alfabetoa

Alfabetoa is the Basque word for the alphabet and, in linguistic use, denotes the set of letters used to write Basque. The current system is based on the Latin script and was codified through standardized Basque orthography developed by Euskaltzaindia, the Royal Academy of the Basque Language, in the 20th century. The alphabet is designed to represent Basque phonology faithfully while remaining compatible with the Latin script used in neighboring languages.

It uses the 26-letter Latin alphabet as its base and incorporates two common digraphs, tx and tz, which represent distinct Basque sounds. These digraphs are treated as functional units in spelling, even though they are not separate letters in all contexts. The phoneme inventory centers on five vowels: a, e, i, o, u; consonants include the sounds found across Basque phonology, with some letters primarily occurring in loanwords.

Orthography guidelines cover capitalization, hyphenation, and the transcription of foreign terms. Loanwords are adapted to Basque spelling rules, and occasional letters such as w and v appear mainly in proper names or updated loanwords. The standard Alfabetoa is taught in Basque schools and used in official media, education, and publishing to ensure consistency across dialects and regions.

See also: Basque language, Euskaltzaindia, Basque orthography.