6TH. LESSON, DEKLINA... whaaat?

(Vocabulary at the end)

Well, we are sorry for the delay to produce this lesson. Lately, we don't have much time for this undertaking. Anyway.

Today, we will take a look on basque declension, the basque suffix system (DEKLINABIDEA in basque). Yes, declination in the raw. Don't panic.

	Indefinite	Singular	Plural		Meaning
NOR	   --		-a		-ak		("who" intransitive)
NORK	   -(e)k	-ak		-ek		("who" transitive)
NORI	   -(r)i	-ari		-ei		("to whom")
NOREN	   -(r)en	-aren		-en		("whose")
NOREKIN	   -(r)ekin	-arekin		-ekin		("with whom")
NORENTZAT  -(r)entzat	-arentzat	-entzat		("for whom")
NORENGATIK -(r)engatik	-arengatik	-engatik	("for whom")
NON	   -(e)tan	-(e)an		-etan		("where")
NONGO	   -(e)tako	-(e)ko		-etako		("of")
NONDIK	   -(e)tatik	-(e)tik		-etatik		("from")
NORA	   -(e)tara	-(e)ra		-etara		("to")
NORAINO	   -(e)taraino	-(e)raino	-etaraino	("up to")
NORANTZ	   -(e)tarantz	-(e)rantz	-etarantz	("towards")
NORAKO	   -(e)tarako	-(e)rako	-etarako	("for/to")
NORTAZ	   -(e)z/-taz	-az		-etaz		("by", "about"...)

Let us remember a few things:

1- In basque, nominal expressions (nouns, noun + adjective, nominalized verbs...) take different functions depending on their suffix. Examples with "neska" (girl) and "mutil" (boy):

neska, mutila (subject intransitive)
neskak, mutilak (subject intr. plural)
neskak, mutilak (subject transitive sing.)
neskek, mutilek (subject transitive plural)
neskari, mutilari (dative sing.: "to" the girl, "to" the boy)
neskaren, mutilaren (genitive sing.: "girl's", "boy's")
etc.

2- Sufixes go at the end of the nominal syntagm:

gizon-a (noun);
gizon handi-a (noun+adjective);
gizon handi ederr-a (noun+adjective+adjective);
gizon handi hori (noun+adjective+demonstrative).

3- The indefinite form is used, generally speaking, with quantifiers; with demonstrative adjectives; in questions; in pronouns; in proper nouns...

(Zein mutil? Zein etxetan? Hainbat mutil; hainbat etxe; mutil asko; etxe asko, mutil hori; etxe hori; bost mutil; bost etxetan...)

4- Several simple rules:

a+a=a; examples: ama+a=ama; ama+ari=amari; ama+aren=amaren, etc.

a+e=e, as in "neska+ek= neskek"; "neska+ei=neskei"; "neska+en=nesken"...

e+e=eek, as in "lore+ek=loreek"; "lore+ei=loreei"; "lore+en=loreen"...

the "(e)" of the indefinite case is used when the name has a consonant at the end, as in "mutil+(e)k=mutilek"; "zuhaitz+(e)tara=zuhaitzetara"; "arkaitz+etan=arkaitzetan" .

the "(r)" of the indefinite case is used when the name has a vowel at the end, as in "neska+(r)en=neskaren"; "ume+(r)entzat=umerentzat"; "aita+(r)i=aitari" .

EXAMPLES and EXERCICES (Change the sentences using the words between brackets as indicated)

NOR ETORRI DA? (Who came?)

Nire osaba etorri da (My uncle came) (Guraso; plural)--> Gurasoak etorri dira
Ikasleak etorri dira (The students came) (Apaiz; singular)
Jone etorri da (Jone came) (Jon)

ZER GERTATU DA? (What happened?)

Bazkaria erre da (Our lunch burned) (Zuhaitz; plural)

NORK EGIN DU? (Who did it?)

Ekaitzak egin du (The storm did it) (Eguzki; singular)
Sukaldariak egin du (The cook did it) (Tabernari; plural)
Zenbait gaztek egin dute (Some youth did it) (Gazte asko; indefinite)
Sarak egin du (Sara did it) (Lourdes)

ZERK ERAGIN DU? (What caused it?)

Haizeak eragin du (The wind caused it) (Euri; plural)

NORI EMAN DIOZU? (To whom did you give it?)

Erizainari eman diot (I gave it to the nurse) (Mediku; plural)
Aitorri eman diot (I gave it to Aitor) (Nekane)
Hainbat jenderi eman diot (I gave it to many people) (Anitz agure; indef.)

NOREN AULKIA DA HORI? (Whose chair is that?)

Amaren izena hartu du nik (I took my mother's name) (aita; zuk)
Arrantzaleen bizitza ez da erraza (Fishermen's life isn't easy) (Okin; plural)
Edurneren alaba oso azkarra da (Edurne's daughter is very intelligent) (Imanol)
Etxe hori edozein emakumeren ametsa da (That house is every woman's dream) (gizon)

NOREKIN IBILI ZARA? (Who did you go with?)

Itziarrekin atera naiz (I went out with Itziar) (Karlos)
Bospasei mutilekin topatu naiz (I run into five or six boys) (neska)
Baserritarrarekin egon naiz hizketan (I have been talking with the farmer) (Langile; plural)
Gazteekin gustora ibiltzen da gure aitona (Our grandfather gets along very well with young people) (Txakur)

NORENTZAT DA OPARI HORI? (Who is this present for?)

Amumarentzat katu bat ekarri dugu (We brought a cat for grandmother) (Isabel; zuk)
Gizonentzat ardoa banatu dute (They distributed wine for the men) (Gazte; plural)
Mutil batzurentzat ez dago arriskurik (For some boys there is no danger) (Neska asko)

NORENGATIK GALDETU DUTE? (Who did they ask for?)

ZERENGATIK ORDAINDU DUZU HAINBESTE DIRU

(What for did you pay so much money? Diruagatik egin dut (I did it for money) (Ospe; zuk)
Adiskideengatik dena emango dugu (We will give everything for our friends) (Lagun; haiek)
Bost durorengatik saldu dut euritakoa (I sold my umbrella for 5 pesetas) (Bi dollar; guk)

NON DAGO ABADINO? (Where is Abadino?)

Kalean ez dago inor (There is nobody on the street) (Soro; plural)
Mendi gainetan daude sorginak (The witches are in the top of the mountains) (Ibai ertze; singular)
Zenbait lurraldetan ezkerretik gidatzen du jendeak (In some countries, people drives on the left) (Britainia Handia)

NONGOA ZARA? (Where are you from?)

NONGO GAZTA DA HAU? (Where is this cheese from?)

Errioxako ardoa gustatzen zait (I like the wine of Rioja) (Valladolid)
Eskolako aulkiak zaharrak dira (The tables of the school are old) (Eliza; plural)
Erromakoa da neskatila hori (That young girl is from Roma) (Paris)

NONDIK ETORRI DA HAIZE ZAKAR HAU? (Where did this strong wind come from?)

Iparraldetik dator eguraldi hotza (The cold weather comes from the north) (Hegoalde)
Apaletatik hartu ditut liburuak (I took the books from the shelves) (Liburutegi; plural)
Donostiatik irten da autobusa (The bus left from Donostia) (Zarautz)

NORA JOAN DIRA DENAK? (Where did everybody go?)

Bilbora joan dira kamioiak (The trucks went to Bilbao) (Gasteiz)
Leihora etorri zaizkit usoak (The pigeons came to my window) (Eskailerak; zuri)

NORAINO IRITSI DA UHOLDEA? (Where did the flood reach up to?)

Everesteraino iritsi dira mendizaleak (The climbers went up to the Everest) (Aconcagua)
Gure ateraino ez dira saltzaileak ausartzen (Vendors don't dare to come up to our door) (Denda; plural)

NORANTZ ABIATU DIRA TXIRRINDULARIAK (In which direction did the cyclists go?)

Nafarroarantz abiatu dira (They went towards Navarre) (Etxe; singular)

NORAKO BIDEA DA HAU? (Where is this road for?)

Kanposanturako bidea da hau (This is the road to the cemetery) (Igeritegi)
Irten da Sevillarako trena (The train for Seville already left) (Cadiz)

NORTAZ HITZEGIN DUTE? (Who did they talk about?)

ZERTAZ HITZEGIN DUTE? (What did they talk about?)

Historiaz idatzi du Anderrek (Ander wrote about history) (Literatura)
Makila egurrez egina dago (The stick is made of wood) (gaztain)
Aitorrez hitzegin dugu (We talked about Aitor) (Miren)
Hainbat filmetaz ez dut deus gogoratzen (I don't remember anything on many movies) (Elaberri)

********

VOCABULARY

Aita: father
Anitz agure: many old men (anitz=many)
Apaiz: priest
Denda: shop
Eguzki: sun
Elaberri: novel
Eliza: church
Eskailerak: stairs
Etxe: house
Euri: rain
Gaztain: chestnut
Gazte asko: many youth (gazte=young)
Gizon: man
Guraso: Parents
Hegoalde; south
Ibai ertze: river bank (Ibai=river)
Igeritegi: swiming pool
Lagun: friend
Langile: worker
Liburutegi: library
Mediku: physician
Neska: girl
Okin: baker
Ospe: fame
Sarak egin du (Sara did it)
Soro: field
Tabernari: bartender
Txakur: dog
Zuhaitz: tree

Note: Exercises will be corrected in the next lesson. You may ask questions on the newsgroup, somebody will sure answer. If you have any suggestions, please write us to

Thanks,

Maria S. Santisteban

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