Pre-Basque Phonology

[Eduard Selleslagh]

-----Original Message-----
From: Roslyn M. Frank <roz-frank at uiowa.edu>
Date: Thursday, September 30, 1999 7:45 PM

>0 PM 9/25/99 -0700, Max Dashu wrote:

>>Along similar lines, what's your take on Mari: has this name been
>>assimilated from Maria, or does it have older folk roots? The former has
>>seemed likely to me, but then  Andra Mari has a rather different character
>>than the Virgin Mary.

>I'll leave this one to Larry.

[Ed Selleslagh]

Andre Mari (Lady Mari) is basically the mother of the earth/world, and gave
birth to it before there was any male being in existence.  So she was a virgin.
She belongs to an ancient matriarchal world that was replaced by later
religions with a male supreme deity (Romans, Greek, Christianity).

The Virgin Mary's role in (Catholic) Christianity has greatly increased over
the centuries, especially in the 19th c., and it looks to me (no offense
intended to people's religious convictions) that this is a consequence of the
psychological gap left by banning Mari.  It is very significant how the Virgin
Mary became associated with grottoes (typically in the Pyrenean world of
Lourdes), just like Mari. So, I believe there has been an identification of the
two in simple folk's minds, just like e.g. Yansao and Santa Barbara in
Brazilian Makumba, etc.

In some pilgrimage churches there is only the Virgin Mary, and virtually no
traces of Christ, which amounts to her taking the place of Mari, the former
supreme goddess.

No wonder this is a major point of disagreement between Catholics and
Protestants (who stick to the Bible and hence to earlier Christianity).

Personally, I think the name Mari (also known as Maira, Moira...) itself may be
an assimilation from Christianity, although even the story, or some aspects of
it, of the Biblical Mary seems to have some roots in the remnants of the
(Cycladic?) culture that produced the pagan Mari. Maybe that even applies to
the names.

Just some thoughts...

[ moderator snip ]

>We also need to remember that under Franco there was an approved list of given
>(Christian) names and Basque ones were not included (nor were many others).

[Ed]

Prof. J.M. Satrustegui of the Euskaltzaindia was instrumental in making the
presently approved list of Basque given names. Many (most?) of them are not
Christian at all - even though he is Jesuit.

>So far I haven't found a single native Spanish speaker (or Basque one) who
>"recognized" Maite as an abbreviation of Maria Teresa. But I've only asked a
>dozen speakers so far.

>Then on your gloss of "maite" as "beloved", fine. But keep in mind, also that
>in English it is common for the expression "love" to be used as a form of
>address for another person, not just a female one, right, Love?

>Agur t'erdi,
>Roz

[Ed]

I am very surprised at Prof. Pineros' puzzlement: We have Murcian friends
(Murcian Spanish is very close to Andalusian) : one is called Maite, short for
Maria Teresa, the other one called Maica, short for Maria del Carmen. I do know
what their real given name is, I'm not guessing. The reduction is of course the
dropping of the intervocalic r of Mari.  By the way, Maica's daughter is also a
Maria del Carmen, but they call her Mai (probably a reduction of Mari)! I'm
quite sure she never intended a Basque name, because she and her family
strongly dislike the idea that Spain is plurilingual. They even object to
Spanish being called Castilian.

The difference between MariTere and Maite, e.g., is that in the first case
Maria Teresa is considered a two-part name, and each part is abbreviated
separately; in the latter it is treated as one.

I am not surprised at all at these extreme reductions: just think about Paco
from Francisco, Chema from Jose Maria via Josema, Charo from Rosario, Concha
from (Inmaculada) Concepcion, Chalo from Gonzalo. The remarkable thing is that
they obey rules that look rather Basque than Castilian : F > P,
diminutivization by palatalization of the sibilant,...

Also, remember that Andalusian Gypsies call Cadiz Cai (stress on first vowel),
dropping the intervocalic d and the final z.

Portuguese also has this strong tendency to rather extreme reduction, compared
to Castilian (e.g. palacio <> paço, padre <> pai).

My guess is that the Basques heard the southern Spanish form Maite and liked it
because it made (erroneously) sense to them. How did they hear it? I guess from
members of their family that had migrated to SE Spain (mostly around 1900 as
far as I know): the 'Campo de Cartagena' has several formerly Basque
settlements in the former 'secano', with names like 'Los Urrutias' as
'lieu-dit'.