Biscayan

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Biscayan (sometimes Bizkaian) (Basque: Bizakaiera)is a dialect of the Basque language spoken in the Vizcaya (Basque: Bizkaia) province of the Basque Country (autonomous community) of Spain.

It is the only member of the western branch of the Basque language. The territory in which it is spoken, that also extends slightly into neighbour Alava and Gipuzkoa, bears great similarity to that of the Caristii tribe, as described by Roman authors.

Whilst it is treated as stylish to write in Biscayan, and it is still spoken generally in about half of Bizkaia and some other municipalities, the dialect suffers from the double pressure of Unified Basque and Spanish.

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