Basque beginners' course

User avatar
Zoroa
Posts:2025
Joined:2002-12-13, 16:53
Gender:male
Location:NYC
Country:FRFrance (France)

Postby Zoroa » 2006-05-04, 1:02

The second auxiliary - ukan

Okay, so we saw the verb "to be", izan. It is also an auxiliary. but we'll see it a bit later.

Let's conjugate another verb, ukan (to have) which is also an auxiliary.

As to have is directly transitive, you will have to know the declension of the personal pronoun at the ergative case. Don't worry, just add "k".

Nik dut
Zuk duzu
(Hark, berak) du
Guk dugu
Zuek duzue
(Haiek) dute

Just take two seconds to look at the bolded endings, and tell me if you see something you already know.

Now I will add a subtlety (and it won't be the last...). When the object is plural, just add "it" after the "d"

Nik ditut
Zuk dituzu
(Hark, berak) ditu
Guk ditugu
Zuek dituzue
(Haiek) ditute

I have the house : Nik extea dut
I have the houses : Nik etxeak ditut

If you really want to count, use "bat", one, used with the noun without the article

I have one apple : Nik sagar bat dut
I have apples : Nik sagarrak ditut


Clear ? We can go for hard stuff now

How to conjugate a verb ?

Few verbs are synthetic, ie conjugate. The other verbs use the articles.
If the verb is intransitive, use izan.
If the verb is transitive, use ukan.

There is no real infinitive in Basque. Verbs are found in the dictionnary with their past participle. The past participle is combinated to the auxiliary to create a kind of uncontinuous time, used for present perfect or not continuous present.

Jan : eaten (to eat)
Etorri : come (to come). This verb is also synthetic but in this case, we can use it normally.

I eat (In fact I have eaten or I regularly eat)
Nik jan dut.

I come (I have come or I regularly come)
Ni etorri naiz.

Now verbs can use both articles, mainly to create the reflexive form.

Ex : galdu (to lose)

I lost (my) the books : Nik liburuak galdu ditut
I am lost : Ni galdu naiz

Got it ?

Zoroa ;)
Deviens qui tu es !
Nietzsche "Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra"

User avatar
Zoroa
Posts:2025
Joined:2002-12-13, 16:53
Gender:male
Location:NYC
Country:FRFrance (France)

Postby Zoroa » 2006-05-05, 14:39

Let's learn words !

Beside the basic sentences you can find in the first post, I think it's time to learn a few words, maybe to describe oneself, etc...
If you need words, please ask.

To describe oneself

young : gazte
old : zahar
tall : handi, luze
small : txiki, ttipi, ttiki (the last two are diminutive)
happy : pozik (pozik egon : to be happy)
sad : triste (triste egon : to be sad)
fat : gizen, lodi
slim : mehe, argal
handsome/pretty : polit
ugly : itsusi

A few basic words for the Basque country

Etxe : house
Janetxe : restaurant (you know jan, to eat, you know etxe, house, so you know what janetxe means...)
Hondartza : beach
Mendi : mountain
Itsaso : sea
Jai : party (the Basque fiestas, like San Fermin)

Ikurriña : the Basque flag
Lauburu : the Basque cross (Lau = 4, Buru = head)
Euskadi : the Basque country
Euskal Herri : The Basque country geographically
Herri : country/town/village/town
Euskaldun : Basque speaker (lit. the one who has Basque) = Basque
Euskotar : Someone living in the Basque country
Euskara/Eskuara/Euskera : Basque
Eusko : Basque (the adjective)

A few occupations

Student : ikasle
Teacher : irakasle
Doctor : mediku
Engineer : ingeniari
Wow I don't know what would be useful for you, so before I write useless words for you right now, ask me, it would be easier.

Don't hesitate to ask if you need some vocabulary for a specific topic.

Zoroa ;)
Deviens qui tu es !

Nietzsche "Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra"

User avatar
theinterpreter87
Posts:14
Joined:2005-07-22, 14:13
Real Name:Julian M.
Gender:male
Location:Adana, Turkey
Country:TRTurkey (Türkiye)
Contact:

Postby theinterpreter87 » 2006-05-07, 22:27

common' sweetie, the lesson is starting to drag....
The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion. -Thomas Paine

toksave
Posts:231
Joined:2005-09-11, 0:10
Real Name:dayron anaya
Gender:male
Location:Miami
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Postby toksave » 2006-05-08, 1:22

what was that? zoroa you continue with your lesson ;)

User avatar
Zoroa
Posts:2025
Joined:2002-12-13, 16:53
Gender:male
Location:NYC
Country:FRFrance (France)

Postby Zoroa » 2006-05-08, 17:17

the lesson is starting to drag....


In what way ?
Deviens qui tu es !

Nietzsche "Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra"

erlantz
Posts:18
Joined:2002-12-23, 16:49
Real Name:Erlantz Gamboa
Gender:female
Location:Puebla Mexico

Kaixo Zoroa, zer moduz?

Postby erlantz » 2006-05-09, 19:01

Euskadiko leku izenak azaltzea eta itzultzea nere oraingo asmoa da. Zuk jakiten duzunezkero, denbora igarotean anitz erdeldu diren. Denbora ezabatzea ezinezkoa da, bainan zerbait birlortzea ahalgarria iruditzen zait. Eta arlo ontan ari naiz.

Beharbada begi bat ganean ipini dezakezu.

Nere orrien zuzenbideak ementxe dituzu:

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/erlantz ... _ARABA.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/erlantz ... IZKAIA.htm

Agur bero bat

Erlantz Ganboa

User avatar
theinterpreter87
Posts:14
Joined:2005-07-22, 14:13
Real Name:Julian M.
Gender:male
Location:Adana, Turkey
Country:TRTurkey (Türkiye)
Contact:

Postby theinterpreter87 » 2006-05-10, 5:53

oh my gosh! i'm so sorry, i thought the lesson had stopped, i'm such a dork. i didn't push for page two! i'm so behind. I'm sorry, i just thought that you weren't posting anymore lessons. please forgive me! i'm so sorry! :oops:
The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion. -Thomas Paine

User avatar
pasalupo
Posts:908
Joined:2005-08-01, 11:19
Real Name:Wolfgang
Gender:male
Location:Jutlando (DK)
Country:DKDenmark (Danmark)

Postby pasalupo » 2006-05-10, 6:09

Zoroa wrote:Euskal Herri : The Basque country geographically
Herri : country/town/village/town

I would like to ask about the etymology of this word. It reminds me of the old Scandinavian word herað, which is herred in modern Danish. It is the name of an administrative unit. One never knows which strange travels words take sometines
Gentles do not reprehend.

User avatar
Zoroa
Posts:2025
Joined:2002-12-13, 16:53
Gender:male
Location:NYC
Country:FRFrance (France)

Postby Zoroa » 2006-05-10, 8:04

@ erlantz :

Begi bat ipiniko dut,ez badakit lagundu zaitutenentz baino...

I'll try !

@ theinterpreter87

Don't worry I won't spank you :D But you are always free to criticize ! (Btw in Basque, to spank is tas-tas eman :D)

@ pasalupo

I really don't know, I just know that herri appears also in Berber. This is one of the ancient word of Basque. I'll try to make some research about it...


Zoroa ;)
Deviens qui tu es !

Nietzsche "Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra"

User avatar
nettchelobek1
Posts:1694
Joined:2006-04-17, 21:59
Real Name:Francisco R. Trejo Campos
Gender:male
Location:Chilangolandia
Country:MXMexico (México)
Contact:

Postby nettchelobek1 » 2006-05-25, 0:00

wow Zoroa! you're doing a great job, congratulations! I'm following your lessons, but don't stop, continue with them, teach us more about verbs and declensions, maybe if you write some useful sentences which are used frequently. :D
Well, it's just a suggestion, bear that in mind, please.

User avatar
Zoroa
Posts:2025
Joined:2002-12-13, 16:53
Gender:male
Location:NYC
Country:FRFrance (France)

Postby Zoroa » 2006-05-25, 7:53

Because I like to have my ego flattered here is new stuff for you 8)

Two other useful cases

Let's start with a case called Norekin (associative), usually used to translate the preposition "with".
I introduce another word, lagun, which means friend (etymologically, it has the same root as lagundu, to help. Remember the Beatles'song, With a little help of my friends).

lagun lagunekin lagunarekin lagunekin

I go with my friend : Nire lagunarekin noa (nire = my)

Another case is called Nortaz (or zertaz, for zer is "what", and this case is mostly used with objects) and translates the instrumental.
I introduce another word, oin, foot

Oin oinez oinaz oinez

I go by foot : Oinez noa

Note : if the noun ends up with a vowel, only use for indefinite the ending "rekin" and "z" for both cases. Ex amona, grandmother = amonarekin --> with a grandmother. Kanta, song = Kantaz --> with, by a song.

It's time to introduce the word order in Basque. In an affirmative sentence, the world order is SOV. But, thanks to the cases, the order is flexible. The verb is quite always at the end, but what comes close to it is ranked more important.

Ex : Itsasora lagunekin oinez noa : I go the beach with friends by foot

Oinez lagunekin itsasora noa : I go to the beach with friends by foot

Oinez itsasora lagunekin noa : I go to the beach with friends by foot

Enough for today, but to leave you with some stuff to muse over, here are some transportation means:

Tren : I don't translate it...
Hegazkin : plane
Kotxe : car (auto and berebil also exist)
Autobus : Bus
Kamioi : lorry/truck
etc...

And more about the word friend : The neutral word for friend is adiskide (etymologically fellow (kide) of the same age (adinez)). You can find another funny word, motel, which is used in slang to say : man, my friend, amigo, etc...
Bai, motel, bai... yeah man yeah ! :D

Zoroa ;)
Deviens qui tu es !

Nietzsche "Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra"

User avatar
nettchelobek1
Posts:1694
Joined:2006-04-17, 21:59
Real Name:Francisco R. Trejo Campos
Gender:male
Location:Chilangolandia
Country:MXMexico (México)
Contact:

Postby nettchelobek1 » 2006-05-25, 12:37

Thank you to pay attention to my message!
It's flattering for me. :D
Just a doubt: When I checked up on Basque pronunciation, I was told that it's quite similar to Spanish one,of course, I am acquainted with the clusters such as tx, tz and so on; since I'm a Spanish native speaker, I was pleased about that, but I didn't know whether the letter "c" and "g" behaves the same as in Spanish, with differents sounds in front of the letters "e" and "i". :?
Well, thanks in advance. :lol:

User avatar
Zoroa
Posts:2025
Joined:2002-12-13, 16:53
Gender:male
Location:NYC
Country:FRFrance (France)

Postby Zoroa » 2006-05-25, 14:15

Not at all :D

The letter c doesn't exist in Basque and is usd only in foreign words.
The letter g is always pronounced like "gu", never like j. For instance gerra (war) is pronounced "guerra", and the word giro (weather) is pronounced "guiro".

Zoroa ;)
Deviens qui tu es !

Nietzsche "Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra"

User avatar
nettchelobek1
Posts:1694
Joined:2006-04-17, 21:59
Real Name:Francisco R. Trejo Campos
Gender:male
Location:Chilangolandia
Country:MXMexico (México)
Contact:

Postby nettchelobek1 » 2006-05-26, 5:58

Thank you for the explanation! :D I'm excited with this course, but I've another proposal. Do you mind if you can leave some exercises for every class, so we can practice the new subjects and you can check our progress? :D

User avatar
nettchelobek1
Posts:1694
Joined:2006-04-17, 21:59
Real Name:Francisco R. Trejo Campos
Gender:male
Location:Chilangolandia
Country:MXMexico (México)
Contact:

Postby nettchelobek1 » 2006-06-02, 5:50

I'm looking forward for new lessons, I guess somebody else too, I hope that Zoroa has still time and will to write them... :roll:
"From relativity ... one obtains an unequivocal proof for the view of philosophers who, like Parmenides, Kant, and the modern idealists, deny the objectivity of change as an illusion or appearance due to our special mode of perception" Gödel.

User avatar
Zoroa
Posts:2025
Joined:2002-12-13, 16:53
Gender:male
Location:NYC
Country:FRFrance (France)

Postby Zoroa » 2006-06-05, 11:14

Kaixo !

Here is a new lesson only for you. In this lesson we will discuss the two genetives in euskara.

About the two genitives

What the hell am I talking about ? For all, genitive is the case that links an "ownee" to its owner.
Basque has this case, and calls it Noren.

Ok let's take a word you know, mendi (mountain) here is the declension

mendirEN mendiAREN mendiEN

Notice that when a word ends in a vowel, it takes an r if the ending begins with e or i in singular, i.e. in most non definite singular cases.

Another useful remark. Instead of using genitive, euskara can create compounded words. Genitive stresses the possession relationships between two words, whereas compounds only indicates a relationship btw them.

Ex : Mendi tontor : a moutain peak
Mendiaren tontor : "a peak of the mountain"

Get the difference ?

Now let's get deeper...

The second genitive in euskara is called nongo.

I give you a useful word and easily reconglizable :

Apartamendu (flat)

Apartamendutako apartamenduko apartamenduetako

The nongo genitive, called also locative genitive, indicates a relation ship of locative possession. Wow.

If you take the word gela, room, you'll see it.

Apartamenduko gela : the room of (in) the flat.
Mendiko etxea : the house of (in) the mountain.

The nongo case is used in some other cases, but it is a bit more subtle, so I leave it for another lesson


Do you want more ?

Just a small addendum to make you weigh euskara's richness. This is double declension

How would you translate itsasorako bidea (bide = road, path, way, etc...) ?

Itsasorako = itsaso r a ko = of (in) the direction of the sea. In English, the path to the sea. But euskara it keeps the close relationship of the genitive, as if the path was especially designed to go to the sea.

That's all for today folks !

Agur,

Zoroa ;)
Deviens qui tu es !

Nietzsche "Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra"

User avatar
Hubi
Posts:918
Joined:2005-09-24, 17:36
Real Name:Florian Huber
Gender:male
Location:AT
Country:ATAustria (Österreich)
Contact:

Postby Hubi » 2006-06-06, 11:38

Nik galde bat dut: Zer zentzu "ela"-k du? Hala nola "dagoela"-n eta "zoazela"-n?
Wie wird das chemische Element Brom gewonnen?
Man nimmt eine Hand voll Brombeeren und lässt sie zur Erde fallen. Die Beeren verbinden sich mit Erde zu Erdbeeren und Brom wird frei.

User avatar
Zoroa
Posts:2025
Joined:2002-12-13, 16:53
Gender:male
Location:NYC
Country:FRFrance (France)

Postby Zoroa » 2006-06-06, 12:09

Nik galde bat dut: Zer zentzu "ela"-k du? Hala nola "dagoela"-n eta "zoazela"-n?


-(e)la is the particle for subordinate clauses (i.e. "that")

Egia dela badakit : I know it is true.

With a subjonctive, it can be translated as "may..."

On dagizula ! (May you) Enjoy (your meal) !

With "bai" it translates the sentences like "how..."

Bai polita dela ! How prettey she is !

With "ere" it translates the conjunction "though"

Gose dela ere : Though she's sick

With "eta" it translates the sentences "on account of" :

Hori dela eta : on account of that

Hope it helps !

(Remember, -(e)la becomes -rik for a negative principal clause)

Zoroa ;)
Deviens qui tu es !

Nietzsche "Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra"

User avatar
Hubi
Posts:918
Joined:2005-09-24, 17:36
Real Name:Florian Huber
Gender:male
Location:AT
Country:ATAustria (Österreich)
Contact:

Postby Hubi » 2006-06-06, 12:16

Ah, thanks for the explanation! :)
(and my question was correct :yiihi:)
Wie wird das chemische Element Brom gewonnen?
Man nimmt eine Hand voll Brombeeren und lässt sie zur Erde fallen. Die Beeren verbinden sich mit Erde zu Erdbeeren und Brom wird frei.

User avatar
Zoroa
Posts:2025
Joined:2002-12-13, 16:53
Gender:male
Location:NYC
Country:FRFrance (France)

Postby Zoroa » 2006-06-06, 12:18

In fact we'd rather say

"dagoela" eta "zoazela"-n?

But what you wrote is perfectly understandable, and basque speakers make the mistake of agreeing both parts too.

Zoroa ;)
Deviens qui tu es !

Nietzsche "Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra"


Return to “Basque (Euskara)”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests