House names in the Roncal Valley: a methodology for the fixation of their witten form

• Main Author: Juan Karlos Lopez-Mugartza Iriarte
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: UPV/EHU Press 2018-09-01
• Series: Anuario del Seminario de Filología Vasca "Julio de Urquijo"
• Online Access: https://ojs.ehu.eus/index.php/ASJU/article/view/20213

Oikonymy is the field of onomastics which explores house names. This article discusses how house names in the Roncal Valley were collected and what kind of methodological and ethical criteria guided the work of collecting them. The goal of this research work is to preserve and safeguard the non-material treasure found in house names in the Roncal Valley. Names in written documents have been compared to those taken from oral surveys. To a large extent, the problems associated with such a study are philological, because a consequence of studying house names is this valley is that the importance of Basque and the relationship there has been between this Basque and Navarrese-Aragonese Romance becomes clear. But as well as philological problems, sociolinguistic and other issues must be taken into account. Indeed, the contributions of philologists cannot go against the house owners' opinions and feelings. Above all documents, special consideration is due to the people who live there.