In Basque, people call themselves the euskaldunak, singular euskaldun, formed from euskal- (i.e. "Basque (language)") and -dun (i.e. "one who has"); euskaldun literally means a Basque-speaker. Not all Basques are Basque-speakers. Therefore, the neologism euskotar, plural euskotarrak, was coined in the 19th century to mean a Basque person, whether Basque-speaking or not. Alfonso Irigoyen posits that the word euskara is derived from an ancient Basque verb enautsi "to say" (compare modern Basque esan) and the suffix -(k)ara ("way (of doing something)"). Thus, euskara would mean literally "way of saying" or "way of speaking". One item of evidence in favour of that hypothesis is found in the Spanish book Compendio Historial, written in 1571 by the Basque writer Esteban de Garibay. He records the name of the Basque language as enusquera. That may, however, be a writing mistake.
in basque people call themselves the euskaldunak singular euskaldun formed from euskal- (ie "basque (language)") and -dun (ie "one who has"); euskaldun literally means a basque-speaker not all basques are basque-speakers therefore the neologism euskotar plural euskotarrak was coined in the 19th century to mean a basque person whether basque-speaking or not alfonso irigoyen posits that the word euskara is derived from an ancient basque verb enautsi "to say" (compare modern basque esan) and the suffix -(k)ara ("way (of doing something)") thus euskara would mean literally "way of saying" or "way of speaking" one item of evidence in favour of that hypothesis is found in the spanish book compendio historial written in 1571 by the basque writer esteban de garibay he records the name of the basque language as enusquera that may however be a writing mistake