Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.1979, Page 107

Um þrjú basknesk-íslemk orðasöfn frá 17. öld
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SUMMARY
I. Two Basque-Icelandic vocabularies, dating from the 17th century, are among
the manuscripts of the Arnamagnæan Institute in Copenhagen. A third voca-
bulary was in existence until the 19th century, when a few words were copied
from it, but the original has been lost. All three are different, and were probably
compiled by different authors. They were published by Deen in 1937. II. Basque
whalers and fishermen frequented Icelandic waters in the 17th and early 18th
centuries. The first mention of Basques in Iceland dates from 1604. Several
sources are examined here to show their dealings, mainly in North-Western Ice-
land, until 1712, as whalers, shipwrecked sailors and illegal traders during the
Danish Trade Monopoly. III. The vocabularies consist mainly of single words,
but a few short sentences with verb forms occur. In one of the vocabularies some
sentences are composed in a Basque lingua franca. A third Ianguage, possibly
Latin, may have been used to compile the vocabularies, but in several cases a
more immediate approach can be discerned, in which objects and actions were
pointed out directly. IV. The authors are unknown, but two well-known 17th
century Icelandic writers associated with Basques, and one of them, lón Ólafsson
Indíafari, shows an interest in languages, among other things by including a short
Tamil-Icelandic vocabulary in his autobiography.