Wiley Prior (Spanish 2026) spent Spring semester 2025 in Bilbao, Spain, as part of the UMW study abroad program there. Wiley, who is a Spanish major, enjoyed interacting with the Basque people, taking in as much as possible. In addition to further developing his skills in Spanish, he also experienced the vitality of the Basque language, and witnessed how intertwined Spanish and Basque culture are. Upon returning to UMW, he decided to pursue an independent study (SPAN 491) on the loanwords that Spanish has taken from Basque, with faculty mentor Dr. Gonzalo Campos-Dintrans.
His work during Fall 2025 involved researching about the history of the Basque people and their language. Connecting his experience in Bilbao to his academic work during the semester, Wiley and Dr Campos-Dintrans decided to create a podcast-style project in which they discussed language contact, especially between Spanish and Basque, but also making connections to other language contact situations. Wiley’s final product, titled “Préstamos del Eusquera” involved both an audio and video production of their conversation in Spanish and is now available on Youtube.
Wiley posits that through loanwords we can learn about the relationship between two ethnolinguistic groups, and that what makes the Basque language so interesting is not so much the fact that it is an isolate language, but rather, the fact that its speakers have been able to maintain their language for millennia.
While studying abroad in Bilbao, I learned a great deal about the Basque country, its people and its language. During Fall 2025, I started my Independent study looking at loan words between Spanish and Basque, and it has been incredibly satisfying to put together my experience abroad with my academic work at UMW
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