The Basque Telugu Connection

The Basque language (also known as Euskara) has fascinated linguists for centuries. It's considered the sole surviving non-Indo-European language in Western Europe. The phrase 'language isolate' always surfaces in any discussion on Basque. That's because no one has been able to authoritatively explain the origins of Euskara.

Experts opine that it bears no resemblance to Russian, Ukranian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Serbo- Croatian, Bulgarian, German, Dutch, English, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Celtic, Irish, French,Italian, Catalan, Spanish, Portugese, Iranian, Persian, Hindi and even Sanskrit.

Anthropologist Nicolae Lahovary was the first to speculate about the Dravidian origins of Basque in 1963. For reasons best known to them, the mainstream researchers have continued to ignore the pioneering work of Lahovary.

As this blogger has pinpointed with his earlier posts, Indo-Dravidians have clearly left footprints right through Europe before migrating to Canada and the rest of America sometime around the last glacial maximum.

A part of that race could have moved Eastward via Basque Country into Africa and then headed to later day South India. I have a little evidence to connect Basque to an unlikely Indo-Dravidian language: Telugu.

Yes, of all the Dravidian languages that Lahovary talked about, Telugu seems to be the one with the strongest connect. With my rather limited knowledge of Telugu, I have culled out some words that mean the same in Telugu and Basque. Study the words, and you'll wonder why no one's taken Lahovary serious yet.

English	Basque	Telugu
Rice	Arroz	Arise
Water	Ura	Udagam
Mother	Ama	Amma
Brother	Anaia	Anna
Dog	Txakurra	Kurra
Leg	Hanka	Janga (calf of leg)
Wood	Egura	Agaru (fragrant wood)
Burn	Erre	Eriyuka
Queen	Eregina	Raajni
Head	Burua	Burra
Back	Itzuli	Idigilu