile. The ocean was their life and joy, and an indispensable part of their culture. Only in the Carolines the ancient spirit, some of the secret navigational techniques and much astronomical wisdom has been maintained to this day. All this is described in a book called: We, the Navigators by David Lewis. The people who sailed the Pacific without the aid of instruments have recently been called the "Nomads of the Wind", a most appropriate title for these courageous and resourceful people. The Ainu appeared to have been the avant guard of the Pacific migration. The desertification of the Sahara (See Climate) had probably forced these groups to flee that region. It was then that the name "Africa" was coined: af.-.ri-ika, afa-ari-ika: afa (happy) arinari eman (to escape) ikara (terror): Happy to have escaped the terror. Some of these displaced tribes sailed around Asia and started to populate the nearest Pacific islands, all of them speaking the same universal language and bringing along the same religion. Many of the Pacific islands had names which could be translated with the Basque dictionary such as: "Tahiti", from tahi-iti, tahiu (appearance) iti (ox): "Resembles an ox" the sharp pointed mountains indeed resemble ox horns. Also, "Rapa Nui" (Easter Island), arra-apa ' nui, erraldoi (giant) aparta (far, far away), nui (enormous, in Hawaiian): "Enormous giants, far, far away". "Hawaii", ha'u-ahi: ha'u (this one) ahigarri (exhausting): This one is exhausting! It still is. Finally,” Papua", apapua (living in poverty); stone age people don't own much, they don't pollute and they live as part of nature. One tantalizing hint comes from Peru where the patriarchal Incas established a complex civilization, complete with highly evolved Sumerian-type irrigation. The Incas were living gods and the Basque word for "God" is ainkoa! |
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For further detail, please refer to:
Nyland, Edo. 2001. Linguistic Archaeology: AnIntroduction. Trafford Publ., Victoria, B.C., Canada.
ISBN 1-55212-668-4. 541 p. [ see abstract & summary]
Nyland, Edo. 2002. Odysseus and the Sea Peoples: A
Bronze Age History of Scotland Trafford Publ., Victoria,