Introduction to Basque

by Alan R. King

Alan King, 1997 All Rights Reserved

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Preface
The idea of publishing this Introduction came from several directions simultaneously, and it is hoped that it will fill a certain void in a useful manner. I have not set out to write this collection of materials from scratch, but have been content to draw from, and even reproduce, selected passages and resources most of which I have published elsewhere previously in a variety of places. I have endeavoured to make it clear in each case where I am recycling the material from, and the interested reader is encouraged to refer to the original sources for fuller information. Evidently, such a collection neednt be read from one end to the other in the order presented, and no chapter is a prerequisite for reading any other. Chapter 1 (Frequently Asked Questions) has been newly written, and a similar item is simultaneously being added to my website. The questions are authentic ones representative of frequent queries I receive about the Basque language from a variety of people: how can I learn Basque? where does Basque come from? and so on. While in principle I am happy to hear from anyone with an interest in the subject, the same questions do tend to get asked again and again, and since my time, like everyone elses, is limited, these FAQ may help to cut corners in the future. Chapter 2 (The Basque Language Today) is a compilation of some general facts and information about present-day social aspects of the languages existence, ranging from the countrys geography and recent political background to Basque-language media and the contemporary music and fiesta scene. You can also find out what Basques think of foreigners who try to speak their language, and there is a brief sketch of the present sociolinguistic situation. This material derives from information given in Colloquial Basque, a language course recently published by Begotxu Olaizola and myself, except for the sociolinguistic section which was originally an appendix in my Ph.D. dissertation. Chapter 3 (Getting Started) will lead you by the hand while allowing you to confront your first Basque dialogue. The point here is not to learn to speak Basque in half an hour, but just to provide a first foretaste of what this language is like. This is actually an excerpt from my larger-scale Basque course, called The Basque Language: A Practical Introduction. Chapter 4 (Grammatical Sketch) will be the meals main course for those with a strong stomach for such fare, while others may well prefer to save it for reference use or just skip it altogether. It doesnt contain everything there is to be known about Basque grammar, since that wouldnt fit into twenty pages (and wouldnt be very readable if it did!), but I dare say it will serve to put those interested in the picture regarding the languages overall grammatical ground pattern. Those looking for more detailed information than can be offered here will be ready to dive into something more substantial afterwards. The better part of this chapter is actually a very abbreviated version of a section of The Basque Language. Chapter 5 (Communicative Basque) gives another view of the language, to be taken on its own or in conjunction with the grammatical sketch. It consists of some very commonplace conversational Basque sentence patterns organized according to the communicative functions they are typically used to realize; both the organization and the examples have been culled from my Basque Threshold Level book, Atalase Maila. Naturally, there is some variation between Basque dialects regarding the precise form of the most common phrases. Since such variation could not be accommodated within the present modest scope, I have opted for a bias towards one dialect, the Gipuzkoan, which is in any case very widely understood in most places these days. Chapter 6 (Basic Vocabulary) is arranged by subject and has also been derived from the Basque Threshold Level. There is nothing like a good old piece of text with its translation and, if possible, accompanying notes to provide the weathered field linguist with a rough-and-ready first picture of an unfamiliar language, and I have catered to this need, within the limited space available, in Chapter 7 (Sample Texts). I have opted for two brief passages of Biblical

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narrative, using the recent and excellently translated Basque Bible. There are of course arguments for and against using biblical passages for such purposes; while aware of both, it seems to me that this remains a useful exercise; besides, I can vouch for the idiomatic, wellwritten nature of this particular translation, which reflects the best of modern literary Basque style at the present time. For the first passage I have chosen a personal favourite, the Forbidden Fruit story at the beginning of Genesis. Following a hallowed tradition, I include as the second and last passage part of the Prodigal Son parable from Luke. In Chapter 8 (Further Reading) I end with a few pointers for those who do not wish to stop here. It is not my objective to offer a heavyweight bibliography, so please do not expect to find one! This is, after all, merely an Introduction. May many appetites be whetted! For those which are, I remain open to further discussion, comments and queries via my email address (alanking@bigfoot.com) or website (http://www.eirelink.com/alanking/). On egin!

Alan R. King Zarautz, 1997

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8. Frequently Asked Questions The Basque Language Today Getting Started Grammatical Sketch Communicative Basque Basic Vocabulary Sample Texts Further Reading

Chapter 1

Frequently Asked Questions*

Questions about learning Basque
Is Basque grammar difficult? Is it unlike anything else? Sound like simple questions, dont they? Yet actually a conscientious linguist can give no simple answer. Define difficult. Have you successfully learnt a foreign language before, and if so, would you say it was difficult? My own opinion is that really learning any language is hard work. Some people nevertheless enjoy the adventure. But is Basque more difficult than other languages to learn? That again depends on which other languages youre comparing with, and what you know before you learn them. Generalizing, learning any Indo-European language of Europe (i.e. almost any European language except for Basque, Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Maltese or Turkish etc., depending on how were defining Europe, of course) is easy if you already know another European language, as you probably do if youre reading this, and even easier still if you know more than one, as compared to learning, say, a language from another continent. This is because European languages are pretty similar to each other, in global terms, and also because they have a great many words, phrases, and even grammatical devices in common. Basque is an exception in this sense, at least to some extent. The reason is that it is not related to all those other European languages, which unlike Basque belong to a single language family called Indo-European. Basque is different, and different is usually harder to learn. So how different is Basque? Well actually, once we accept the basic fact that it is a completely different kind of language from its Indo-European neighbours, it has to be said that it does share some things with these. Not surprising, given that they have been in close contact for millennia. But still, if you want a short answer: yes, its pretty different. Could you please advise me on a good beginning textbook and where to buy it and a good source for tapes for pronunciation? This is slightly embarassing, but the only books I can recommend at present were all written by me. There are two to choose between: (a) A Basque Course: A Practical Introduction by Alan R.. King, published by the University of Nevada Press (Reno, Las Vegas and London), 1994; (b) Colloquial Basque: A Complete Language Course by Alan R. King & Begotxu Olaizola Elordi, published by Routledge (London and New York), 1996. Colloquial Basque can be bought on its own or with two accompanying 60-minute cassettes. There are no tapes to accompany A Basque Course. Where you can buy them will depend on where you are. It would be nice to say available in all good bookshops (if your British, or bookstores if American). Colloquial is the better distributed of the two. Ridiculously (not my fault, Im only the

author), both are very hard to get hold of in the Basque Country itself, so youre strongly advised to buy your copy before coming over here!! Prices change over time and are not my responsibility, but the last time I looked The Basque Language was in the region of $60 in the U.S. and 45 in the U.K., and Colloquial Basque, which is a much smaller book, roughly half that (without the cassettes). Please do contact a bookshop/store or the publishers for more accurate information. The publishers addresses are as follows: University of Nevada Press/MS 166 (for The Basque Language) University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada 89557-0076 USA Tel. (702) 784 6573 Fax: (702) 784 6200 Routledge (UK) (for Colloquial Basque) 11 New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EE United Kingdom Tel. 0171-583 9855 Fax: 0171-842 2306 or for USA and Canada: Routledge Inc. 29 West 35th Street New York NY 10001 Tel. 244 3336 Fax: 563 2269 Some of the materials in this Introduction to Basque are drawn from or based on one or the other of these books, as I have indicated where appropriate, so you can get your first foretaste right here. You can also see almost the whole of the first unit of Colloquial Basque on my website at: http://www.eirelink.com/alanking/. Which one do you recommend? The Basque Language or Colloquial Basque? What's the difference between the two? As indicated by the titles, Colloquial Basque aims to give an idea of informal spoken Basque; The Basque Language is more comprehensive, yet is also a practical introduction. Either book can be used by absolute beginners, although non-beginners will no doubt find them useful too. The Basque Language covers (in university terms) elementary and intermediate levels, whereas Colloquial Basque is less ambitious, but will provide an elementary introduction. If anyone wants to be very thorough and work through both books, Colloquial Basque is the best one to start with; then the first part of The Basque Language could serve as a review, before getting into some more advanced things not found in Colloquial Basque. Both books can be used for self-study, and either can also be adapted for classroom use. In the latter case the decision would depend on the objectives of the class and also on preferences in teaching style; teachers with more conservative ideas

will probably find The Basque Language more to their liking, whereas Colloquial Basque has a more clearly communicative orientation. Both books are based on sound learning/teaching methods, although The Basque Language is mainly structurally based and Colloquial Basque follows a communicative approach; but the distinction is not black-or-white. Both consist of units containing realistic dialogues and texts, explanations and notes and exercises. Both include a key to exercises and vocabulary lists. In The Basque Language there is a substantial grammar reference section towards the end, while the grammar content of Colloquial Basque is more streamlined.

Questions about where Basque came from

I have read that Basque is one of the so-called language isolates. Is that correct, and what does it mean? Languages are traditionally grouped into families of genetically related language groups. Genetically is used metaphorically here, of course, to indicate that the languages so related are descended from a common ancestor language. Following a methodology developed in the nineteenth century and still commonly accepted as valid, even where the precise history (or prehistory) of languages is not known for sure as is normally the case linguists are able to reconstruct a theoretical history and posit hypothetical ancestors on the basis of detailed comparison of the known languages, and family groupings are proposed accordingly. Naturally, this kind of study has progressed much further with some languages than with others depending on the amount of information available and the extent to which this information has been studied by specialists; consequently some proposed family groupings are more firmly established while others have a more tentative status. Most European languages belong, together with numerous languages of southern Asia, to one language family that goes under the name of Indo-European. Proto-Indo-European (Proto-IE or PIE in linguists jargon) is a theoretical construct representing the reconstructed, hypothetical language from which the various know Indo-European languages are imagined to have descended. As a matter of fact, we dont know a great deal about this proto-language, if it ever existed at all as such, and there is no proof that it did. Comparative linguistics, the discipline in which historical reconstruction is rooted, needs to follow systematic methodological principles, requiring academic training, if its results are to be meaningful. Amateurish, undisciplined speculation based on isolated observations and imaginative pet theories may make for a fun pastime but do not help us become better informed and sometimes fuel popular confusions. The only reasonable opinions worth respecting on this subject are those of the top authorities in the comparative study of the languages that we want to know about. Obviously the best scholars in the field can also make mistakes, and new evidence can come to light requiring that older theories be corrected, modified or discarded, in linguistics as in other serious disciplines. A good linguist will be careful in her or his use of hedges such as possibly, probably, it is not impossible and the like; the rest of the world, and even some lesser scholars, are often tempted by impatience to discard those qualifications and convert guarded opinion into categorical assertion. The popular press are consummate experts at doing just this, and frequently end up publishing absolute gibberish in consequence. So, caveat emptor.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that I myself am not a specialist in comparative linguistics. I consider myself sufficiently informed of the current state of the art of Basque historical lingistics for a linguist whose main interests lie in other areas, and am reporting here on the basis of that information, for the simple reason that I keep getting asked questions like these. Non mea culpa! Not all languages in the world can be incorporated into one or another of the accepted language families, although most can, once enough information can be collected to form a reliable opinion. Remember that the limit of our ability to construct language families is not an absolute limit but one imposed by the extent of our knowledge and the power of the theoretical tools of which we dispose to interpret the data and draw sound conclusions therefrom. But there is such a limit. This means that even if all human languages are ultimately, in the very distant past, genetically related as they may or may not be there is a very good chance our ability to reconstruct will never take us back that far. It follows that a language family is only one insofar as our available information allows us to demonstrate its existence. A language isolate is one of those left-over languages for which no genetic affiliation to any other language, group or family can, at present, be shown to exist: a language with no known relatives. And it is the consensus of respected scholarly and academic opinion at the present time that Basque is one such isolate. It is the only isolate in Europe, but there are other isolates on other continents, although their total number is not very great. What is the latest research about the Basque language revealing about its origins? Despite much speculation over this in the past and continuing up to the present, including several particular theories attempting to show that the Basques came from... well, from just about everywhere imaginable, none of those theories has been demonstrated successfully and the speculations have not developed, nor show signs of being about to develop into, a solid account of the Basques having come from anywhere other than where they are at present, plus no doubt a few additional kilometres in most directions, if we go back far enough. Every so often a journalist eager for a story digs up one of the academically outdated speculations and (re-)invents some new breakthrough involving proof that the Basques wandered over here from somewhere in Asia or Africa or are one of the lost tribes of Israel, or else that Basque was once the universal language of, oh, say, the whole of Europe. The truth is that even the much more conservative, and on the face of it plausible, theory that Basque was spoken throughout much of the Iberian Peninsula before the Romans took over, which was in vogue some years ago, doesnt seem to hold up under careful scrutiny and is no longer held by serious scholars. What these ideas have in common is that they feed on the unknown. Since we dont know what language the Iberians spoke before the imposition of Latin, why then they obviously spoke Basque! Ditto for the Etruscans, the Picts, and so on. Even the inability to disprove such notions through a lack of information would not amount to a serious corroboration of the theory. In fact, the counter-evidence often is clearly there, but the romantics choose to ignore that, or dont bother to ask. The Celts, for example, are surrounded by mystery, not to say fantasy, in the popular mind, yet we know perfectly well that their languages are Indo-European; hence emphatically not genetically related to Basque. That is not to deny that there are loanwords from earlier

Celtic languages into Basque, some of them well-established as such, unsurprisingly given the historical fact of pre-Roman contact between speakers of these languages. The vaguely nostalgic idea in the popular mind that Basque and Celtic are related, however, seems practically impossible to shake off. There are also some linguists intent on demonstrating the existence of much larger genetic groupings of languages across the world than those widely accepted today, using techniques which conservative comparativists find highly unorthodox and questionable. This activity has given rise to new theories relating Basques to the American Indians inter a variety of alia. It is one thing for such an academic debate to remain open, and no doubt a good thing at that. All well and good, but it is only fair to inform the public, whose imagination is so easily enticed, that the academic community at large, by a great majority, has its reasons, whatever they are, for having chosen, so far at least, to give little or no credence to the aforementioned theory, no matter whether it makes for a good headline or not. So what do I think? Well basically, I think that the Basques and their language are fascinating subjects for a great many reasons, of which this speculation about where they came from is only a single thread of research and not, in my opinion, the most exciting or important, especially given that we dont know the truth and may never find out. Besides, is it ultimately any less fascinating to think that perhaps and this has not been disproved either the Basques, as far back as our perception can reach, never came from anywhere else but were always right where they still are, in their country, a little island of millennial immobility amidst a world in incessant flux; a country with deeper anthropological roots, perhaps, than any other in Europe, reaching straight down vertically for a long, long way? Now hows that for a story! STOP PRESS! Ernest McCarus recently posted a question on the LINGUIST List, a professional forum of prestige, about the linguistic affinities of Basque", and summarised the numerous replies he received in a second posting to the list dated 15 Nov, 1997. To quote from his summary: The majority of the respondents agreed [...] with the consensus that Basque has no known linguistic relatives.
*A related version of these questions and answers is to be found on my website at http://www.eirelink.com/alanking/.

Chapter 2

The Basque Language Today*

Introduction
As one of Europe's most exotic minority languages, probably unrelated genetically to any other language in the world, Basque has long fascinated linguists and nonspecialists alike. According to our present knowledge, assuming that the IndoEuropean languages ultimately originated from outside Europe, Basque is the only truly indigenous European tongue to survive today, the remnant of a bygone age. Basque is spoken by two thirds of a million people who constitute almost 20% of the Basque Country's present population of three-and-a-half million. The proportion was much higher in the past, the sharpest drop having occurred in the last hundred years or so. While this may sound discouraging, there is an extensive band covering much of the northern half of the country, including most of the coastal and highland regions, where Basque, though endangered, is still the native language for most of the local population. For long, official Spanish policy has been highly unsympathetic to Basque. The language, forced into a kind of underground existence during the Franco years (193975), was forbidden in schools and public places and banned from official services and the media. According to state propaganda at the time, it was unpatriotic to speak it, and even those who continued to use Basque in private lived in real fear of being arrested or otherwise punished. Despite these adverse circumstances, a significant proportion of Basque families remained loyal to their ancestral tongue and helped to keep it alive. After the end of the dictatorial rgime, the new Spanish Constitution granted to the regions some degree of self-rule, known as autonomy. Under the democratic rgime, three Spanish provinces of the Basque Country (Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa) constituted the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, also known as Euskadi; a fourth province (the largest) has a separate administration as the Autonomous Community of Navarre. Since the early 80s these communities have had elected autonomous governments exercising whatever powers Madrid has transferred as a result of political negotiations. Powers transferred to the government of the Euskadiko Autonomi Elkartea, seated in Vitoria/Gasteiz, include internal revenue, administration of schools, mass media, health services, and a Basque police force. The status of the Basque language in this area has improved progressively during recent decades, thanks to widespread popular sentiment, grassroots campaigning, and the Basque Governments official language policies, although the latter are subject to oscillations depending on wavering political influences. Roughly comparable conditions exist in the Navarrese autonomous community, polarized between the north, largely Basque-speaking and pro-Basque, and the south, whose Basque tradition is weak. These four provinces are referred to collectively by Basques as the South; the North comprises the three small provinces of the French Basque Country: Lapurdi, Low Navarre, and Zuberoa. This region has no self-rule in the French state, despite campaigns to achieve at least a limited degree of autonomy. Apart from the urbanized Bayonne-Biarritz area, most of the rural North conserves a strong Basque tradition and flavour, notwithstanding heavy French influence among the younger generation.

Spoken Basque has a number of dialects that are mutually intelligible in normal circumstances and may be thought of as belonging to three rough types that merge into each other: western, central and eastern. The first Basque books were published in the sixteenth century. The language possesses no very imposing literary history, and the standardized writing system that now exists, known as Euskara Batua (Unified Basque), is a product of recent years still subject to occasional readjustments. The media and the schools have contributed to the progressive consolidation of a spoken version of the standard which has distanced itself somewhat from colloquial speech. While most native speakers today are familiar with what we might call television Basque, they do not really speak it.

Basque-Language Media
Until 1980 the Basque mass media consisted of a couple of weekly magazines and the odd programme on local radio stations. Today there is a full-fledged national television, a choice of full-time radio stations, a daily newspaper and various magazines, as well as more specialized or local media, all in Basque. Euskadi Irratia can be heard all over the Basque Country and offers a staple of music, news bulletins, current affairs programmes, quizzes, serials etc. in Basque. Euskadi Gaztea, also in Basque, plays popular music aimed at a younger audience. There are also local Basque-language stations serving each region. Euskal Telebista's Basque-language service, ETB1, can be received throughout the country. Argia is a long-standing Basque-language weekly magazine of current affairs and general interest. HABE publishes a monthly magazine for Basque learners, also called HABE. There is also a growing number of local magazines, either in Basque or bilingual. The youngest member of the Basque-language media is the newspaper Euskaldunon Egunkaria.

Music and Fiestas

In centuries past, Basque folk traditions, like those of other cultures throughout the world, included a lively oral literature, now in decline and already partly lost to us. However, some surviving elements of those traditions have been taken up with renewed enthusiasm by recent generations of Basques and given a new lease on life. Some forms of traditional verse recital are still practised, such as the kopla zaharrak sung on Santa Ageda day and other festivals. Bertsolaritza, improvised verse singing, also survived into the twentieth century and has undergone a renaissance in the post-Franco period, with the organization of local and national competitions and courses to train young potential bertsolariak in the art of making up bertsoak. Traditional Basque musical instruments include the txistu (a high-pitched wooden wind instrument played with one hand), the dultzaina (a conical wind instrument popular in Navarre), the alboka (a distant relative of the clarinet made up of two horns), and txalaparta (rousing rhythmic music produced by hitting variouslypitched planks of wood with wooden sticks). Trikitixa is played on a tambourine and a small accordeon, sometimes with singing and usually danceable; introduced by Lombard immigrants in the nineteenth century, both the music and the dancing have

undergone a recent revival with frequent competitions and many amateur and professional groups (trikitilariak). Some of the latter, such as Tapia eta Leturia, have experimented mixing trikitixa rhythms and sounds with various modern musical styles. Modern Basque folk, pop and rock music has flourished since the 1960s within a broader cultural (and political) revival movement, the first wave of which produced important singer-authors including Mikel Laboa, Benito Lertxundi, Xabier Lete and Lourdes Iriondo. These were followed in the seventies and eighties by folk-pop singers like Imanol and groups like Oskorri, and numerous more rock-oriented groups including Egan, Akelarre, Itoiz and Niko Etchart, and hard-rock bands such as Ertzainak, Delirium Tremens, Negu Gorriak and E.H. Sukarra. Basques love social gatherings and the streets and plazas of a town, rather than private homes, are considered the best place for it. This occurs on Friday and Saturday nights, and especially when there are popular musical events, ad hoc festivals or fund-raising events, or other happenings. The majority of traditional fiestas or jaiak are peculiar to a particular village or town. They generally commemorate a saint whose name they take, and most of the popular ones take place in the summer months. In large towns the jaiak last a full week; in small towns, two to three days. They have an official programme, announced in printed leaflets or on posters placed in bars and public places. There may be a special children's day, a seniors' day, and so on. Programmed events taking place in the streets from dawn to dusk and beyond include traditional sports events -- such as handball, chopping logs, weight-lifting, and tug-ofwar -- processions, street bands, bertsolariak, kids' games, various types of concerts, contests and so on. There are also religious services. But most important of all is the joyful gathering of people of all ages and whole families with all their noise, their gaiety, and, they would no doubt feel, their Basqueness.

Speaking Basque
Badakizu euskaraz? Do you speak Basque? Euskalduna zara? Are you Basque/a Basque speaker? Nongoa zara? Where are you from? A foreigner speaking even a little bit of Basque in the Basque Country will be bombarded constantly with these and similar questions, asked out of friendly interest, surprise and fascination. There are several reasons for this. One is that Basques mostly live in small towns or villages where newcomers are noticed and talked about. As a foreigner, making conversation with Basque-speaking people is very easy if one can speak Basque. Although some English is now taught in the schools, most adult Basques speak no foreign languages. Basque thus truly opens the door to communication. Furthermore, they will be flattered, for by speaking some Basque one will have shown, in the eyes of Basque speakers, a genuine interest in their country and their culture, thus helping to raise their own self-esteem as a distinct people and nation.

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A Sociolinguistic Note
Basque is spoken today by under a million people concentrated in a continuous band running across the northern half of the Basque Country (total population approximately three million). Of the larger Basque towns, only Donostia (San Sebastian), capital of the province of Gipuzkoa, is situated within the present Basquespeaking area, which flanks both sides of the French-Spanish political border coinciding with the western end of the Pyrenees. Although Basques habitually speak of a southern and northern Basque Country, the northern or French dialects really occupy the east of the linguistic territory, while the major dialect divisions range from east to west. Almost all Basque speakers today are able to speak Spanish or French, and often live side-by-side with monolingual Romance speakers. Since the 1960s, the Basque language has been undergoing an important resurgence affecting not only the existing Basque-speaking area but other parts of the Basque Country too. This period has seen the consolidation of a new standard form of the language, called Batua. The earliest written Basque texts of any importance date from the sixteenth century. Written Basque evolved unevenly in various parts of the country, resulting in the development of several local written standards. The modern spoken dialects are usually numbered at between six and eight and designated by province names, although their distribution does not always coincide with provincial boundaries. While interdialectal differences are popularly dwelt upon or exaggerated, scholarly opinion generally leans towards considering these fairly minor. Until quite recently Basque was not employed in education and administration and its use was relegated to rural settings. Spoken Basque possessed a high register thanks in large part to the churchs commitment to the language, although oral folk literature also played a part in the cultivation of the spoken language. A modern high register associated with the written Batua norm is now spreading mainly due to schools and the mass media, thus primarily reaching younger speakers. Present trends are towards acquisition and use of the language by a growing number of non-native speakers, and expansion of Basque into new communicative and social domains, increased use of Basque in the larger towns, and the progressive urbanization of the language. The focal points of the last-mentioned change are among youngsters in the larger towns: for some of them, Basque is the mother tongue, for others it has been learnt in or outside school, but they all have a new style of speaking Basque differing from both rural speech and literary norms. A simple triangular diagramme is customarily used to represent relations between social and regional dialect variation; the triangular shape reflects the fact that regional variation diminishes as we progress from lower to higher registers. To take account of the urban-rural contrast within present-day vernacular Basque, the base line of this diagramme should be replaced by a two-dimensional grid, which is also triangular in shape, given that, in the case of present-day Basque at least, increased urbanization correlates with diminished regional differentiation. The result is a three-dimensional pyramid rather than a flat triangle. The claim occasionally made that Basque is characterized by a limited repertoire of stylistic variations ought to be reconsidered with care in view of this hypothesis. Although scholarly activity in the description of Basque has increased notably of late, the literature still hardly contains a mention of urban Basque varieties,

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if we except sporadic prescriptivist condemnations of substandard and non-traditional usages, in which urban colloquial Basque abounds.
* Most of this chapter has been compiled from selected passages, here slightly modified and abridged, which are included in Colloquial Basque: A Complete Course by Alan R. King and Begortxu Olaizola Elordi, published by Routledge (London and New York), 1996. The section A Sociological Note has been adapted from Alan R. King, Communicative Grammar of the Basque Verb (Selected Aspects), Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1993 (Appendix G: A Sociolinguistic Note).

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Chapter 3

Getting Started*
(A Short Basque Lesson)
Meeting a Friend (a simple dialogue)
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Epa! Egun on. Baita zuri ere. Zer moduz? Ongi, eta zu? Ongi. Non dago zure laguna? Etxean dago. Nora zoaz orain? Etxera. Eta zu? Ni klasera noa. Non dago zure klasea? Grosen. Zure etxea ere Grosen dago, ez? Bai. Zurekin joango naiz. Kotxearekin etorri zara? Ez, oinez. Elkarrekin joango gara. Ederki! Hi! Good morning. Good morning. How are you doing? Fine, and you? Fine. Wheres your friend? Hes/Shes at home. Where are you going now? Home. And you? Im going to class. Where is your class? In Gros. Your house is in Gros too, isnt it? Yes. Ill go with you. Did you come by car? No, on foot. Well go together. Great!

Pronunciation
(a) The five vowels, a, e, i, o and u, must each be given their so-called European or cardinal values. (b) The letter z is pronounced like an English s. (c) The letter s is similar but not identical to this (some Basques dont distinguish z and s). The s is a little closer to the English sh sound. (However, the nearest Basque equivalent to English sh is yet another consonant, spelled x!) (d) Basque tx is pronounced like an English ch. (e) Basque r is pronounced with the tip of the tongue. When not between two vowels it is trilled, as is a double rr. (f) Diphthongs are sounds formed by combining the two vowel sounds of which they are composed, so for example ai sounds quite like the English y in sky. (g) Standard Basque j sounds like the y in yes. But in some dialects a strong h sound is used instead.

Grammar
Compare lines 11 and 12 in the above dialogue, noticing that class is klasea in 11 but klasera in 12. Now compare lines 8, 10 and 14. Etxea, etxera and etxean mean

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house or home. You have no doubt realised that the words for class and house consist of a part that remains the same, klase and etxe, to which different endings may be added: -a, -ra, -an. Perhaps you can work out the functions of the various endings. Similarly, compare the Basque equivalents of you in lines 5 and 16, noticing that the suffix -rekin means with. Now look again at 16 and observe that in this sentence joango naiz means Ill go. The order of the Basque sentence, then, is With you Ill go. Likewise 19 contains joango gara meaning Well go, and is literally Together well go. Furthermore, consider 17, literally With the car did you come? Evidently, the order of elements in the sentence is different in Basque than in English; in these Basque sentences (and many others), the verb is at the end. Finally one more point. Taking another look at joango naiz Ill go, joango gara well go, and etorri zara? Did you come?, we can surmise that joango and etorri correspond approximately to go and come, while naiz, gara and zara? are somehow equivalent to Ill, well and did you? respectively. But once again, the order is different: joango naiz is literally go Ill, and so on. To sum up, here are three very important features of Basque grammar which make it very different from English: (1) suffixes are added to nouns and pronouns to express relations such as to, at, with etc.; (2) the verb often comes at the end of the sentence; and (3) the verb is often made up of a main verb and an auxiliary, with the auxiliary coming after the main verb.
*This chapter has been abridged and adapted from a chapter of The Basque Language: A Practical Introduction by Alan R. King, published by the University of Nevada Press (Reno, Las Vegas and London), 1994.

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Chapter 4

Grammatical Sketch*
The Simple Sentence
Affirmative and Negative Sentences The verb is frequently placed at the end of affirmative sentences: Hau Gros da This is Gros; Aita Californian bizi da Father lives in California. In negative sentences, the finite verb or auxiliary preceded by ez usually precedes the object: Hau ez da Gros This is not Gros, and the nonfinite part of compound verbs: Aita ez da Californian bizi Father doesnt live in California. Questions Yes/no questions need not be formally marked: Hau Gros da? Is this Gros? Questions words such as zer what, nor who, non where, noiz when etc. come immediately in front of the verb: Zer da hau? What is this?; Nor bizi da Californian Who lives in California?; Non bizi da aita? Where does father live? Focus Word order within the Basque sentence reflects the way the speaker wishes to organize the information. The focused element is the principal component of information contained in a sentence. In Basque the focused element is placed in front of the verb. For example, in Aita Californian bizi da Father lives in California (the normal word order), Californian in California is said to be in focus; but one can also say Californian aita bizi da which emphasizes that it is father who lives in California. Topic Other elements may go near the beginning of the sentence (before the focused item) or near the end (after the verb); thus the verb does not necessarily come at the end. Placing such non-focus items at the beginning foregrounds them as topics. In Californian aita bizi da, Californian is strongly topicalized; to de-emphasize the topic while maintaining aita as focus, the order used is Aita bizi da Californian. Yet another possibility, with California as focus and aita detopicalized, is Californian bizi da aita. Sentences without a Focused Element An element preceding the verb is not necessarily focused: depending on intonation, Autobusa etorriko da The bus will come may either have autobusa focused (saying what will come) or the action itself may be foregrounded with autobusa as topic (saying that the bus will come). There is an exception when the finite verb consists of a single word; the item preceding such a verb is invariably focused: Autobusa dator

15

The bus is coming (says what is coming).Such verb forms as these cannot be sentence-initial. Affirmative ba- and Negative ez If, however, the affirmative particle ba- is prefixed to a single-word finite verb like dator, it can then either be preceded by a non-focused element or stand at the beginning of the sentence: Autobusa badator or Badator autobusa The bus is coming. When a finite verb is made negative by placing ez in front of it, the same is true: Autobusa ez dator or Ez dator autobusa The bus is not coming. See also above concerning negative sentences.

Determiners and Pronouns

Determiners As a rule, a noun phrase is incomplete in Basque without a determiner. For the purposes of this statement, we shall consider quantifiers (three, many, some etc.) to be determiners. Non-quantifying determiners include the demonstratives (this, that), questions words (which), and indefinites (any). Basque also has a semantically neutral determiner in constant use, called the article. Placement of Determiners Most determiners are placed at the end of the noun phrase, e.g. etxe hau this house, but some go before the noun: hiru etxe three houses. Singular and Plural Grammatical number is not marked directly on the noun in Basque, but may be expressed by the choice or form of determiner. The Article The article has no inherent meaning, but functions as an unmarked determiner; thus it is required in many noun phrases in the absence of a more specific determiner (see above). It has the form of a suffix, with a singular form, -a, and a plural form, -ak. When a case suffix is present this combines with the article, whose form may change as a result. The forms -a and -ak are those of the zero or absolutive case. When the noun phrase consists of more than one word, the article is suffixed to the last word only and the other items are unsuffixed, e.g. etxe means house but this is not in most contexts a noun phrase; as a noun phrase, etxea is (a/the) house and etxeak houses; with an adjective (which follows the noun), etxe polita is (a/the) pretty house and etxe politak pretty houses (with polit pretty).

16

The Partitive Noun phrases may take the partitive suffix -(r)ik which corresponds approximately to any in English: compare Ez dut ardoa nahi I dont want the wine; Ez dut ardorik nahi I dont want (any) wine. Partitive noun phrases usually have no determiner, unless the partitive suffix itself be considered one. Case suffixes also cannot be combined with the partitive, which can only occupy contexts where an absolutive noun phrase could occur. Partitive noun phrases have negative polarity, i.e. they mostly occur in negative sentences and certain questions. Noun Phrases with No Determiner As exceptions to the general rule given above, sometimes a noun can occur in a phrase without a determiner. These include uses of the instrumental case, marked by the suffix -(e)z: eskuz by hand, autobusez by bus, euskaraz in Basque, etc., and certain kinds of copular construction involving absolutive noun phrases, e.g. Lehendakari izendatu zuten They appointed him president. Proper Nouns and Pronouns The above statements refer only to common nouns. Proper names and pronouns do not take the article. Case suffixes are attached to such items directly. The personal pronouns are ni I, hi you (familiar), gu we, zu you (polite singular), zuek you (plural). There are also emphatic or intensive pronoun forms. There are no special third person pronouns; these may be suppleted by various demonstratives or emphatic deictics. Personal pronouns in subject and object functions are regularly omitted from the Basque sentence; the person and number of such arguments are indicated by the form of the finite verb, e.g. Californian bizi naiz I live in California; Erakutsiko dizkizugu Well show you them.

Adjectives
Predicate Adjectives Predicate adjectives usually take the article in the singular or plural, in agreement with the subject: California polita da California is pretty; Etxe hauek politak dira These houses are pretty. There are some exceptions: Aita triste dago Father is sad. Attributive Adjectives Attributive adjectives follow the noun. Determiners, including the article, follow the last item, i.e. the adjective: etxe polit bat one/a pretty house, etxe politak pretty houses. A small group of adjectives precede the noun, e.g. azken etxea the last house. The noun head may be omitted leaving an adjective together with the determiner: azkena the last one, politak (the) pretty ones.

17

Semideterminers There are several items whose meanings suggest they should be determiners, but whose syntactic behaviour resembles that described for adjectives, i.e. they are compatible with, and require, the presence of the article or another true determiner, e.g. etxe guztiak all the houses; beste ardo bat another wine. These items include guzti all, every, bakoitz each and beste other. Adjectivals The term adjectival is proposed to refer, in the context of Basque grammar, to morphologically complex items which function to qualify nouns in much the same way as adjectives, but which are not lexical adjectives. All adjectivals end in a suffix which converts some lexical or syntactic item from something else into an adjectival. Adjectivals in Basque share the properties of preceding the head noun (when used attributively) and requiring that the matrix noun phrase be determined in the usual way. The class of adjectivals, thus defined, includes genitive noun phrases, e.g. aitaren etxea fathers house (possessive-genitive suffix -(r)en), Californiako ardo hau this wine from California (local-genitive suffix -(e)ko); adjectivalized adverbs, e.g. oraingo lehendakaria the present president, literally the president of now (adjectival suffix -ko/-go); finite relative clauses, e.g. etorriko den autobusa the bus that will come (relative suffix -(e)n); and nonfinite relative (participial) clauses, e.g. izendatutako lehendakaria the appointed president, the president who has been appointed.

Comparison
Intensification Adjectives and adverbs may be intensified by a preceding degree modifier, e.g. oso or biziki very, pixka bat or apur bat a little, hain so etc.: California oso polita da California is very pretty. An alternative way to intensify an adjective or adverb is by repetition, e.g. California polit-polita da California is really pretty. The Comparative The comparative suffix is -ago, e.g. California politagoa da California is prettier. The main irregular comparatives are hobe better (cf. on good) and gehiago more (cf. asko or anitz much, many). A than phrase or clause is expressed by baino postposed to the standard of comparison: Nevada baino than Nevada, zurekin baino than with you, uste nuen baino than I thought. The than phrase/clause may either precede or follow the comparative: California Nevada baino politagoa da or California politagoa da Nevada baino California is prettier than Nevada.

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The Superlative The superlative suffix is -en. Superlatives usually take the article: Nire etxea da politena My house is the prettiest. Comparisons of Equality To express equal degrees of an adjective or adverb, bezain follows the standard of comparison, followed in turn by the adjective or adverb: Euskal Herria California bezain polita da The Basque Country is as pretty as California. In comparisons of quantity, adina follows the standard and is followed by the undetermined noun phrase being quantified, e.g. Californian badago Euskal Herrian adina ardo In California there is as much wine as in the Basque Country. The Excessive Too as a degree modifier is expressed by the suffix -egi, e.g. Ardo hau onegia da orain edateko This wine is too good to drink now.

The Case System

Basic Case Suffixes The simplest and most basic forms of the case suffixes are those used with proper names:
NAME OF CASE AFTER VOWELS AFTER CONSONANTS MEANING

Absolutive Ergative Dative Possessive-Genitive Benefactive Comitative Instrumental Inessive Allative Ablative Local-Genitive

-k -ri -ren -rentzat -rekin -z -n -ra -tik -ko

-ek -i -en -entzat -ekin -ez -en -a/-era -tik, -dik -ko, -go

to, for of, s for with by, about in, at to from, through of, from

The last four cases, known as the local cases, are not normally suffixed to noun phrases denoting animate beings. Placement and Forms of Case Endings Case endings in Basque are always added to the last element in the noun phrase. With common nouns, they have three different sets of forms: (a) incorporating the singular article -a (henceforth the singular case forms); (b) incorporating the plural article

19

-ak (henceforth the plural case forms); and (c) not incorporating the article (traditionally called indefinite case forms). Most case suffixes have the same forms when indefinite as are used with proper names (see above); but the local cases are exceptions. The indefinite forms are suffixed to pronouns, determiners other than the article, and nouns or adjectives used with a preposed determiner: nik I (ergative), aita batek a father (erg.), etxe askori to many houses, zein ardorekin? with which wine? etc. The absolutive forms of the article were given in the section Determiners and Pronouns/The Article, namely singular -a, plural -ak. The singular forms of the remaining non-local cases consist of -a- followed by the appropriate form of the basic case suffix (see above), e.g. ergative -ak, dative -ari, etc. The corresponding plural forms for these cases are similar to the basic suffixes used after consonants (regardless of what sound the plural noun phrase ends in), except that the dative plural is -ei: thus ergative -ek, dative -ei, possessive-genitive -en, etc. The instrumental suffix has an alternative longer form -taz whose use is more acceptable in some contexts than in others; the details are too complicated to discuss here. The forms of the local case suffixes are more complicated: After vowels: Inessive Allative Ablative Local-Genitive After consonants: Inessive Allative Ablative Local-Genitive
SINGULAR PLURAL INDEFINITE

-an -ra -tik -ko

SINGULAR

-etan -etara -etatik -etako

PLURAL

-tan -tara -tatik -tako

INDEFINITE

-ean -era -etik -eko

-etan -etara -etatik -etako

-etan -etara -etatik -etako

Two additional rules must be applied when adding suffixes to a noun phrase: (a) when endings beginning with a vowel are added to a stem ending in the letter r, this is nearly always doubled in writing: txakur dog, txakurra, txakurrak, txakurrek etc.; (b) when endings beginning with a vowel are added to a stem ending in the letter a, this is dropped: aita father, aita, aitak, aitek etc. Irregularly Declined Determiners and Pronouns The three demonstratives, hau this, hori that and hura that in the distance, show the greatest irregularity. Except in the absolutive, these have alternative stem forms in the singular to which the indefinite case suffixes are added: hon- this, horr- that, harthat in the distance, e.g. ergative honek, horrek, hark. Note that in the ergative and the local cases, the third demonstrative takes the suffixes without -e-: hark, hartan, hartara etc. In the plural the stems are hau- these, hori- those, hai- those in the distance to which the plural case suffixes are added, except in the absolutive, where -ek is added. The first plural demonstrative, for example, is hauek (absolutive), hauek (ergative), hauei, hauen etc., and so on. The personal pronouns (except for zuek) are irregular in the genitive and benefactive cases, which lack the usual n: nire my, niretzat for me, gure our etc. The

20

first person singular pronoun has alternative forms in these cases: nere(tzat) or ene(tzat). The pronouns and determiners zer what, nor who, bat one and batzuek some show minor irregularities; note the ergative forms zerk? what? and nork? who?, and the inessive forms zertan? in what? at what? doing what?, batean or batetan in one, in a and similarly in the other local cases. Uses of the Non-Local Cases The absolutive case or zero case (no special suffix) is the neutral form for a noun phrase, found in the subjects of intransitive verbs, direct objects, complements of be and other copular verbs, vocatives, headings, and for citation. The ergative case (suffix -k) marks the subject of transitive verbs: Aitak ardoa nahi du Father wants wine. The dative (suffix -i) marks indirect objects, sometimes equivalent to English to or for: Aitari etxea erakutsiko diot Ill show father the house. It is not used for motion to a place (see the allative below). The possessive-genitive (suffix -en) is a basic genitive: aitaren etxea fathers house. It is also used with postpositions, e.g. etxearen atzean behind the house. The benefactive case (suffix -entzat) expresses for in several but not all of the meanings of the English preposition: Ardo hau aitarentzat da This wine is for father. The comitative case (suffix -ekin) is equivalent to English with in nearly all its uses: Aitarekin bizi naiz I live with father. The instrumental case (in -z or -taz) has a variety of functions. It may be equivalent to about, concerning: Californiaz hitz egingo dugu Well talk about California. It also marks the complements of certain verbs: Aitaz gogoratzen naiz I remember father. Despite the cases name, its use to express an instrument is more restricted, and occurs mostly with plain undertermined nouns, e.g. Eskuz idazten du He writes by hand. Uses of the Local Cases The inessive case (suffix -n or -an) expresses place where (in, on, at) and also time when: Californian in California, etxean at home, igandean on Sunday etc. The allative case (suffix -ra) expresses where to: Aita Californiara doa Father is going to California. It is not to be confused with the dative. The ablative case (suffix -tik) expresses where from, which way, and since when: Aita Californiatik dator Father is coming from California; Leihotik atera naiz I came out through the window; Aita igandetik Californian dago Father has been (lit. is) in California since Sunday. The local-genitive case (suffix -ko) is another genitive case which is preferred to the possessive-genitive in certain contexts, including the meanings pertaining to where and pertaining to when: Californiako ardoa the wine of California, igandeko meza Sunday mass.

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Postpositions
Use of Postpositions Postpositions are mostly written as separate words and are used to express relationships not covered by a case marker or when we wish to specify a relationship more precisely. For example, there is a special case to express with, the comitative (-ekin), but none to express without; for this the postposition gabe is employed. Postpositions follow the noun or noun phrase: aita gabe without father. Cases Governed by Postpositions Most postpositions are preceded by a noun in the possessive-genitive case, e.g. etxearen atzean behind the house, ardoaren barruan inside the wine, lehendakariaren aurka against the president, gerraren ondoren after the war. It is also possible for some postpositions to follow a noun directly, with no determiner or case marking, e.g. etxe atzean behind the house, gerra ondoren after the war. A smaller number of postpositions govern the absolutive, dative, instrumental, inessive or ablative. The common postposition -gatik because of, for governs either the possessive-genitive or the absolutive and is customarily written attached to the preceding word: ardoarengatik or ardoagatik because of the wine. Animate Local Postpositions The local case suffixes (i.e. the inessive, allative, ablative and local-genitive) are not normally used with animate noun phrases. To express such notions with animates, special postpositions are available. Like -gatik, these are customarily written attached to the preceding word and govern either the possessive-genitive or the absolutive. They are -gan in, -gana to, towards, -gandik from: Aita(ren)gana joango naiz I will go to father. There is no equivalent of the local-genitive for use with animates.

Simple Verb Forms

Use of Simple Verb Forms The most basic of Basque finite verb forms are those consisting of a single word, such as da is, naiz I am, dator is coming, noa I am going, etc. The number of such simple, or synthetic, verb forms in Basque is very limited indeed. Mostly, then, Basque uses compound or periphrastic verb forms which consist of more than one word. Simple finite forms can be in a number of different tenses, but by far the most frequent of these are the Simple Present, the Simple Past and the Simple Imperative. Only a handful of verbs possess truly synthetic forms in these tenses, including izan and egon (both meaning be), etorri come, joan go, izan and eduki (both have), jakin know, and esan say.

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The Simple Tenses The Simple Present in Basque is a general or continuous present, and the Simple Past is likewise a general or continuous past tense. The imperative is one of several ways of expressing instructions or orders. Intransitive Tense Paradigms The most commonly used simple tense forms of intransitive verbs are shown in the following table. Included are the forms corresponding to a subject in the following persons, numbers and degrees of politeness: 1s (I), 3s (he, she, it), 1p (we), 2s (polite singular you), 2p (plural you), 3p (they). The familiar singular you forms are not included because they involve a range of other phenomena too complicated to describe here (consult a more advanced Basque grammar). The 2s forms are placed below the 1p ones because they resemble these most closely.

Intransitive Simple Tense Forms

izan be 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p 2s 2p naiz da gara zara zarete dira nintzen zen ginen zinen zineten ziren egon be etorri come Simple Present nago nator dago dator gaude gatoz zaude zatoz zaudete zatozte daude datoz Simple Past nengoen nentorren zegoen zetorren geunden gentozen zeunden zentozen zeundeten zentozten zeuden zetozen Simple Imperative zaude zatoz zaudete zatozte joan go noa doa goaz zoaz zoazte doaz nindoan zihoan gindoazen zindoazen zindoazten zihoazen zoaz zoazte

Transitive Tense Paradigms (Third Person Singular Objects) Transitive verbs in Basque agree with both the subject and the direct object. The next table shows the most common transitive simple tense forms used for the same subjects as above when the direct object is third person singular:

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Transitive Simple Tense Forms

(third person singular direct object) izan have eduki have jakin know Simple Present dut daukat dakit du dauka daki dugu daukagu dakigu duzu daukazu dakizu duzue daukazue dakizue dute daukate dakite Simple Past nuen neukan nekien zuen zeukan zekien genuen geneukan genekien zenuen zeneukan zenekien zenuten zeneukaten zenekiten zuten zeukaten zekiten esan say diot dio diogu diozu diozue diote nioen zioen genioen zenioen zenioten zioten

1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p

Transitive Tense Paradigms (Third Person Plural Objects) Because of their meaning, the verbs know and say lack the full range of direct objects, but sense permitting, other synthetic transitive verbs have distinct forms for each person and number of the object. Here we shall only give one further set of forms, those for third person plural objects, which are in constant use. When we turn to auxiliary verbs, however, further forms will be given.

Transitive Simple Tense Forms

(third person plural direct object) izan have eduki have Simple Present 1s ditut dauzkat 3s ditu dauzka 1p ditugu dauzkagu 2s dituzu dauzkazu 2p dituzue dauzkazue 3p dituzte dauzkate Simple Past 1s nituen neuzkan 3s zituen zeuzkan 1p genituen geneuzkan 2s zenituen zeneuzkan 2p zenituzten zeneuzkaten 3p zituzten zeuzkaten

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Auxiliary Verbs
The Auxiliaries As explained earlier, there is a set of compound tenses in Basque which are almost more important than the simple tenses because their use is more generalized. These compound tenses are built from a small number of auxiliary verbs in conjunction with a small number of nonfinite verb forms for the main verb. The four auxiliaries are izan be, izan have, and two other auxiliaries with no nonfinite form by which properly to cite them; for these we shall use the made-up names edin and ezan. Two of these, izan be and edin, are intransitive; the other two, izan have and ezan, are transitive. The first two are used with intransitive main verbs, and the last two with transitive ones. Each of these auxiliaries has, like any synthetic verb, a range of simple tenses, which can be used to form compound tenses. It is beyond our scope here to explore the full range of tenses, some of which are used far less frequently than others. Present and Past of izan The most important of all are the present and past tenses of the auxiliaries, and the most important auxiliaries are izan be and izan have. The present and past of izan be was given above, together with that of other intransitive verbs. The present and past of izan have was also given but only for third person direct objects. Since the forms of this verb for the other person objects occur mostly as auxiliaries, we shall give them here:

Transitive Auxiliary Forms: Present and Past

(izan have, with non-third person direct objects) 1s dir.obj. 1p dir. obj. 2s dir. obj. 2p dir. obj. Present zaitut zaituztet nau gaitu zaitu zaituzte zaitugu zaituztegu nauzu gaituzu nauzue gaituzue naute gaituzte zaituzte zaituzte Past zintudan zintuztedan ninduen gintuen zintuen zintuzten zintugun zintuztegun ninduzun gintuzun ninduzuen gintuzuen ninduten gintuzten zintuzten zintuzten Conditional of izan Both izan be and izan have possess a Conditional tense which, in a main verb use, may mean would be and would have respectively, and which are furthermore often

1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p

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used as Conditional auxiliaries. Here and in the other tables following, only the most frequent forms of izan have are given, i.e. those for third person objects.

Conditional of izan
izan be 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p nintzateke litzateke ginateke zinateke zinatekete lirateke 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p Hypothetic of izan The Hypothetic tense presented next is used in the first part of conditional sentences, in the hypothetical if-clause: if (I) were, if (I) had etc. The prefix bameaning if is attached to these forms. Again, the following forms may be used as main verbs meaning be and have or as intransitive and transitive auxiliaries: izan have Third person singular object nuke luke genuke zenuke zenukete lukete Third person plural object nituzke lituzke genituzke zenituzke zenituzkete lituzkete

Hypothetic of izan
izan be 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p banintz balitz bagina bazina bazinate balira 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p izan have Third person singular object banu balu bagenu bazenu bazenute balute Third person plural object banitu balitu bagenitu bazenitu bazenituzte balituzte

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Imperative Auxiliaries In modern Basque the verb izan does not possess synthetic imperative forms, but there are imperative forms of the auxiliaries edin and ezan which combine with a main verb to make up a finite imperative. Forms of the transitive auxiliary ezan are given for third and first person objects, singular and plural. For the use of these auxiliaries, see the later section Compound Tenses.

Imperative Auxiliaries
Intransitive 2s 2p zaitez zaitezte 2s 2p Transitive Third person First person singular object singular object 2s nazazu ezazu 2p nazazue ezazue Third person plural First person plural object object 2s gaitzazu itzazu 2p gaitzazue itzazue

2s 2p Potential Auxiliaries

Finally, the following forms of edin and ezan constitute Potential auxiliaries that combine with a main verb to express ability or possibility. Two such tenses will be given here, the Present Potential which translates can, may and the Hypothetic (or Conditional) Potential which expresses could, might. Only the third person object forms are given here for the transitive auxiliary.

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Present Potential Auxiliaries

intransitive 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p naiteke daiteke gaitezke zaitezke zaitezkete daitezke 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p intransitive 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p ninteke liteke gintezke zintezke zintezkete litezke 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p Morphological Analysis It is not necessary for the average student to learn the morphological analysis of the various synthetic finite verb paradigms that we have seen; moreover, the ordinary Basque speaker is hardly aware of any such analysis. Since, however, the Basque verb system, due to its considerable intricacy, arouses the curiosity of many a casual observer, a few rough notes on the subject are inserted here before moving on. For references for a fuller account of the points merely touched on here, see the chapter Further Reading. In principle at least, synthetically conjugated verbs have a Present Tense, a Past Tense, and a Hypothetic. Taking the intransitive verb etorri come and the transitive verb jakin know as examples, the Present and Past of these were given in the section Simple Verb Forms; the Hypothetic, with the prefix ba- if, is as follows: transitive Third person singular object dezaket dezake dezakegu dezakezu dezakezue dezakete Third person plural object ditzaket ditzake ditzakegu ditzakezu ditzakezue ditzakete transitive Third person singular object nezake lezake genezake zenezake zenezakete lezakete Third person plural object nitzake litzake genitzake zenitzake zenitzakete litzakete

Hypothetic Potential Auxiliaries

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Hypothetic Tense
1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p etorri come banentor baletor bagentoz bazentoz bazentozte beletoz 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p jakin know baneki baleki bageneki bazeneki bazenekitte balekite

Semantically there is a mood distinction between the indicative Present and Past on the one hand and the Hypothetic on the other, which means if I were to come/know etc.; but the latter is neither present nor past in meaning, and for effects of Basque morphology it is convenient to see the Hypothetic as a third value for the formal category of (primary) Tense, making up a three-way system:

The Primary Tenses

Present Past Hypothetic nator nentorren (ba-)nentor I am coming I was coming (if) I were to come

There is also an imperative, described above, e.g. zatoz! come! In addition, the three primary Tenses just given may be modified by a morpheme whose usual form is -ke and which can be called Potential; the full paradigm thus includes a Present Potential, a Past Potential and a Hypothetic Potential (without ba-). In synthetically conjugated verbs the meaning of -ke is modal and varies between can (could have, could), may (might have, might), and probably: Present Past Hypothetic nator I am coming nentorren I was coming ba-nentor if I were to come Potential natorke I may come nentorkeen I might have come nentorke I might come Imperative zatoz! come!

This is the basic synthetic Tense paradigm of the Basque verb representing the maximal set of forms available for a given verb. It does not follow that all the potential forms generated by this theoretical paradigm occur in use with any great frequency; hence it is not necessary for the ordinary language learner to master the whole system in practice for the various verbs and the variety of personal forms that are possible in principle. The verbs that are used as auxiliaries (izan be, izan have, edin and ezan) each have this Tense paradigm (except that in the modern language izan lacks a synthetic imperative). While the choice between intransitive and transitive auxiliaries is determined by agreement with the transitivity of the main verb (and also by certain intransitivization operations), the further opposition between the two pairs of auxiliaries (izan/izan versus edin/ezan) is exploited in a rather complicated manner to achieve mood oppositions not available within the synthetic system. For example: (a) the non-potential tenses of edin/ezan (nadin/dezadan, nendin/nezan) function as

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subjunctive auxiliaries (not included in the preceding summary); (b) the Potential tenses of edin/ezan (naiteke/dezaket, ninteke(en) and nezake(en)) are used to express possibility and ability, whereas the Potential tenses of izan (naizateke/duket etc.) express, in eastern dialects, epistemic possibility or probability; and (c) in the Hypothetic auxiliary forms (which correspond to banentor, nentorke in the table above), there is in western dialects a specialization of the izan forms (banintz/banu, nintzateke/nuke) as general exponents of hypothetical mood. Dative Verb Forms Verbs in Basque agree with an indirect object (represented by an explicit or implied dative noun phrase), in addition to agreeing with the subject and direct object. Intransitive verbs may thus agree with a maximum of two arguments, the subject and the indirect object; while transitive verbs may agree with three; subject, direct object and indirect object. The elements in the verb that shows agreement with the person and number of the indirect object follows the verbs stem and resembles the person markers for subjects of transitive verbs in the present tense, except in the third person: Indirect Object Indices 1s -t, -da- 1p -gu 2s -zu 2p -zue 3s -o 3p -e The first person singular marker has two forms: -t occurs at the end of the word, and -da- when another affix follows. For example, here are the forms of the Present of izan (be and have) when there is an indirect object.

izan be with Indirect Objects (Present)

1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p 1s ind. obj. zait zatzaizkit zatzaizkidate zaizkit 3s ind. obj. natzaio zaio gatzaizkio zatzaizkio zatzaizkiote zaizkio 1p ind. obj. zaigu zatzaizkigu zaitzaizkigue zaizkigu 2s ind. obj. natzaizu zaizu gatzaizkizu zaizkizu 2p ind. obj. natzaizue zaizue gatzaizkizue zaizkizue 3p ind. obj. natzaie zaie gatzaizkie zatzaizkie zatzaizkiete zaizkie

izan have with Indirect Objects (Present)

1s ind. obj. 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p dit didazu didazue didate Third Person Singular Direct Object 3s ind. obj. 1p ind. obj. 2s ind. 2p ind. obj. obj. diot dizut dizuet dio digu dizu dizue diogu dizugu dizuegu diozu diguzu diozue diguzue diote digute dizute dizuete Third Person Plural Direct Object 3p ind. obj. diet die diegu diezu diezue diete

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1s ind. obj. 1s 3s 1p 2s 2p 3p dizkit dizkidazu dizkidazue dizkidate

3s ind. obj. 1p ind. obj. dizkiot dizkio dizkiogu dizkiozu dizkiozue dizkiote dizkigu dizkiguzu dizkiguzue dizkigute

2s ind. obj. dizkizut dizkizu dizkizugu dizkizute

2p ind. obj. dizkizuet dizkizue dizkizuegu dizkizuete

3p ind. obj. dizkiet dizkie dizkiegu dizkiezu dizkiezue dizkiete

Similar paradigms exist in each of the other Tenses.

Compound Tenses
Formation of Compound Tenses Each of the Basque compound tenses is made up of a particular Tense of one pair of auxiliaries (either izan/izan or edin/ezan) which combines with (and usually follows) a particular kind of nonfinite form of the main verb. There are four options as regards the nonfinite form: the tu-form; the tzen-form; the tuko-form; and the stem form. The tu-form is a verbs citation form, given in dictionaries etc. In most verbs this form ends in -tu (or -du), but in certain verbs the ending is -i or -n, and in a few there is no ending at all. Examples are bukatu finish, saldu sell, etorri come, joan go, atera go out or take out. The correct tu-form of each verb thus has to be learnt. Compound tenses formed with this form refer to the past or to a completed action or state (perfect). The tzen-form ends in either -tzen or -ten, e.g. bukatzen, saltzen, etortzen, joaten, ateratzen. In compound tenses its meaning is imperfective or simultaneous. The tuko-form consists of the tu-form with the addition of -ko (or after n, -go), e.g. bukatuko, salduko, etorriko, joango, aterako. The stem form usually consists of the citation form minus its ending, unless this is n, which is retained in the stem form: buka, sal, etor, joan, atera. Colloquially, western dialects do not make systematic use of the stem form, which is replaced by the tu-form (citation form): bukatu instead of buka, and so on. Compound tenses may be divided into two groups depending on whether the auxiliary is izan or edin/ezan. Those in the first group can have the main verb in the tu-form, the tzen-form or the tuko-form, but not in the stem form. Those in the second group, on the contrary, only take the stem form, except in western dialects, where this is colloquially replaced by the tu-form. The choice of an intransitive or transitive auxiliary will in each case reflect the transitivity of the main verb. Thus etortzen naiz I come with the intransitive auxiliary naiz I am, but saltzen dut I sell (it) with the transitive auxiliary dut I have (it); and similarly in all other tenses. Certain verbs can have intransitive and transitive meanings, and will take different auxiliaries accordingly, e.g. ateratzen naiz I go out versus ateratzen dut I take (him/her/it) out. The auxiliary must agree in person and number with the subject and, where applicable, object or objects of the main verb. Thus not only etortzen naiz I come versus etortzen zara you come, and saltzen dut I sell (it) versus saltzen duzu you

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sell (it); but furthermore, the last two contrast with saltzen ditut I sell (them) and saltzen dituzu you sell (them). Present Habitual, Near Past and Future Three compound tenses can be formed with the Present of izan, depending on the choice of nonfinite form (see above): the Present Habitual, as in etortzen naiz I come, saltzen dut I sell (it); the Near Past, as in etorri naiz I came, saldu dut I sold (it); and the Future, as in etorriko naiz I will come, salduko dut I will sell (it). These are among the most frequently used tenses in Basque. The Present Habitual often expresses habitual action, but can also express a general present with stative verbs such as ezagutu know. The Near Past expresses two notions: a definite (perfective) past occurrence within the day of speaking (as in I saw him this morning), and a completed (perfect) event having occurred at some time before the present (as in I have read that book). Past Habitual, Remote Past and Future-in-the-Past A parallel set of three more tenses are formed similarly with the Past of izan. Their meanings approximately parallel those of the three tenses with the present auxiliary. Thus the Past Habitual, e.g. etortzen nintzen I used to come, saltzen nuen I used to sell, is used for habitual activity in the past and also as a general past of statives. The Remote Past, e.g. etorri nintzen I came, saldu nuen I sold, most often expresses a definite past event earlier than the day of speaking. The Future-in-the-Past, etorriko nintzen, salduko nuen, may express a future action within a past time frame of reference, mostly in indirect speech: (she said) she would come. It has another common use expressing unfulfilled conditional statements, i.e. she would have come. Hypothetical and Unfulfilled Conditionals A hypothetical but possible conditional statement is usually expressed by the combination of the Conditional of izan with the tuko-form of the main verb, e.g. etorriko nintzateke I would come, salduko nuke I would sell (it). As just observed, an unfulfilled conditional is usually expressed by the Future-in-the-Past tense: etorriko nintzen I would have come, salduko nuen I would have sold (it). In the if-clauses corresponding to these conditional types, the Hypothetic of izan is used as auxiliary. For possible but hypothetical conditions this is combined with the tuko-form: etorriko banintz if I came, salduko banu if I sold (it). For unfulfilled conditions, the tu-form is empoyed: etorri banintz if I had come, saldu banu if I had sold (it). Imperative The periphrastic imperative is formed with the imperative of the second pair of auxiliaries, edin/ezan. These, it will be remembered, always combine with the stem form of the main verb in standard Basque: etor zaitez! come!, sal ezazu! sell (it)! Verbs also have a nonfinite imperative which is identical in form to the verbs stem form (or in western Basque, to the tu-form): Etor!/Etorri! Come!

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Potential Tenses The compound potential tenses expressing ability and possibility, i.e. can or may (could, might etc.), are formed with the various Potential tenses of edin or ezan and the verbs stem form: etor naiteke I can come, sal dezaket I can sell (it); etor ninteke I could come (i.e. I would/might be able to come), sal nezake I could sell (it).

Further Periphrastic Patterns

The Continuous The continuous or progressive aspect, to be doing something, is usually expressed by the intransitive compound verb (see the section Other Verb-Related Features below) ari izan in conjunction with a tzen-form: Euskara ikasten ari naiz I am learning Basque. Want to and must Want to and must are expressed in Basque by the transitive compound verbs nahi izan and behar izan respectively. These may be used with noun objects, meaning want and need: Etxe bat behar dut I need a house. When they take a clause complement, the verb is in the tu-form: Euskara ikasi behar dut. While usually retaining their intrinsic transitivity, these matrix verbs agree with the main verbs direct and indirect objects if there are any; compare: Euskara eta frantsesa ikasi nahi ditut. Can There are several ways to express ability and possibility. Those involving the potential morpheme -ke have been mentioned earlier; another element with a similar meaning is ahal. The details of this items syntax are somewhat complex. One use, very common in eastern Basque, is illustrated by this example: Euskara ikasten ahal dut I can learn Basque. Here ahal dut combines with the tzen-form of the main verb; in western Basque it can only take the tu-form, but in those varieties the scope of use of ahal is generally more limited, with overall preference for the inflected forms. Unlike nahi izan and behar izan, ahal izan always assimilates its transitivity to that of the main verb; thus with an intransitive complement clause, we will have California joan behar dut I must go to California but California joaten ahal naiz I can go to California. (California joan behar naiz is also heard, but this western usage is colloquial and deemed substandard.) Cannot Any of the expressions for ability or possibility described may, in standard Basque, be negated in the regular manner with ez not, but in western usage in particular these formations are largely avoided in favour of a particular construction with ezin cannot,

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whose syntax is illustrated by these examples: Ezin dut euskara ikasi I cannot learn Basque; Ezin naiz Californiara joan I cannot go to California.

Other Verb-Related Features

Compound Verbs Compound verbs are verbs composed of two lexical items, one of which (usually placed first) is not itself verbal in nature. The second element is a normal Basque verb, which may or may not possess a synthetic conjugation, and usually belonging to a very small set of common verbs such as izan be or have, egin do, make, etc. Some examples of the many compound verbs formed with egin are lan egin work, hitz egin speak, lo egin sleep, or barre egin laugh: Aitarekin hitz egin nahi dut I want to speak to father. There are also many compound verbs with either intransitive or transitive izan, such as bizi izan live (intransitive) and maite izan love (transitive). Modal Particles There exists a small set of particles which may immediately precede the finite verb form (i.e. the auxiliary in compound tenses, or the main verb in synthetic ones), called modal particles. The main particles are ote, used with interrogative sentences to express doubt (cf. English I wonder...), omen which indicates that the information asserted is a matter of hearsay, and (in some western dialects only) al which marks a yes-no question as such. Examples are Aitarekin hitz egin ote du? Has he ote spoken to father?, i.e. I wonder whether he has spoken to father?; Etxea polita omen da The house is omen pretty, i.e. I have heard that the house is pretty (but I havent seen it myself...); and Autobusa ba al dator Is the bus coming? (versus Autobusa badator The bus is coming). Other dialects do not use al in quite this way, but in eastern dialects -a is suffixed to the finite verb form with the same function: Joan nahi duzua? Do you want to go? (versus Joan nahi duzu You want to go). Subordination Markers In subordinate clauses the finite verb form takes one of four affixes which can be termed subordinators or subordination markers: -en, -ela, ba- and bai-. Except for ba-, which is simply prefixed in a straightforward way, there are certain minor morphophonemic rules involved when the subordinators are added. The meaning of ba- as a subordinator is if; this must be distinguished from the homophonous affirmative marker ba- (see the first section of the chapter), whose function is quite different: Autobusa badator joango naiz If the bus comes I will go. The most common meaning of bai- is weakly causal (since, for, as) as in Ulertuko du, euskara ederki ikasi baitu [= bai- + du] She or He will understand, for (s)he has learnt Basque well. The two suffixes -en and -ela each has a variety of functions as subordination markers; the former is used in relative clauses, indirect questions, and other contexts, while the latter occurs in indirect statements and circumstantial clauses. Examples: Bilbora doan [= doa + -en] autobusa hartuko dut Ill take the bus that goes to

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Bilbao (relative clause); Ez dakit nora doan autobus hori I dont know where that bus goes to (indirect question); Zuk esaten duzun [= duzu + -en] bezala egingo dugu Well do as you say (complement of bezala as); Esaten dute etxea polita dela [= da + -ela] They say that the house is nice (indirect statement). Other kinds of finite subordinate clause take -en or -ela with another suffix following, e.g. -enean when, -enez as, -elako because, etc. But there is also ample scope for nonfinite subordinate clauses (see the section Nonfinite Verb Forms).

Nonfinite Verb Forms

Principal Parts Nonfinite verb forms are used in many kinds of subordinate clauses, in verb complements, and also to form the compound tenses, as alrelady seen. All nonfinite forms can be derived with ease from three basic forms or principal parts: the citation form or tu-form (e.g. bukatu finish); the stem form (e.g. buka); and the verbal noun or tze-form (e.g. bukatze). Because of its very frequent use it may be found practical to memorize the tzen-form (bukatzen) rather than the tze-form, which is more basic; this practice has been followed in some dictionaries, for example. On the formation of these basic forms, see above in the section Compound Tenses: Formation of Compound Tenses. The uses of the stem form are quite limited; its use in compound tenses was covered above. This form is also limited dialectally, as it occurs only sporadically in western Basque dialects. The Verbal Noun and its Derivatives The tze-form (ending in either tze- or te-) is a verbal noun, i.e. it acts rather like a noun expressing an action. It constitutes a noun phrase which, as such, must have a determiner, normally the singular article -a, e.g. from saldu sell we have the verbal noun saltzea (the act of) selling. Unlike a plain noun, however, a verbal noun may still have its verbal arguments: subject, objects, and other complements, which usually precede the verbal noun, but not always: Euskara ikastea zaila da Learning Basque is difficult. The verbal noun may occur in any case that a simple noun phrase may be in, provided it makes sense in context. Particularly common are the compound endings -tzera (allative), -tzeko (local-genitive) and -tzean (inessive), each of which has developed specific uses and meanings. The inessive verbal noun in -tzean, for example, normally expresses time when, e.g. Californiara joatean, aita ikusiko dut When I go to California, I will see father (literally On going to California...). Another derivative of the verbal noun is the -tzen form obtained by adding an -n. Apart from its multiple uses in periphrastic tense expressions, already seen, numerous verbs take nonfinite complements with the verb in this form, e.g. Hitz egiten ikasi du He/She has learnt to speak.

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The Citation (-tu) Form and its Derivatives The tu-form of the verb has numerous quite different uses: to express past or perfect in compound tenses (see above); in the complements of the modal expressions for want to, must, can(not) etc. (see above); as a substitute for the stem form in all its uses in western colloquial usage; in nonfinite clauses governed by numerous conjunctions such as arte until, bitartean while, gabe without, or bezala as; as an unmarked nonfinite form in various contexts; and as a participle. The participle has a full range of adjective-like uses, and a few others besides. As an adjective, it often occurs in the company of an article or other determiner: Lana egina dago The work is done (egin do); oilasko errea roast chicken (erre burn, roast). Used as a stative predicate, there are various dialectal preferences for affixing either an article, the partitive suffix -(r)ik, or -ta/-da to the participle, e.g. Etxea saldua/saldurik/salduta da/dago The house is sold.

Lexical Derivation
Suffixation is the most common form of nominal derivation in Basque. Some of the most commonplace derivational suffixes are: -tasun for abstract nouns: edertasun beauty (eder beautiful); -keta for names of actions and activities: erakusketa exhibition (erakuts-i show); -tzaile, -(l)ari, -zale, -gile and -(t)ar for names of persons: typically -tzaile denotes deverbal agents (cf. buy-er in English), -(l)ari denominal agents (cf. sportsman), -zale refers to a propensity (cf. biblio-phile), -gile the maker of something, and -(t)ar refers to a place of origin, e.g. saltzaile salesperson, seller, tabernari bartender, liburuzale book-lover, historigile historian, bilbotar person from Bilbao; -tegi for places where something is kept, made, found, sold: kafetegi caf; -dun, -tsu and -garri form adjectives, the first referring to an attribute or possession, the second to a vaguer characteristic, while the third produces deverbal adjectives: bizardun bearded, menditsu hilly, mountanous, aspergarri boring (bizar beard, mendi hill, mountain, asper-tu bore, get bored; -txo, -txu, -tto and -o are diminutives freely suffixed to nouns (including proper names) and sometimes to other words: Josetxo little Joe, Joey, txikitxo tiny little (txiki small); -ki and -ka form adverbs, the former denoting manner generally and the latter the form taken by an activity: xinpleki simply, saltoka jumping, by leaps. There is just one important verbal derivative suffix, the causative -araz- (or its dialectal variants), which takes the suffix -i in the citation form: ulertarazi cause to understand (ulertu understand).

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* Most of this chapter has been abridged and adapted from the Reference Section of The Basque Language: A Practical Introduction by Alan R. King, published by the University of Nevada Press (Reno, Las Vegas and London), 1994.

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Chapter 5

Communicative Basque*
Actions
Offering to do something Nik eramango dut. Ill carry it. Nik eramango dut? Shall I carry it? Nahi duzu nik eramatea? Do you want me to carry it? Nahi baduzu. If you want. Ez dago beharrik. There is no need. Nik egin dezaket. I can do it. Offering something Kafea? Coffee? Ardoa ala zerbeza? Wine or beer? Kafea nahi duzu? Do you want coffee? Zerbeza hartuko duzu? Will you have (take) beer? Tori! Here you are! Expressing a wish or intention Liburu hori erosiko dut. Im going to buy that book. Liburu hori erosi nahi dut. I want to buy that book. Liburu hori erosi nahi nuke. Id like to buy that book. Liburu hori erosteko gogoa daukat. I wouldnt mind buying that book. Liburu hori erosteko asmoa daukat. I intend to buy that book. Liburu hori erostea erabaki dut. I have decided to buy that book. Expressing a wish to have something Liburu hori nahi dut. I want that book. Liburu hori eduki nahi nuke. I would like to have that book. Expressing the intention not to do something Ez dut liburu hori erosiko. Im not going to buy that book. Ez dut liburu hori erosi nahi. I dont want to buy that book. Ez daukat hemendik joateko gogorik. I dont feel like leaving here. Ez dut uste liburu hori erosiko dudanik. I dont think Ill buy that book. Asking for advice on what to do Zer egingo dut? What shall I do? Liburu hori erosiko dut? Shall I buy that book?

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Liburua erostea merezi du? Is it worth buying the book? Liburua erosi behar dut? Must I buy the book? Liburu hori erosi behar nuke? Should I buy that book? Zer uste duzu? What do you think? Zer diozu? What do you say? Asking for permission to do something Sar naiteke? May I come in? Erre daiteke? Can one smoke? Sartzerik badago? Is it all right to come in? Sartzen utziko didazu? Will you let me come in? Asking for permission not to do something Nik etorri behar dut? Do I need to come? Nahiago dut ez etortzea. Id rather not come. Beste batek ezin al du egin? Cant someone else do it? Suggesting doing something together Goazen beste taberna batera. Lets go to another bar. Goazen buelta bat ematera. Lets go for a walk. Hemen afalduko dugu? Shall we have dinner here? Nirekin afaldu nahi duzu? Do you want to have dinner with me? Eta zinera bagoaz? And if we go to the cinema? Eta zinera joango bagina? And if we went to the cinema? Zer egin behar duzu bihar gauean? What do you have to do tomorrow night? Making a deal Zuk ontziak garbitzen badituzu nik lehortuko ditut. If you wash the dishes Ill dry them. Garbitu zuk ontziak, nik lehortuko ditut. You wash the dishes, Ill dry them. Zuek belarra mozten duzuen bitartean, gu garbitzen hasiko gara. While you (pl.) cut the grass, well start cleaning up. Ehun mila pezeta emango dizut kotxe horrengatik. Ill give you a hundred thousand pesetas for that car. Bale. Okay. Konforme. All right. Ongi da. All right. Ez, ez du balio. No, thats not fair. Invitations Zatoz zinera gurekin! Come to the cinema with us! Zinera etorri nahi duzu gurekin? Do you want to come to the cinema with us? Bazatoz bihar afaltzera? Are you coming for dinner tomorrow? Nahi zenuke bihar afaltzera etorri? Would you like to come for dinner tomorrow?

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Beharbada zinera etorri nahi zenuke nirekin? Perhaps youd like to come to the cinema with me? Suggesting that someone do something Zergatik ez duzu autobusa hartzen? Why dont you take the bus? Autobusa har dezakezu. You can take the bus. Autobusa har zenezake. You could take the bus. Hobe duzu autobusa hartzea. Youll be better off taking the bus. Nik zu bezala autobusa hartuko nuke. If I were you Id take the bus. Autobusa hartzen baduzu? If you take the bus? Autobusa, zer? What about the bus? Ideia ona! Good idea! Bai baina... Yes but... Warning Kontuz! Watch out! Be careful! Kontuz gizon horrekin. Be careful with that man. Ez galdu autobusa! Dont miss the bus! Liburua ez ahaztu! Dont forget the book! Giving permission Eraman nire kotxea. Take my car. Nire kotxea eraman dezakezu. You may take my car. Kotxea eramaten uzten dizut. I permit you to take the car. Excusing someone from doing something Ez daukazu hori ordaindu beharrik. You neednt pay for that. Ez ordaindu hori ez baduzu nahi. Dont pay for that if you dont want to. Asking or telling someone to do something Idatzi zure izena. Write your name. Lagundu mahaia mugitzen. Help [me] to move the table. Lagunduko duzu mahaia mugitzen? Will you help [me] to move the table? Leiho hori ireki dezakezu mesedez? Can you open that window please? Izena hemen jartzen baduzu mesedez. If you [will] put [your] name here please. Izena idatzi behar duzu. You have to write [your] name. Izena hemen jartzen da. One puts [ones] name here. Asking for something Bi beltz. Two red wines. (lit. Two blacks.) Meloi bat emango didazu? Will you give me a melon? Badaukazu meloi haundi bat? Have you got a large melon? Emaidazu meloi bat. Give me a melon.

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Receiving something Eskerrik asko. Thank you. Mila esker. Many (lit. A thousand) thanks. Eskertzen dizut. I thank you. Ez dakizu zenbat eskertzen dizudan. You dont know how grateful I am. Ez horregatik. Youre welcome. (lit. Not for that.) Ez dago zergatik. Youre welcome. (lit. Theres no [reason] why.) Asking someone not to do something, forbidding Geldi! Stop! Nahikoa da! Thats enough! Ez ezazu hori edan. Dont drink that. Mesedez, ez edan hori. Dont drink that please. Barkatu, baina ezin da erre hemen. Im sorry, but one cannot smoke here. Hori ez da edan behar. One mustnt drink that. Hori ez da edaten. One doesnt drink that. Axola al zaizu ez erretzea? Do you mind not smoking? Erretzea debekatuta dago. Smoking is forbidden.

Information
Giving information Kale honi Abenida deitzen zaio, badakizu? This street is called the Avenida, you know? Badakizu kale honi Abenida deitzen zaiola? Do you know that this street is called the Avenida? Ez al dakizu kale honi Abenida deitzen zaiola? Dont you know that this street is caled the Avenida? Noski. Of course. Horixe (ba). Thats right. Halaxe da. That is so. Bai. Yes. Ez. No. Bai? Yes? Ez? No? Benetan? Really? Denying information Ez (ez ez). No (no no). Ez da egia. It isnt true. Hori gezurra da. Thats a lie. Inola ere ez. No way. Ezta pentsatu ere! Forget it! Impossible! (lit. Not even think (it)!)

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Asking for information Non dago geltokia (mesedez)? Where is the station (please)? Esango didazu non dagoen geltokia? Will you tell me where the station is? Badakizu non dagoen geltokia? Do you know where the station is? Geltokia hortik dago, ezta? The station is that way, isnt it?

Attitudes
Certainty Californian bizi da. He lives in California. Badakit Californian bizi dela. I know he lives in California. Noski Californian bizi dela. Of course he lives in California. Ziur nago Californian bizi dela. Im sure he lives in California. Uncertaity, Probability Uste dut Californian bizi dela. I think he lives in California. Iruditzen zait Californian bizi dela. It seems to me that he lives in California. Badirudi Californian bizi dela. / Californian bizi dela dirudi. It seems that he lives in California. Nik esango nuke Californian bizi dela. Id say that he lives in California. Californian bizi omen da. They say (or Ive heard) that he lives in California. Ez nago ziur ea Californian bizi den. Im not sure whether he lives in California. Californian biziko da. He probably lives in California. Californian bizi behar du. He must live in California. Possibility Behabada Californian bizi da. Perhaps he lives in California. Baliteke Californian bizitzea. It could be that he lives in California. Californian bizi daiteke. He may live in California. Impossibility Ezin da Californian bizi. He cant live in California. Ezinezkoa da (bera) Californian bizitzea. Its impossible that he should live in California. Nola (izan) daiteke Californian bizitzea?! How can it be that he lives in California?! Unlikelihood Ez dut uste Californian bizi denik. I dont think he lives in California. Arraroa (izango) litzateke Californian bizitzea. It would be odd for him to live in California.

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Hope Espero dut azkar zuekin egotea. I hope to be with you soon. Espero dut azkar zuekin egongo naizela. I hope I will be with you soon. Indifference Berdin da/dio. It doent matter. Berdin zait. I dont care. or I dont mind. (lit. Its the same to me.) Ez dit/zait axola. I dont care. or I dont mind. Satisfaction, Relief Zorionez hemen zaude. Fortunately youre here. Eskerrak hemen zauden! Thank goodness youre here! Its a good thing youre here. Pozten naiz hemen zaudelako. Im glad (because) youre here. Regret Pena! Its a pity! Lastima! Its a pity! Pena da zu ez egotea. Its a shame you arent here. Zoritxarrez ez zaude hemen. Unfortunately you arent here.

Discourse
Starting a Conversation Epa/Aupa/Eup! Hi! Kaixo! Hello. Egun on. Good morning. Arratsalde on. Good afternoon. Gau on or Gabon. Good evening, Good night. Zer moduz? How you doing? Zer dugu? Whats up? (lit. What have we?) Ze berri? Whats new? Aizu! Hey! I say! Barkatu... Excuse me... Responses: Epa/Aupa/Eup/Kaixo! the same
Egun/Arratsalde/Gau on.

Berdin. Likewise. Baita zuri ere. Same to you.

Zer moduz?

Ondo, (eta zu?) Well, and yourself? Ondo esan beharko. Not so bad I suppose. (lit. [Ill] have to say well.)

43

Beti bezala. Same as always. Hementxe. Here [I am].

Zer dugu?/Ze berri?

Beti bezala. Same as always. Berririk ez. No news.

Aizu!

Bai? Yes? Zer? What? Esan. Tell [me].

Barkatu.

Bai? Yes? Ending a Conversation Agur/Adio. Goodbye. Gero arte. See you later. (lit. Until later.) Hurrengo arte. Until the next [time]. Beste bat arte. Until another [time]. Ikusi arte. Until [we] see [each other again]. Bihar arte. Until tomorrow. Igande arte. Until Sunday. Ongi ibili. Take care. (lit. Walk well.) Ongi izan. Take care. (lit. Be well.) Ondo segi. Take care. (lit. Continue well.) Ondo pasa. Have a good time. Ikusiko gara. Ill be seeing you. (lit. Well see each other.) Egongo gara. Well get together some time. (lit. Well be [together].) Deituko dizut. Ill give you a call. Deitu! Give me a call! Responses: Bai. Yes. Berdin. Likewise. Bale. Okay. the same Introductions Ni Miren naiz. I am Miren. [Miren is an equivalent of Mary.] Nere izena Miren da. My name is Miren. Miren dut izena. I am called Miren. (lit. I have the name [of] Mary.) Hau Xabier da. This is Xabier. [Xabier is a traditional mans name.] Nire lagunaren izena Xabier da. My friends name is Xabier. Nire lagunak Xabier du izena. My friend is called Xabier. Kaixo, zer moduz (Xabier)? Hello, how are you (Xabier)? Pozten naiz. Im pleased [to meet you]. Urte askotarako! [May it be] for many years! Congratulating

44

Zorionak! Congratulations! (used for all happy events, including birthdays etc.) Response: Eskerrik asko! Thank you! Sending Regards Eskuminak! Best regards! Goraintziak! Best regards! (Emaiozu) musu bat nire partetik. (Give him/her) a kiss on my behalf. Responses: Zure partetik. [Ill transmit them/it] on your behalf. Emango dizkiot/diot. Ill give him/her them/it. Giving Condolence (Nire) doluminak. (My) condolences. Sentitzen dut. Im sorry. (lit. I feel it.) Response: Eskerrik asko. Thank you! Entering a room Sar naiteke? Can I come in? Response: Sartu, sartu! Come in, come in! Aurrera! lit. Forward! Wishing someone a good meal spoken when seeing somebody having a meal, or about to start a meal On egin! Have a good meal! Bon appetit! (lit. [May it] do you good.) On dagizula! (ditto) On dagizuela! (ditto to more than one person) Responses: Eskerrik asko. Thank you! Baita zuri ere! Same to you! (if the first speaker is also eating or about to) Drinking a toast Xabierrengatik! Heres to Xabier! (lit. For Xabier!) only used on special occasions; for everyday drinking it is not customary to toast, but one may optionally, on beginning to drink, say: Topa! Touch [glasses]! Txintxin! (onomatopaeic) Zure osagarriari! To your health! (northern Basque Country only) Asking for Help Lagundu! Help!

45

Laguntza! Help! Responses: Banoa! Im coming! (lit. Im going!) Zer gertatzen da? Whats the matter? (lit. Whats happening?) Introducing a Conversation Turn Aizu! I say! (lit. Listen!) Badakizu zer? Do you know what? Linking Parts Within a Turn Adibidez... For example... Esate baterako... For instance... alegia that is to say, namely, i.e. Hau da... That is... Gainera... Furthermore... Alde batetik... Beste aldetik... On the one hand (lit. side)... On the other hand... Azkenik... Lastly... Orduan... So..., Then... Beraz... So..., Therefore... Checking on the Listeners Attention/Understanding ...bai? ...yes? ...right? ...badakizu? ...you know? ...ezta? ...isnt it? (etc.) Asking for Clarification E? Huh? Zer? What? Nola? What? Pardon? (lit. How?) Barkatu? Pardon? Zer esan duzu? What did you say? Zer esan nahi duzu? What do you mean? (lit. What do you want to say?) Ez dut ulertu. I didnt understand. Ez dizut ulertu. I didnt understand you. Esan berriz. Say it again. Zer esan nahi du ornoduna-k? What does vertebrate mean? Logical Connectors eta and ere also, too, (n)either, even (follows the phrase it qualifies) ere bai as well (sentence-final, preceded by the phrase it qualifies) baita Miren ere and Miren too ere ez either, neither ezta Miren ere nor Miren either

46

bai... bai... both... and... ez... ez... neither... nor... gainera also, furthermore baina but hala ere, halere however hala eta guztiz ere nonetheless edo or edo... edo... either... or... bestela otherwise -elako because -(en)gatik because of zergatik? why? horregatik thats why ba- if ez ba- if not, unless
*This chapter is a reworking of material forming part of the Basque threshold level document, published as Alan R. King, Atalase Maila, Council of Europe (Strasbourg), 1988. The contributions of members of the project workgroup to these lists of Basque language exponents is gratefully acknowledged.

47

Chapter 6

Basic Vocabulary*
Personal
Name izen name Nola duzu izena? What is your name? Nola du izena (horrek)? What is his/her name? (cf. {Honi, Horri} nola {deitzen/esaten} zaio? What is {this, that} called?) Address helbide address probintzia province herri town hiri city, large town auzo neighbourhood Non bizi zara? Where do you live? Age zahar old haur child, baby gazte young ume child, baby (cf. berri new) hazi grow (up) 16 (hamasei) urte ditut. I am 16 years old. Zenbat urte dituzu? How old are you? Sex emakume woman gizon man Marital Status emazte wife senar husband Ezkonduta zaude? Are you married? Ezkonduta nago. I am married. Bakarrik bizi naiz. I live alone. ezkondu marry neska girl mutil boy kale street plaza square, plaza etxe house, building pisu flat, apartment ate door

48

Place of Birth Nongoa zara? Where are you from? Hemengoa naiz. I am from here. Kanpotarra/Atzerritarra zara? Are you a foreigner? Non jaio zinen? Where were you born? Occupation andereo schoolmistress ikasle student apaiz priest irakasle teacher arrantzale fisherman langile worker baserritar farmer maisu schoolmaster dendari shopkeeper mediku doctor etxekoandre housewife moja nun idazkari secretary zuzendari director, manager idazle writer Zertan lan egiten duzu? What work do you do? Zer egiten duzu? What do you do? Irakaslea naiz. I am a teacher. Ikasten ari naiz. I am studying. Ez daukat lanik. I am out of work. Family familia family arreba sister (of a man) ama mother anaia brother aita father amona grandmother gurasoak parents aitona grandfather haur child izeba aunt alaba daughter osaba uncle seme son iloba nephew, niece, grandchild ahizpa sister (of a woman) lehengusu cousin Zenbat zarete etxean? How many people are there in your family? (lit. How many are you at home?) People jende people (singular collective) pertsona person lagun person; friend Personal Traits altu, luze tall baju, txiki short argal, mehe thin lodi fat polit pretty, good-looking atsegin, sinpatiko nice berezi special arraro, bitxi odd, strange alfer lazy lotsati shy ezagun acquaintance euskaldun Basque erdaldun non-Basque-speaker

49

itsusi ugly alai jolly, cheerful serio serious

interesgarri interesting aberats rich pobre poor

Surroundings
The Home etxe house, home baserri farm, farmhouse gela room sukalde kitchen komun toilet argi light ate door Furniture armairu, armario cupboard, wardrobe ohe bed apal shelf Appliances and Conveniences telefono telephone telebista television irrati radio ordenagailu computer Weather eguraldi weather eguzki sun haize wind ilargi moon euri rain izar star elur snow uda summer ekaitz storm negu winter laino mist, cloud udaberri spring hodei cloud udazken autumn zeru sky Eguraldi ona dago. The weather is good. Eguraldi txarra dago. The weather is bad. Bero egiten du. It is hot. Hotz egiten du. It is cold. Euria ari du/da. It is raining. Euria egingo du. Its going to rain. Geography ur water berogailu (water) heater kalefazio heating ispilu mirror mahai table aulki chair, bench giltza key leiho window eskailera stairs, staircase teilatu roof pareta wall izkina, bazter corner, edge txoko corner, alcove

50

mapa map mundu world lur land itsaso sea hondartza beach harri stone Flora arbola, zuhaitz tree landare plant belar grass, weed, herb Fauna animalia animal abere (farm) animal txakur, zakur dog katu cat ardi sheep behi cow zezen bull

ibai river erreka stream zelai plain, field baso wood mendi hill, mountain

hosto, orri leaf lore flower adar branch

txerri, zerri pig asto donkey zaldi horse oilo hen ahate duck txori bird arrain fish

Leisure
Leisure in General musika music liburu book taberna bar jatetxe restaurant zine cinema Sports and Games partidu match, game lehiaketa competition txapelketa championship txapeldun champion sari prize ekipo team talde group, team Literature liburu book egunkari newspaper aldizkari magazine antzerki drama, play orrialde page idazle writer futbol football baloi, pilota ball bizikleta bicycle irabazi win galdu lose jolastu play kirol sport argazki photograph festa/jai fiesta dantza dance (noun) dantzatu dance (verb)

51

hiztegi dictionary ipuin story bertso verse

idatzi write irakurri read

Transport and Communications

Transport tren train autobus bus kotxe, auto car ontzi, itsasontzi, txalupa ship, boat hegazkin plane geltoki station aireportu airport Driving kale street karretera, errepide highway izkina corner semaforo traffic light eskuin right ezker left Travel bidaia journey joan go etorri come itzuli return egon be, stay gelditu stay, remain pasaporte passport maleta suitcase poltsa bag atzerri foreign countries, abroad museo museum eliza church Communication eskutitz, gutun letter postal postcard telegrama telegramme paper paper sobre envelope boligrafo ball-pen idatzi write telefono telephone deitu call, phone (verb) zenbaki number fax fax; fax machine idazmakina typewriter gaztelu castle parke park ohitura custom janari food hotel, ostatu hotel kanpin campsite gela room bikoitz double lo egin sleep pasa spend (time) gau night buelta eman, itzuli turn around gelditu stop aparkatu park gasolina gasoline gasolindegi gasoline station txartel, bilete ticket joan-etorri return (journey, ticket) gidari driver gidatu drive harrapatu catch galdu miss

52

posta post postetxe post office bidali send, mail, post (verb)

ordenagailu computer posta elektroniko electronic mail

The Body
The Human Body gorputz body buru head ile hair aurpegi face begi eye belarri ear sudur nose aho mouth hortz tooth Bodily Functions bizi izan live, be alive bizirik alive hil die arnasa breath lo sleep (noun), asleep (adverb) lo egin sleep (verb) esnatu wake up Personal Hygiene garbitu wash, clean bainatu bathe, have a bath dutxatu have a shower lehortu dry, get tried Clothing arropa clothes (collective singular) jertse sweater alkondara shirt prakak, galtzak trousers Bodily States Bero naiz. I am hot. Beroak nago. I am hot. (colloquial) Beroa daukat. I am hot. (colloquial) and similarly: Egarri naiz. (etc.) I am thirsty. Nekatuta nago. I am tired. Haurdun nago. I am pregnant. Gaisorik nago. I am ill. gona skirt zapata, oinetako shoe txapel hat, cap ur water jaboi soap toaila towel komun toilet amets dream (noun) amets egin dream (verb) negar egin cry barre egin laugh jan eat edan drink bizar beard beso arm esku hand ipurdi bottom oin foot azal skin hezur bone bihotz heart odol blood

53

Hotz naiz. (etc.) I am cold. Gose naiz. (etc.) I am hungry.

Ondo nago. I am well.

Everyday Life
The Town kale street zubi bridge auzo neighbourhood etxe house, building denda shop merkatu, azoka market supermerkatu supermarket bulego office banku, kutxa bank taberna bar Shopping denda shop ordaindu pay farmazia pharmacy, chemists diru money harategi butchers txeke cheque okindegi bakery txartel card ireki open prezio price itxi close garesti expensive erosi buy merke cheap saldu sell Zenbat balio du (honek)? How much does (this) cost? 1000 (mila) pezeta balio du. It costs 1000 pesetas. kafetegi caf geltoki station eskola school udaletxe town hall anbulategi health centre ospitale hospital (poli)kiroldegi sports centre eliza church parke park

Food and Drink

Food haragi meat oilasko chicken arrain fish barazki vegetable fruta fruit goxoki sweet, dessert Drinks ur water esne milk ardo wine garagardo, zerbeza beer kafe coffee ogi bread gatz salt azukre sugar gazta cheese arraultz egg

54

Cooking janari food edari drink (noun), beverage entsalada salad bokadilo, ogitarteko sandwich salda soup, consomm saltsa sauce egosi boil frijitu fry erre roast labe oven su fire, cooker

* This chapter is drawn from material forming part of the Basque threshold level document, published as Alan R. King, Atalase Maila, Council of Europe (Strasbourg), 1988. The contributions of members of the project workgroup to these lists of Basque language exponents is gratefully acknowledged.

55

Chapter 7*

Sample Texts
The Forbidden Fruit (Genesis 2:15-3:13, abridged)
2:15

Jainko Jaunak gizona hartu eta Edengo baratzan ezarri zuen, landu eta zain zezan.

jainko god jaun sir, master, lord gizon man hartu, har, hartzen take eta and baratza garden ezarri, ezar, ezartzen place, put landu, lan, lantzen cultivate zaindu, zain, zaintzen look after, keep

2:16

Eta agindu zion: Baratzako zuhaitz guztietatik jan dezakezu;

agindu, agin, agintzen order, command zuhaitz tree guzti all, every jan, jan, jaten eat

2:17

baina ez jan dena ezagutzeko ahalmena ematen duen zuhaitzetik;

baina but ez not, no dena everything, all ezagutu, ezagut, ezagutzen know ahalmen power, ability eman, eman, ematen give

hartatik jaten baduzu, hil egingo zara. [...]

3:1

Sugea zen Jainko Jaunak egindako piztiarik maltzurrena.

har- that, he, she, it (non-absolutive stem) ba- if hil, hil, hiltzen die egin, egin, egiten do, make; used as auxiliary to focus preceding verb suge snake zen was piztia beast maltzur sly

-ak: the -k is the ergative case marker for subjects of transitive verbs; the -a- is the singular article. gizona: the -a is the singular article; direct objects are in the absolutive case (no ending). hartu eta: this is a tu-form (citation form) of a verb used with eta in a non-finite clause followed by a finite one: took the man and placed him... Similarly landu eta below (for him to cultivate and look after). Edengo baratzan: in the garden of Eden; -go is the local-genitive (of); -an is the inessive (in) with the singular article. ezarri zuen: (he) placed him; Remote Past tense of a transitive verb. zain zezan: Past Subjunctive (transitive), formed with the verbs stem form and the past of the auxiliary ezan. The meaning here is a purpose clause: so that he would... agindu zion: he commanded him; Remote Past of a transitive verb with a dative object. -ko: local-genitive singular. zuhaitz guztietatik: from all the trees; -etatik is the ablative (from) with the plural article. jan dezakezu: you may eat (it); Potential of a transitive verb. ez jan: do not eat; non-finite imperative construction using the verbs stem form. dena ... ematen duen: relative clause preceding the head noun, zuhaitz (which gives the ability to know everything). dena ezagutzeko ahalmena: -tzeko form of ezagutu, i.e. the verbal noun plus -ko here making an adjectival clause (to know) qualifying the following noun, the whole being the direct object of eman give. ematen duen: predicate of the relative clause, which gives...; ematen du is the present habitual of a transitive verb, (it) gives (it), and -en is the subordination marker. -etik: ablative singular suffix with consonant stems. hartatik: from it. jaten baduzu: if you eat (it); jaten duzu is the present of a transitive verb, ba- if a subordinator. hil egingo zara: unfocused you will die is hilko zara (future intransitive); in this context the focused construction is practically obligatory in western Basque. Sugea zen...: this word order puts sugea in obligatory focus preceding the synthetic finite verb; normal construction with a superlative expression. Jainko Jaunak egindako: non-finite relative (or participial) clause preceding

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the head, piztia, and containing the ergative-marked subject/agent Jainko Jaunak: which the Lord God made or made by the Lord God. piztiarik maltzurrena: slyest beast; superlatives are typically preceded by a partitive noun. esan zion: Remote Past (transitive + dative): (it) said to (her). emakumeari: dative (-ri) with the singular article. debekatu egin dizue: also debekatu dizue without verb-focus: (he) has forbidden you; Near Past (transitive + dative). arbola: here a synonym of zuhaitz. arbola guztietako: of all the trees; -etako is the local-genitive plural. -etarik: dialectal variant equivalent to -etatik (ablative plural), here apparently a mere stylistic or euphonic variant. jatea: verbal noun with singular article, eating, to eat. erantzun: ellipsis, acceptable in narrative style, for the normal erantzun zion (she) answered him. jan dezakegu: we may eat (it).

-en -est, superlative suffix

Sugeak esan zion emakumeari: Jainkoak debekatu egin dizue, beraz, baratzako arbola guztietako fruituetarik jatea?

esan, esan, esaten say emakume woman debekatu, debeka, debekatzen forbid beraz then, therefore; (here) So... arbola tree fruitu fruit

3:2

Emakumeak erantzun: Ez, jan dezakegu baratzako arboletako fruituetarik. 3:3 Baratza erdian dagoen zuhaitzaz bakarrik esan digu Jainkoak: Ez jan horretatik, ezta ukitu ere, hil nahi ez baduzue.

erantzun, erantzun, erantzuten answer

erdi middle; half dagoen which is bakarrik only, alone

Ez zarete inolaz ere hilko esan zion sugeak. [...] 3:6 ...Hartu zuen, beraz, haren fruituetariko bat eta jan egin zuen. Gero, bere senarrari eman eta honek ere jan egin zuen. [...] 3:8 Arratsean, gizonak eta emazteak baratzan zebilen Jainko Jaunaren oinotsa entzun zuten
3:4

horr- that, he, she, it (non-absolutive stem) ezta ... ere nor ... either, nor even... ukitu, uki, ukitzen touch nahi (izan) want inolaz (ere) by any means

baratza erdian: postpositional construction, in the middle of the garden. dagoen: subordinator -en added to the synthetic form dago (it) is, from egon. -az: instrumental -z (about, of) with the singular article. esan digu: Near Past (transitive + dative), (he) has said to us. hil nahi ez baduzue if you do not want to die, unless you wish to die.

ez zarete ... hilko: you (pl.) will not die indeed; Future of an intransitive verb. In the negative, the finite verb form (with ez) moves forward, and if an auxiliary may be separated from the nonfinite verb form. haren fruituetariko bat: one of its fruits.

bat one

gero then, afterwards bere his, her (reflexive) senar husband hon- this, he, she, it (non-absolutive stem) arrats evening emazte woman, wife zebilen (who) was walking oinots footsteps entzun, entzun, entzuten listen, hear
-ean: inessive (in) singular following a consonant stem: in the evening. gizonak eta emazteak: these singular nouns have the ergative ending -k, so they must be the subjects of entzun hear rather than of the earlier verb zebilen! baratzan ... Jaunaren: of the Lord God who was walking in the garden.

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zebilen: Simple Past form of ibili walk, go about, whose final -en is replaced here by the homophonous relative subordinator. harengandik: from him. gorde (egin) ziren: Remote Past (intransitive): they hid (themselves). zuhaitz artean: postpositional construction, among the trees. dei egin zion: Remote Past (transitive + dative), (he) called to (him). Here egin is not functioning as a verb-focus marker but as part of the compound verb dei egin. zara: Simple Present of izan be. entzun dudanean: when I heard, consisting of entzun dut, Near Past (transitive), with the subordinator -en and the inessive singular case suffix, forming a time clause. gorde (egin) naiz: Near Past (intransitive), I hid (myself). nago: Simple Present of egon be.

eta harengandik gorde egin ziren zuhaitz artean.

3:9

Baina Jainko Jaunak dei egin zion gizonari: Non zara? 3:10 Gizonak erantzun: Zure oinotsa baratzan entzun dudanean, beldurtu eta gorde egin naiz, biluzik nagoelako.

-gandik from (with animates) gorde, gorde, gordetzen hide, keep artean among dei egin call non where zara you are zure your -enean when (subordinating conjunction) beldurtu, beldur, beldurtzen frighten, be frightened biluzik naked nago I am -elako because nor who jakinarazi, jakinaraz, jakinarazten tell, inform zaude you are -ela that (complementizer) galarazi, galaraz, galarazten forbid al interrogative marker lagun friend, companion -tzat for, as eskaini, eskain, eskaintzen offer

3:11

Jainkoak esan zion: Eta nork jakinarazi dizu biluzik zaudela?

nork: irregular ergative of nor. jakinarazi: causative of jakin know. jakinarazi dizu: Near Past (transitive + dative), (he) has told to you. biluzik zaudela: that you are naked.

Galarazi nizun arbolako fruitua jan al duzu?

3:12

Gizonak erantzun: Laguntzat eman didazun emakumeak fruitua eskaini dit eta jan egin dut. 3:13 Jainko Jaunak esan zion emakumeari: Zer egin duzu? Emakumeak erantzun: Sugeak engainatu nau eta jan egin dut.

galarazi nizun: Remote Past (transitive + dative), here relative: which I forbade to you. jan al duzu? Near Past (transitive) with interrogative al preceding the auxiliary: have you eaten? laguntzat: for a companion, as a companion. eman didazu: Near Past (transitive + dative), you have given to me. eman didazun emakumea: the woman whom you gave to me. eskaini dit: Near Past (transitive + dative), (she) has offered (it) to me.

zer what engainatu deceive

egin duzu: Near Past (transitive), you have done (it). engainatu nau: Near Past (transitive with first person singular direct object), (it) has deceived me.

The Prodigal Son beginning (Luke 15:11-19) ...Gizon batek bi seme zituen.
15:11

gizon man bat one bi two seme son

-(e)k: ergative suffix, used with the subjects of transitive verbs. gizon bat(ek), bi seme: the numeral bat one always follows the noun, while bi two either follows or precedes and all other numerals always precede.

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bi seme: direct objects are in the absolutive case (no suffix). zituen: Simple Past of izan have with a third person singular subject and a third person plural object. gazteenak: i.e. gazte-en-a-k youngsuperlative-article-ergative: the youngest (subject of transitive verb). esan zion: Remote Past (transitive + dative), (he) said to (him). -ari: dative -(r)i with singular article -a-; aitari to (the) father. emadazu: this may be analyzed as a contraction of eman iezadazu give me (imperative), where iezadazu is an imperative form of the transitive auxiliary ezan incorporating a first person singular dative index. dagokidan: a complex synthetic verb form consisting of a Simple Present form of egon be incorporating a first person singular dative index (-da-), thus dagokida- (it) is to me, to which is suffixed the subordination marker -en to make the whole expression a relative clause. aitak, ondasunak: the -(a)k of aitak is the ergative marker, since the father is the subject; that of ondasun-ak is the absolutive plural article, indicating that this is the plural direct object. banatu zizkien: Remote Past of a transitive verb with an additional dative complement: (he) distributed (them) to them. handik egun gutxira: a few days later zituen: Simple Past of izan have, (he) had (them); the ending -en is replaced by the homophonous subordinator in the relative form found here. guztiak: the plural is used to mean all things (cf. Latin omnia), hence zituen guztiak all the things that he had, all his belongings. -rik: this is the partitive suffix, but here it signals a participial adverb: having gathered his belongings. urrutiko herrialde batera: to a distant region. aldegin zuen: aldegin is intransitive in meaning but takes transitive morphology, as do many other verbs; note the ergative marker on the subject, seme gazteenak the youngest son. biziz: the instrumental suffix -z added to verbs gives another participial form: (by) living licentiously. jan: there is ellipsis of the expected auxiliary, zituen. dena xahutu zuenean: may be translated by a pluperfect, when he had spent everything. gertatu zen: Remote Past (intransitive).

zituen (he/she) had (them)

15:12

Gazteenak esan zion aitari: Aita, emadazu dagokidan senipartea.

gazte young -en -est, superlative suffix esan, esan, esaten say aita father emadazu give me (imperative) dagokidan which corresponds to me seniparte inheritance, sibling-share

Eta aitak ondasunak banatu zizkien.

eta and ondasun wealth banatu, bana, banatzen distribute, share out

15:13

Handik egun gutxira, seme gazteenak, zituen guztiak bildurik, urrutiko herrialde batera aldegin zuen

han there egun day gutxi few, little zituen which he had (plural) guzti all, every bildu gather urruti far away herrialde region aldegin leave, go away

eta han, galdukerian biziz, ondasun guztiak jan. 15:14 Dena xahutu zuenean, gosete ikaragarria gertatu zen inguru hartan

galdukeria perversion, licentiousness bizi (izan) live dena everything xahutu, xahu, xahutzen spend -enean when gosete famine ikaragarri terrible gertatu, gerta, gertatzen occur, happen inguru hartan in the area estu tight, narrow aurkitu, aurki, aurkitzen fi d fi d lf

eta estu aurkitzen hasi zen.

estu aurkitu: find himself in difficulty. hasi zen: Remote Past (intransitive); hasi takes a complement with the verb in the

59 find, find oneself hasi, has, hasten begin orduan then herri town har- that (non-absolutive) gizon man -gana to (allative; with animates) joan, joan, joaten go morroi servant bere his, her (reflexive) sail allotment, piece of land bidali, bidal, bidaltzen send txerrizain pig keeper txerri pig jan, jan, jaten eat ezkur acorn ase, ase, asetzen fill, satisfy (hunger) gogo desire, will eman, eman, ematen give ez not, no bai- for, as, because inor anyone jaten eman feed pentsatu, pentsa, pentsatzen think jarri, jar, jartzen put, set, set oneself bere baitan in himself, (here) to himself zenbat how many, how much langile worker, employee gure our nahi (izan) want adina as much as ogi bread gehiago more dutela having, while they have ni I, me hemen here gose hunger hil, hil, hiltzen die jaiki, jaiki, jaikitzen rise, get up
tzen-form. herri hartako: of that town. morroi: (as a) servant.

zen. Orduan, herri hartako gizon batengana joan zen morroi,

15:15

eta hark bere sailetara bidali zuen txerrizain. Txerriek jaten zuten ezkurrez asetzeko gogoa ematen zion,
15:16

hark: irregular ergative of hura, har-; he. -etara: allative (to) plural. txerrizain: (as a) keeper of pigs.

-ek: ergative plural. -ez: instrumental plural. txerriek jaten zuten ezkurrez: with the acorns that the pigs ate. gogoa ematen zion: he felt like.

ez baitzion inork jaten ematen. 15:17 Orduan, pentsatzen jarririk, bere baitan esan zuen: Zenbat langile gure aitarenean nahi adina ogi eta gehiago dutela,

ez ... ematen: for no one gave him (anything) to eat. ematen zion: Past Habitual (transitive + dative). inork: irregular ergative. pentsatzen jarririk: having set himself to thinking.

zenbat langile: zenbat is counted as a determiner, so there is no article on the noun langile. gure aita: it is customary to think of the family collectively, hence our father not my father is more idiomatic Basque. gure aitarenean: lit. at our fathers (house or similar understood), i.e. chez mon pre. nahi adina ogi: as much bread as they desire. eta ni hemen: and here I am...! goseak hiltzen: dying of hunger; an idiomatic use of the ergative. jaiki... joan...: regular ellipsis of the auxiliary before eta: read, I shall get up, go... aitarengana: to (his) father. esango diot: Future tense (transitive + dative), I shall say to him... bekatu egin dut: Near Past (transitive) of bekatu egin, a compound verb: I have sinned. -aren: possessive-genitive (-(r)en) with the singular article; governed by the postposition kontra, Jainkoaren kontra against God. zure: irregular genitive of zu; zure kontra against you.

eta ni hemen goseak hiltzen! Jaiki, aitarengana joan eta esango diot:
15:18

Aita, bekatu egin dut Jainkoaren eta zure kontra.

bekatu egin sin jainko god zu you kontra against

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ez ... gehiago: no longer.

Ez dut gehiago seme-izenik merezi. Har nazazu zeure langileetako bat bezala.
15:19

merezi izan deserve, be worthy izen name zeure your (reflexive) bezala like, as

har nazazu: finite imperative (transitive, with a first person singular direct object): take me. langileetako bat: one of your workers.

The Texts in English (Revised Version)

The Forbidden Fruit

Gen. 2:15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the Lord god commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath god said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 6 ...she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

The Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11 ...A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

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15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him in to his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my fathers have bread enough to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
*The Basque texts are from Elizen Arteko Biblia (Basque Country, 1994). The accompanying notes were written expressly for this Introduction.

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Chapter 8

Further Reading
Chapter 1. Frequently Asked Questions
See the Basque page on my website (http://www.eirelink.com/alanking/) for further information and links to other sites and Internet resources related to Basque. Regarding origins, a book by Larry Trask has recently been published called The History of Basque, Routledge, 1997, in which he both presents the conventional view and discusses (unsympathetically!) alternative theories.

Chapter 2. The Basque Language Today

For information about media in Basque and other European minority languages, write to the Mercator Project in Aberystwyth (Wales) at Prifysgol Cymru, Aberystwyth SY23 3AS, Cymru/Wales, telephone 01970-622 533, Fax: 01970-622 190, or email Ms. Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones at merc@aber.ac.uk. But if you really want to know the situation of Basque today, you should come here and find out! For this strategy to be effective, you really need to speak and understand some Basque: roaming around asking people about it in Spanish, French or English will not produce the same results! In practice, then, a good first step is, say, to get a copy of Colloquial Basque: A Complete Language Course by Alan R. King & Begotxu Olaizola Elordi, Routledge, 1996 (see Chapter 1 to find out how), and get started!

Chapter 3. Getting Started

If you already have gotten started and want to carry on, you have two basic choices: Colloquial Basque or The Basque Language: A Practical Introduction (Alan R. King, published by University of Nevada Press, 1994). See Chapter 1 for details.

Chapter 4. Grammatical Sketch

If your interest for Basque grammar goes beyond what is offered here and in The Basque Language and Colloquial Basque, and if you can read French or Spanish, then it is time to start looking at what is on offer in those languages. In English there is very little except for a book in the Lingua series, Basque by Mario Saltarelli, published by Croom Helm in 1988. The recent trend is to publish books about Basque in Basque, which is a healthy sign as far as the language is concerned but may leave you high and dry, as most of the older grammar books have many shortcomings. My all-time favourite, a classic and still a standard reference work, is Pierre Lafittes Grammaire Basque (1944), reprinted by Elkar (Donostia, Basque Country) in 1979; a traditional grammar, linguists may well call it dated, but it is still a mine of reliable information unequalled before or since. An explicit analysis of the Basque verb system may be found in my unpublished doctoral thesis, Communicative Grammar of the Basque Verb (Selected Aspects) (University of London, 1994).

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Chapter 5. Communicative Basque

Colloquial Basque is the most communicative Basque textbook. Like this chapter, one of the foundations of the book was the Basque threshold level, Atalase Maila (in Basque). For information on Basque courses on offer for adults in the Basque Country, contact HABE, Vitoria-Gasteiz kalea 3, 20008 Donostia, Euskadi (Spain), telephone +34 43-41 26 00, fax +34 43-41 26 01.

Chapter 6. Basic Vocabulary

The only usable Basque-English and English-Basque dictionaries published to date are those produced since 1989 by Gorka Aulestia and Linda White (University of Nevada Press).

Chapter 7. Sample Texts

There is a considerable range of published books, periodicals and recorded music in Basque appearing continually in the Basque Country, making for no lack of contemporary materials. Books are available through bookshops in major Basque towns; for periodicals see the section on Media in Chapter 2. There is a major yearly Basque book and music fair in Durango (Bizkaia, southern Basque Country) every December.