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#2288 05/17/00 09:08 PM
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Thanks Anna & David 108.
I knew the story had quite a few twists and turns, and I couldn't remember the whole thing.


#2289 05/22/00 07:21 AM
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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.

#2290 05/22/00 12:58 PM
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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

#2291 05/22/00 05:41 PM
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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.

#2292 05/22/00 06:27 PM
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...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.


#2293 05/22/00 09:13 PM
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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!


#2294 05/23/00 12:36 AM
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... 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.


#2295 05/23/00 07:17 PM
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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.

#2296 05/23/00 10:14 PM
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I'd love to see it too, Juanmaria. Howver, I find it completely implausible that such a person will turn up.


#2297 05/23/00 10:23 PM
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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.


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