En busca de la lengua original: la teoría del vasco primitivo en Julio Cejador

Abstract

In this article, we offer our own view about one of the most controversial and widely-debated questions among linguists, namely, the issue of the origin of all languages. Julio Cejador is one of the linguists who supports the monogenetic theory, based on the assumption that all languages stem from a single one. He defends the theory of the Primitive Basque in a short, well-known book entitled El lenguaje (1901-1914). According to his theory, Euskera is the original language from which all the other languages have derived. So, here we intend to analyse the backgrounds to that theory, which counts on a long tradition of centuries, and we also provide some of the ideas underpinning it.