|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
Thanks Anna & David 108.
I knew the story had quite a few twists and turns, and I couldn't remember the whole thing.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 163
member
|
|
OP
member
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 163 |
If somebody asked a Spanish pharmacist -or is it a chemist?- for a remedy for constipation would end with some aspirin and antihistaminic?.
That’s because in Spanish ‘constipado’ means ‘to have a cold’. Our word for constipation is ‘estreńimiento’.
So before planning a trip to Spain make sure to have a good health plan. You might end pregnant, constipated and taking aspirin with your ‘paella’.
Juan Maria.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
juanmaria, Several years ago I had a colleague who was a Basque, and he told me that his native language was totally unique. I have since come to understand what that means, but I'm wondering (1) if there are any "false friends" between Basque and Spanish and (2) have these languages become at all blended. http://members.aol.com/tsuwm
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 163
member
|
|
OP
member
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 163 |
tsuwm
My knowledge of the Basque country is very limited, I live in the opposite point of Spain, but I can tell you that their language -Euskera- is really unique. Is a very old language and I’ve heard that nobody knows for true its origins. It’s so different from Latin or Germanic languages that, I think, there are not false friends.
Although they have had to coin quite a few new words for modern things like TV radios etc. And those words share some roots with other languages, I think they are preserving the purity of their traditions and language quite strongly, they are very proud of their heritage. Spanish must have imported some Basque words but I can remember only a few ones. And all about cooking, their gastronomy is unique too!.
I’ve found on the net a paragraph in Euskera and English. We may have aroused someone’s curiosity and they would like to see an example.
“Eroski Taldearen enpresa-nortasuna ondorengoek osatzen dute: kalitatezko produktuak eta prezio oneko zerbitzuak eskaintzeak, langileek jabetzan, emaitzetan eta gestioan parte hartzeak, kontsumitzaileen interesak eta ingurugiroa bultzatzeak, eta lan egiten duen gizartearen partaide izateak. “
“The Eroski Group's principal objectives as an organisation are: to provide quality products and services at competitive prices, to incorporate workers into company ownership, to obtain results and improve management, to promote consumer and environmental issues and to play an integral role in the society in which it operates. “
Juan Maria.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 112
member
|
|
member
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 112 |
...and what are the chances that there is a .wav file somewhere so that one might *hear* that paragraph? I have found a text-to-speech site, but I doubt if it would cope with Basque.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679 |
I believe the Basque language is related (distantly) to Celtic which eventually became the Gaelic languages of Breton, Scotland and Ireland, but it still holds to be unique.
Sorry Juanmaria to be out of season but I wish you 'Zorionak'. That is the limit of my Basque!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
... and I had a linguistics professor who had some cognate-clues to prove that Basque is related to Japanese.... go figger. The Basque are an isolated (by mountains) linguistic community; it is possible that their language is unique, dating back to pre-Indo-European. This is only a guess.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 163
member
|
|
OP
member
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 163 |
I’ve never heard about an Euskera speech software but I believe that, like Spanish, once you know the syllables you don’t need phonetic transcriptions because the writings gives you all the keys to pronunciation.
But I’m really writing about a thing I know very little. I hope some Basque joins this thread because it’s a very interesting one.
Juan Maria.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679 |
I'd love to see it too, Juanmaria. Howver, I find it completely implausible that such a person will turn up.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679 |
David, the Basque live in a region of Spain so most of them speak Spanish aswell. My friend lives in Bilbao but considers herself more Spanish than Basque. To hear the pronunciation would require an ardent speaker of the language. Hardly likely in the relative obscurity of this list.
On a similar point. Gaelic (Irish) is spoken by most people in this sceptered isle, but it is spoken fluently by only a small percentage who are natural speakers. The vast majority know little of the language and are want to learn it as it is quite complex. Despite beong compulsory in schools, the language is a revived one and is difficult to learn. I presume that the Basque people have simila problems and most would speak only Spanish rather than a combiantion of both Spanish and Basque. I will bow acknowledgingly if this is not correct.
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,810
Members9,187
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
846
guests, and
1
robot. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
