#basque:reading

[guillemelgat]

Advanced Learner Challenge (Basque): Day 15

[ original post with full list of challenges / other posts by me for this challenge ]

Today’s Challenge: Read a fictional story. Take note of what kind of speech is used (like poetic or writing techniques specific to the language) when telling the story.

Here is the story I read for today, which I think is intended as a kid’s story, but I still didn’t understand half of it. Because of that, and also the fact that I’m not advanced enough to analyze the story on a higher level, I decided to switch stuff up for today and translate the words I didn’t understand and to try to write a short summary of the story. Here’s the result:

Unknown Vocab:

alargun - widow

bizkor - smart/clever

inozo - lazy/idiot

senar - husband

puska - piece/portion

alegia - indeed/in other words

zaindu - to look after/care for

banatu - to split up/divide

bizkar - back (body part)

izutu - to scare/frighten

zaldi - horse

lera - sled/sleigh

ipini - to put/place/lay

zalgurdi - carriage

dotore - elegant

azaldu - to explain/show/appear

baztertu - to move out of the way

ozarkeria - insolence

sumindu - to anger/enrage

zigorrada - lashing/punishment

eztanda - explosion

gurdi - cart

pope - Orthodox priest

apaiz - priest

ezti - honey

poto - can/pot/vessel

koilara - spoon

upel - barrel

ezkutatu - to hide

esnegain - cream

eskailera - stairs

lasterka - running/rushing

irten - to go/come out

tori - here you go!

lurperatu - to bury

konformatu - to conform/be satisfied with

emazte - wife

nekazari - peasant/farmer

salatu - to confess

epaitu - to sentence

Ipuin hau hiru anai errusoei buruzkoa da. Biak bizkorrak dira, baina haien anaia inozoa da. Haien ama hiltzen da, eta orduan anai bizkorrek herentzia banatzen dute, baina hirugarrena ahazten zaie. Hau bere anaiek dirua eraman badute azaltzen duenean oso haserre dago, eta haien ama hil zutela oihuka esaten du. Hura isiltzeko diru asko ematen diote. Orduan, anaia Moskura joaten da eta jaun batekin topo egiten du. Sumintzen du jauna eta hark anaiari zigorrada egiten saiatu da, baina amari jo egiten du eta berriro anaia oihuka egiten hasi da. Jauna diru ematen dio isiltzeko. Azkenean, anaia pope bateko etxera sartzen da, eta berdina egiten du, baina popeak bakarrik ehun rublo ematen dio. Gehiago eskatzen dio, baina ama lurperatzeko eskaintzen dio popeak, eta anaiak konformatzen du. Bere etxera itzultzen da, eta bere anaiei ama saldu duela esaten die. Horregatik, bere emazteak hil dituzte eta merkatura ekartzen dituzte. Han, guardiek atxilotzen dituzte eta Siberiara bidaltzen dituzte.

Corrections welcome, as always!

[guillemelgat]

Advanced Learner Challenge (Basque): Day 14

[ original post with full list of challenges / other posts by me for this challenge ]

Today’s Challenge: Give yourself a spelling quiz.

I really had no idea how to give a spelling quiz to myself without giving myself the answers, so I decided to listen to another poem and attempt to write down random phrases that I heard. It didn’t go very well. I don’t know what I was doing. Although to be fair, I decided not to write down anything that I already knew was a specific word, only phrases where I sort of knew what was being said or times when I literally just heard random clusters of sounds. So maybe this isn’t that bad after all? Maybe??

Here is the link to the original poem.

sarbatzeazen → salbatzea zen

✔︎ salbatsea

ege → ere

babesleen → babeslekutik

✔︎ sarturik

doi-doi sartzen zirela

urgartzen → ulertzen

✔︎ esnetan

koloretsoan → koloretsuenekin

jakintxo egela → jakintsua dela

[guillemelgat]

Advanced Learner Challenge (Basque): Day 18

[ original post with full list of challenges / other posts by me for this challenge ]

Today’s Challenge: Read a blog entry in your target language. Blog entries are often more casual, and use expressions that resemble spoken language more than written language. Take note of how spoken language is written down.

Here’s the blog post I looked at today (it’s from the blog of Jon Garamendia, who writes lyrics for a lot of Esne Beltza songs). Because he’s a poet and a master of the Basque language, at least from what I have heard, I don’t think his blog is a great representation of normal spoken Basque/informal Basque written down, but I didn’t really know any other blogs so this is what I ended up going with. Anyhow, I had no idea what was going on (I could probably read the one sentence in French as well as the rest of the piece, and I don’t speak French), so I don’t really know if I can say anything about the language he uses, but it seemed kind of long-winded and poetic. Something about it being dark outside and wings and we’re falling but we’re up high and yeah I have no idea what’s going on. One question though, for native Basque speakers: what does ote mean/what purpose does it serve in sentences?