Colloquial Basque

A Complete Language Course

Begotxu Olaizola Elordi, Alan R. King

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781317305644
• Topic: Filología
• Subtopic: Idiomas

Colloquial Basque: The Complete Course for Beginners has been carefully developed by an experienced teacher to provide a step-by-step course to Basque as it is written and spoken today.

Combining a clear, practical and accessible style with a methodical and thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in Basque in a broad range of situations. No prior knowledge of the language is required. Colloquial Basque is exceptional; each unit presents a wealth of grammatical points that are reinforced with a wide range of exercises for regular practice. A full answer key, a grammar summary, bilingual glossaries and English translations of dialogues can be found at the back as well as useful vocabulary lists throughout.

Key features include:

• A clear, user-friendly format designed to help learners progressively build up their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills
• Jargon-free, succinct and clearly structured explanations of grammar
• An extensive range of focused and dynamic supportive exercises
• Realistic and entertaining dialogues covering a broad variety of narrative situations
• Helpful cultural points explaining the customs and features of life in n the Basque countryAn overview of the sounds of Basque
• Balanced, comprehensive and rewarding, Colloquial Basque is an indispensable resource both for independent learners and students taking courses in Basque.

Audio material to accompany the course is available to download free in MP3 format from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials. Recorded by native speakers, the audio material features the dialogues and texts from the book and will help develop your listening and pronunciation skills.

1 Bidean
En route

In this unit we will look at:

Grammatical nuts and bolts

• word order
• asking questions (1)
• omission of the subject

Saying what you mean

• saying which and where
• singular personal pronouns
• ′in′, ′on′, ′at′, ′to′ and ′from′

Doing things with words

• being polite

Strategies for communication

• saying where you are from
• saying where you live

Language and life

• Basque towns
• speaking Basque

Dialogue 1 (Audio 1:3-5; 7-11)

At the Bilbao bus station

Elin addresses a bus driver

ELIN:	Barkatu!
DRIVER:	Zer?
ELIN:	Hau da Donostiako autobusa?
DRIVER:	EZ.
ELIN:	Non dago, mesedez?
DRIVER(pointing):	Hantxe.
ELIN:	Eskerrik asko.
(Elin approaches a young woman waiting at a bus rank.)
ELIN:	Aizu, badakizu euskaraz?
(The woman just smiles and shakes her head. Elin tries a young man.)
ELIN:	Euskaraz badakizu?
XABIER:	Bai!
ELIN:	Aizu, Donostiako autobusa hau da?
XABIER:	Bai, bai, hauxe da.
ELIN:	A!

Vocabulary

a!	oh! I see! right!
aizu!	hey! I say! could you tell me … ?
autobusa	a/the bus
badakizu	(do) you know
Badakizu euskaraz?	Can you speak Basque?
bai	yes
barkatu!	excuse me! I beg your pardon! I’ m sorry to bother you!
da	is, it is (for saying what something is)
dago	is, it is (for saying where something is)
Donostia	San Sebastian, an important Basque town
Donostiako autobusa	the San Sebastian bus
eskerrik asko	thank you (very much)
euskara	the Basque language
ez	no
han or hantxe	there, over there (a good distance away)
hau or hauxe	this
mesedez	please, if you don't mind
non	where
Xabier	man's name
zer	what

Pronunciation and spelling

In the Gipuzkoan dialect, words have main stress peak most often on the second syllabel, thus autóbusa, badákizu, barkátu, eskérrik, askó, mesédez, euskáldun(a), ‘Basque’, hondártza ‘beach’but it may be on the first syllabel: áizu, káixo ‘hello’, hántxe, bízi ‘live’, pózik ‘happy’, géro ‘then’. Most words with first-syllabel stress are either two-syllabel words, as in the preceding examples, or words formed by adding suffixes to a monosyllabic root as in nóngoa ‘where from?’ (non ‘where?’), trénean ‘on the train’(tren ‘train’), déituko ‘will call’(dei ‘a call’). With two-syllabel roots, the stress may be on the first or second syllabel, sometimes even as alternative pronunciations for the same word form, e.g. hérriko tabérna or herríko taberna ‘the village bar’(herri ‘village, town’). Bisyllabic roots for which initial stress is obligatory include most roots ending in a such as dénda ‘shop’, géla ‘room’.

Basque has five vowel sounds, represented by a, e, i, o and u. These are pronounced roughly as in English pat, pet, pit, pot and put respectively. They can combine in d...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• The Colloquial Series
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Map of the Basque Country
• Introduction
• 1 Bidean: En route
• 2 Kafetxo bat?: Cup of coffee?
• 3 Iritsi zara!: You've arrived!
• 4 Herria ikusten: Seeing the town
• 5 Etxean: At home
• 6 Goazen buelta bat ematera!: Let's go out!
• 7 Erosketak (1): Shopping (1)
• 8 Erosketak (2): Shopping (2): Shopping (2)
• 9 Asteburua: The weekend
• 10 Bidaia prestatzen: Travel preparations
• 11 'Hortik zehar': On the road
• 12 Etxerantz: Going home
• Appendix
• Key to exercises
• Basque-English vocabulary
• English-Basque vocabulary
• Subject index