Aurrera!: A Textbook for Studying Basque, Volume 2

Chapter One. What Are You Doing?

xxii pr on un ciation guide of countries. Some double letter combinations (dd, ll, rr, tt) and other pairings (ts, tx, tz ) are treated as if t hey were one letter. They are not separated when a word is hyphenated. It is often said that Basque vowels are pronounced like the vowels in Spanish , but be aware that Basque speakers on the French side of the border often pronounce their vowels as they are pronounced in French. This is esp ecially noticeable in the vowel u, often perceived by English speakers as the ee in see. Between vowels, the letters b, d, g, and single r are often pronounced so softly they might as well be silent. The word dago (he/she is) can sound like dao, gero like geo. The Question of Stress Stress in E uskara is a co mplicated topic because it can vary from dialect to dialect, and even words within a dialec t may have the stress shifted to a different syllable in certain circumstances. In Gipuzkoan, for example, a twosyllable word such as ardo (wine) usually carries the stress on the first syllable: AR- d o. In words of three syllables or more, the stress is usually on the second syllable, as in mesedez (please): me- S E- d ez. However, when wine is p luralized as ardoak, the two-syllable word becomes a three-syllable word and the stress moves to the second syllable: ar- DO- ak.These complexities cannot be addressed completely or even very well in a b ook designed for self-teaching. Therefore, until students have a reliable dialectal speaker upon whom to pattern their stress peaks, I sug gest that you emulate speakers from the North Basque Country (the French side of the border) who often sound as though every syllable receives the same stress. I advise my classroom students to adopt this method when pronouncing Euskara, especially when they are unsure of Gipuzkoan, Bizkaian, or other dialectal stress. Aurrera! 1 What Are You Doing? Dialogue Zertan ari zara? 1. Goxo eta Xurga banpiroaren etxean daude. 2. Xurga etzanda dago hilkutxan. 3. Goxo zutik dago hilkutxa ondoan. 4. Telebista ikusten ari dira. 5. go xo: Xurga, zertan ari zara? 6. xur ga: Telebista ikusten ari naiz. 7. O so film barregarria transmititzen ari dira. 8. g: Gustatzen zaizkizu film barregarriak? 9. x: Bai, bai, asko gustatzen zaizkit. Gustatzen zait barre egitea. 10. g: Gustatzen zaizkizu gerlazko filmak? 11. x: Ez, ez zaizkit gustatzen, ikusi eta gero triste nagoelako. 12. g: Ulertzen dut. Niri ere ez zait gustatzen gerla eta heriotza ikustea. 13. Eta beldurrezko filmak? 14. x: A, bai! Gustatzen zaizkit! 15. H orrelako film bat ematen ari dira laugarren kanalean. 16. (kanala aldatzen) Begira. 17. g: Zer beldurgarria! 18. Emagaldu hori droga saltzen ari da. 19. Zer emakume lotsagabea! Jendearen odola zikintzen ari da drogekin! 20. x: Oso delitu serioa da banpiroaren munduan. c h a p t e r o n e 2 wh at are y ou doing? 21. g: Detektibeen telesaioan arlo berari buruz hitz egin dute gaur goizean. 22. Ai ene! Hamaikak dira! Albistegia ikusi nahi dut. 23. (telebistako gida ikusten) Badaukazu kablea? 24. x: Ez, kablea ez. Baina satelitea bai! 25. Kanala aldatzen ari naiz. 26. Albistegia elkarrekin ikusi ahal dugu. Sartu hilkutxara! ■ Hitz eta esaldi berriak ■ Zertan ari zara? What are you doing? barregarri fu nny transmititu /transmititzen transmitted, broadcast; to broadcast barre egin /barre egiten laughed, to laugh heriotza de ath beldurrezko scary, frightening, horror (movies) (made of scary stuff) kanal channel beldurgarri s cary, frightening emagaldu prostitute (lit.: lost woman) galdu /galtzen lost, to lose droga dr ug salerosketa buying and selling, dealing lotsagabe shameless, without shame gabe wi thout zikindu /zikintzen soiled, polluted, to soil, to dirty, to pollute mundu worl d arlo s ubject albistegi ne wscast kable ca ble satelite sa tellite p resen t p rogressive with ari naiz 3 aharrausi ya wn aharrausi egin /egiten yawned, to yawn arrantzale fisherman alkandora shir t arrano ea gle eseki /esekitzen hanged, hung, to hang, to hang up, to hang out kamomila c hamomile (tea) lorontzi flowerpot apalategi shelving unit, shelf, bookcase prakak pa nts, trousers tripa st omach, belly min pa in tripako min a stomachache puru ciga r tabako t obacco barik without; instead of kabiar ca viar dastatu /dastatzen tasted, to taste kokaina co caine laranjazko orange, made of oranges zumo ju ice...