The three partners of language planning and the revitalization of the Basque language in the Northern Basque Country

Abstract

This paper deals with the current situation of the Basque language and the policy implemented in its favor in the Northern Basque Country or French Basque Country. One of the aims is to show the limits of the public linguistic policy implemented, for the first time, by the authorities. If the commitment of the associations of support for the language is important, that of society as a whole is less, even if the latter becomes gradually more favorable. From a general point view, we can say that three partners or protagonists are involved in the process of recovery or loss of a language. In one way or another, the government and regional and local authorities are the decision-makers and financial backers, the agents of the linguistic policy are the providers, project managers, society and citizens are the addressees/beneficiaries. This leads me to develop a theory of the actors in the process of revitalization or loss of a language, the Three Partners Model, as a descriptive and explanatory framework.