ABSTRACTBasque possesses a class of verbs with the characteristic class markers ‐n.These verbs exhibit a number of morphological peculiarities which distinguish them from verbs of other classes, notable an uncertainty as to whether the ‐nis part of the stem or not, the presence of an unexpectediin certain derived forms, and the use of post‐consonantla suffixes after vowels. It is proposed that this class of verbs developed from the larger, and well‐behaved, ‐iclass of verbs as a consequence of regular phonological change followed by r