Aurrera!: A Textbook for Studying Basque, Volumes 1

Chapter Twelve What the Future Holds

276 What the Future Holds Dialogue Zer gertatuko da, Xurga Banpiroa esnatu eta gero? 1. Goxo Begi-Okerrek ipuina idatzi nahi du. 2. Hemen dauzkazu kontakizuna eta Goxoren pentsamenduak. Kontakizuna: 3. Gauean, bederatzietan, Xurga Banpiroa esnatuko da eta hilkutxatik aterako da. 4. Gose eta egarri izango da. 5. Hilkutxako gelatik irtengo da, eta etxeko gela guztietara sartuko da Xurga. 6. Jan eta edan nahi izango du. 7. Baina ez da ezer egongo egongelan. Ez da ezer egongo logeletan. 8. Ez da ezer egongo komunean. Ai ene! Non aurkituko du janaria? Goxoren pentsamenduak: 9. Sukaldean! Noski, noski, sukaldean, ezta? 10. Normalki, janaria sukaldean dago. Bale. Jarraituko dugu. Kontakizuna: 11. Bapatean, Xurgak pentsatuko du, 12. > 13. Orduan, isil-isilik joango da Xurga sukaldera. 14. Etxea ilun-ilun egongo da, eta Xurgak ez du ezer ikusiko. Goxoren pentsamenduak: 15. Beno. . . . . Itxoin. Banpiroek oso begi onak dauzkate, ezta? c h a p t e r t w e l v e 276 hi tz eta esa l d i ber riak 277 16. Gauean dena ikusiko du Xurgak. 17. Bai, horixe. Esaldia aldatuko dut. Kontakizuna: 18. Etxea ilun-ilun egongo da, eta etxeko saguek ez dute ezer ikusiko. 19. Baina Xurgak dena ikusiko du, banpiroa delako. 20. Sukaldera sartuko da, eta armairuak irekiko ditu. 21. Zer ikusiko du han? Goxoren pentsamenduak: 22. Ezer ez!!! Etxea oso zaharra da, 23. eta etxeko familia beste leku batean bizi da orain. 24. Ez dago janaririk armairuetan. 25. Beno . . . beharbada lata batzuk. . . . janaria txakurrentzat. 26. Bai, txakurrentzako janaria! (Ipuinak jarraituko du gero.) ■ Hitz eta esaldi berriak ■ gertatu to happen gertatuko will happen, future aspect of gertatu ipuin story kontakizun narrative pentsamendu thought gau night gauean at night bederatzietan at nine o’clock gose hungry [used without a marker, with izan] gose naiz I’m hungry egarri thirsty [used without a marker, with izan] egarri zara you’re thirsty 278 wh at th e future holds gela guztietara to all the rooms egongela living room logela bedroom (sleeping room) aurkitu to find janari food sukalde kitchen bat-batean suddenly, all of a sudden pentsatu to think isil-isilik very quietly ilun-ilun very dark itxoin to wait aldatu to change sagu mouse delako because he is [da + lako = delako] armairu closet, armoire, cabinet familia family leku location, place beharbada maybe, perhaps lata can (of preserved food) txakurrentzat for dogs [destinative case] dentista dentist zuzendari director famatu famous mediku doctor fabrika factory ikasi to study ■ The future tense ■ The future tense differs from the recent past in one small way. The basic verb carries a marker, either -ko or -go. It’s actually an aspect marker, but we can call it a future marker. These markers are the same, morphemically speaking th e future ten se 279 (both are really -ko), but phonetically they are perceived differently because of the change that occurs as a result of the influence of the sound that precedes them. The basic verbs in Euskara end in -a, -i, -u, and -n. atera to take out, to take (photos) ireki to open gosaldu to have breakfast jan to eat When -ko follows a vowel (i.e., -a, -i, -u) it remains -ko. But when it follows an -n, the voiced consonant -n influences the voiceless -k and lends voicing to it, thereby making it a voiced consonant as well. When -k is voiced it becomes -g, because the only difference between the sounds -k and -g is the absence, or presence, of voicing (vibration of the vocal cords). So after -n, -ko becomes -go. aterako will take (out) irekiko will open gosalduko will have breakfast jango will eat We talked about voiceless versus voiced in earlier chapters (with the ablative , -tik and -dik, and with the locative genitive -ko and -go). Verbs in the future tense use the same auxiliary verb we used in forming the recent past (present perfect). Transitive verbs take ukan and intransitive verbs take izan. There are many examples of the use of the future tense in Goxo’s story at the beginning of the chapter. Here are some more examples in the form of questions and answers. As usual, the following provides several examples of the structure of possible responses. q: Noiz joango zara Afrikara? When will you go to Africa? a: Bihar joango naiz. I’ll go tomorrow. q: Noiz iritsiko dira zure When will your friends arrive? lagunak? a: Laster iritsiko dira. They will arrive soon...