Article published in:
Gender, Language and the Periphery: Grammatical and social gender from the margins
Edited by Julie Abbou and Fabienne H. Baider
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 264] 2016
► pp. 353–380

Harlots and whores but not lovers

Dressing down the pronoun for a female addressee in a Basque Old Testament

Using a historical sociolinguistic theoretical approach (Conde-Silvestre and Hernandez-Campoy 2012, 1), this paper shows that a mid-19th century Catholic Old Testament utilizes the second-person singular pronoun for a female addressee (noka) to construct sexual and/or violent imagery, which contributed to noka’s loss and “semantic derogation” (Schulz 1975) over time. Focus is placed on noka for several reasons: (1) it is the only place in the Basque language (Euskera) where female gender is marked, as Euskera has no natural or grammatical gender; (2) my previous ethnographic and archival research suggests that the use of noka is considered disrespectful, “looked badly upon” and associated with “dangerous” women like witches; (3) my previous research on Catholic texts in particular shows that familiar pronouns are used sparingly, and almost always to condemn, castigate or cast out demons; (4) noka has historically been a key marker of solidarity, konfiantza (‘trust’) and ‘authentic’ Basque identity; but the negative cast upon noka, I suggest, discourages its use for such solidarity-building purposes.
Keywords: Basque, gender, historical sociolinguistics, pronouns, religion
Published online: 16 December 2016
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.264.13ech
References

References

Alberdi, Xabier
1995 “The Development of the Basque System of Terms of Address and the Allocutive Conjugation.” In Towards a History of the Basque Language (Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 131), ed. by Jose Ignacio Hualde, Joseba Lakarra, and R.L. Trask, 275–293. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Auer, Anita, and Anja Voeste
2012 “Grammatical Variables.” In The Handbook of Historical Sociolinguistics, ed. by Juan M. Hernandez-Campoy, and J. Camilo Conde-Silvestre, 254–270. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Aulestia, Gorka
1989 Basque-English Dictionary. Reno: University of Nevada PressGoogle Scholar
Blenkinsopp, Joseph
1988 “Introduction to the Prophetic Books.” In Bible Commentary, ed. by James L. Mays, 480–488. New York: Harper One.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre
1977 “The Economics of Linguistic Exchanges.” Social Science Information 16: 645–668. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bullen, Margaret
1999 “Gender and Identity in the Alardes of Two Basque Towns.” Basque Studies Program Occasional Paper Series 5: 149–177.Google Scholar
Conde-Silvestre, J. Camilo, and Juan M. Hernandez-Campoy
2012 “Introduction.” In The Handbook of Historical Sociolinguistics, ed. by Juan M. Hernandez-Campoy, and J. Camilo Conde-Silvestre, 1–8. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Del Valle, Teresa
1985 Mujer Vasca: Imagen y Realidad. Barcelona: Anthropos.Google Scholar
2000 “El genero en la Construccion de la Identidad Nacionalista.” Forum Hispanica de los Paises Bajos 16: 37–44.Google Scholar
Duvoisin, Jean Baptiste
1972 Bible Saindua, La Santa Biblia: Version Euskerica de la Vulgata Realizada por El Capitan Duvoisin. Bilbao: La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca.Google Scholar
Echeverria, Begoña
2003 “Language Ideologies in (En)gendering the Basque Nation.” Language in Society 32(3): 383–414. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2006 “Indexing Religious Identity in the French Basque Country: Toward a Theory of Pronominal Shift.” In Studies in Basque and Historical Linguistics in Memory of R.L. Trask, ed. by Joseba Lakarra, and Jose Ignacio Hualde, 273–291. Donostia; Bilbo: Gipuzkoako Foru Aldundia and Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea.Google Scholar
Errington, Joseph
1985 “On the Nature of the Sociolinguistic Sign: Describing the Javanese Speech Levels.” In Semiotic Mediation, ed. by Elizabeth Mertz, and Richard J. Parmentier, 287–310. Orlando: Academic Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Esteban, Mari Luz, and Mila Amurrio
2010 Feminist Challenges in the Social Sciences: Gender Studies in the Basque Country. Reno: Center for Basque Studies.Google Scholar
Fox, Michael V.
1988 “The Song of Songs.” In Bible Commentary, ed. by James L. Mays, 472–477. New York: Harper One.Google Scholar
Kalmanofsky, Amy
2011 “The dangerous sisters of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.” Journal of Biblical Studies 130(2): 299–312.Google Scholar
Lhande, Pierre
2001 [1926] Dictionnaire Basque-Francais. Paris: Gabriel Beauchesne.Google Scholar
March, W. Eugene
1988 “Micah.” In Bible Commentary, ed. by James L. Mays, 660–664. New York: Harper One.Google Scholar
Matthews, Victor
2012 The Hebrew Prophets and their Social World: An Introduction. Grand Rapids, MI : Baker Academic.Google Scholar
Oyharcabal, Bernard
1993 “Verb agreement with non arguments: On allocutive agreement.” In Generative Studies in Basque Linguistics (Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 105), ed. by José I. Hualde, and Jon Ortiz de Urbina, 189–220. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ott, Sandra
1981 The Circle of Mountains: A Basque Shepherding Community. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Overholt, Thomas W.
1988 “Jeremiah.” In Bible Commentary, ed. by James L. Mays, 538–576. New York: Harper One.Google Scholar
Satrustegui, Jose Mari
1977 “Promesa matrimonial del año 1547 en euskera de Uterga.” FLV 25: 109–114.Google Scholar
Schulz, Muriel
1975 “The Semantic Derogation of Woman.” In Language and Sex: Difference and Dominance, ed. by Barrie Thorne, and Nancy Henley, 64–75. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Sheppard, Gerald T.
1988 “Isaiah.” In Bible Commentary, ed. by James L. Mays, 489–532. New York: Harper One.Google Scholar
Stuhlmueller, Carroll
1988 “Psalms.” In Bible Commentary, ed. by James L. Mays, 394–446. New York: Harper One.Google Scholar
Sweeney, Matthew
2012 Tanak: A Theological and Critical Introduction to the Jewish Bible. Minneapolis: Fortress.Google Scholar
Trask, Robert L.
1997 The History of Basque. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Uriarte, Jose Antonio
1858 Canticum Canticorum Salomonis; Tribus Vasconice Linguae Dialectis in Hispania Vigentibus Versum. London: Impensis Ludovici Luciani Bonaparte.Google Scholar
Urkizu, Patri
2003 Bertsolaritzaren Historia: Lapurdi, Baxanabarre eta Zuberoako Bertso eta Kantak II. Donostia: Etor.Google Scholar
Urla, Jacqueline
1997 “Outlaw Language: Creating Alternative Public Spheres in Basque Free Radio” (Reprint). In The Politics of Culture in the Shadow of Capital, ed. by Lisa Lowe, and David Lloyd, 280–300. Durham: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
White, Linda
1999 “Mission for the Millenium: Gendering and Engendering Basque Literature for the Next Thousand Years.” In Basque Studies Program Occasional Paper Series 5: 134–148.Google Scholar
Wilson, Robert R.
1988 “Ezekiel.” In Bible Commentary, ed. by James L. Mays, 583–622. New York: Harper One.Google Scholar