Localization Inbetween Pays de Cize (Garazi in Basque) and Pays de Mixe (Amikuze in Basque) is a little entity named Ostabarret (Oztibarre in Basque) : its capital is Ostabat the official name of which originates from the Gascon variant of Oztibarre i.e. Ostavath "the valley of Ozta" (vath - pronounced as bat(ch) - is the Gascon heir to the Latin vallum ; *(h)ozta being probably a formation based on Basque hotz "cold" + locative suffix -ta : "the cold place"). Due to its position on St. James' Way before the passes leading to Iberia, the village was home to many hospitals and inns which attracted a Gascon-speaking population who had a rather strong impact on the onomastics of the area with many autochtonous Basque people having surnames with obvious Romance roots.
Nevertheless, for local Navarrese people, the village never was known by the name of the valley but had its own name which contradicted the official usage : Izura (from Basque izur "fold"). Such double tradition illustrates pretty well the reluctance of Basque people to adopt the official Romance world local administration imposed on them.
Nevertheless, for local Navarrese people, the village never was known by the name of the valley but had its own name which contradicted the official usage : Izura (from Basque izur "fold"). Such double tradition illustrates pretty well the reluctance of Basque people to adopt the official Romance world local administration imposed on them.
Ost could not be Ost, as in 'the Sky' or 'celestial God'? Also known as Urtzi, Ortzi, you know: osteguna (Ost's day = Jupiter's day = thursday), ostirala (Ost's fern field = friday, the akelarre day), oskarri (Ost's stone = lighting), etc.
RépondreSupprimerI say because I find the tz>zt transposition a bit forced and unnatural (vanishing of the T seems more likely instead with a TZ original) and, being on St. Jame's way, which is no doubt much older than Christianity (although it probably went originally to Portugal rather than Galicia, if we are to judge by Chalcolithic trading evidence), I would bet for a religious name indeed.
Oztibarre sounds like the river bank of Ost. But who knows?
I wonder if this Ost reference may be the reason of so many toponyms in -os/-ues, whose intrepretation has always been a mystery. If it read like "god of whatever" (much like "St. Mary of whatever", you know) or something like that...