Okay folks, first welcome to this new thread.
I don't have much time to write a complete and beautiful course, but I intended to open this thread in order for it to be more of a question/answer on some basic stuffs (or more complicated if you wish
).
Now to start, check
this to see how to pronounce Basque. Don't be afraid, nothing really hard here. You will also have the basic word list I am a bit lazy to write about.
I'll try to write in batua, the official Basque language.
Then, we'll tackle two very easy issues.
1. How to conjugate the verb izan (to be)
Izan is the equivalent of to be, a close approximation of ser in Spanish. It is used to describe the inner qualities of the subject, and also used in conjuagation.
Ni naiz
I am
Zu zara
You (sing) are
(Bera, Hura) da
He, she is
Gu gara
We are
Zuek zarete
You (plur) are
(Hauek) dira
They are
Several remarks :
1. For the third persons, Basque almost never use the pronoun. That's why I put them between brackets.
For the other persons, it's not complusory to use the pronoun.
2. The singular form of "you" is said to be the formal one. Another one exists, I'll talk about it a bit later.
3. For all the persons, except the third ones, notice that the first letter of the verb is the same as the pronoun's.
4. The "ek" of "zuek" and the "te" ending of "zarete" are marks of the plural.
5. The pronouns are at a case called absolutive.
2. The noun and the adjective
No special ending for a noun in Basque.
At the absolutive case, in which you'll find words in the dictionnary, the ending is nothing. To form the plural, just add AK.
In singular, you have a distinction between "definite" and "indefinite". Just remember this, the equivalent of "the" in English is the word "-a" that you add at the end of the name.
Let's take a word : gizon, man.
Gizon : man Gizona : The man Gizonak : The men/Men
When a word ends with an "A", the two As merge.
EX: Neska, girl
Neska : The girl/Girl Neskak : The girls/Girls
For adjectives, use the same rule.
Now I add two other important rules.
1. The one I called the train rule : a nominal group is regarded as a whole.
Let's take the adjective gazte (young) and the noun gizon (man). The ending is only added to the last part of the nominal group.
Gazte gizon : Young man Gazte gizona : The young man Gazte gizonak : The young men/young men.
And it is the same if you, for instance, link two adjetcives with, let's say "eta" (and). Let's add eder (nice, handsome) to the wordlist.
Eder eta gazte gizon : Young and handsome man
Eder eta gazte gizona : The young and hansome man
Eder eta gazte gizonak : The young and handsome men/Young and handsome men.
2. The subject attribute is always marked with the "-a". Thus, I am a doctor is said I am the doctor.
Ni medikua naiz, ni pilotua (pilote) naiz, ni ikaslea (student) naiz, etc...
Feel free to ask your questions.
Zoroa