Classical Lapurdian Prose

Level 6

Classical prose links ideas with bait-, zeren and ezen: Zeren anhitz moldez eta diferentki minzatzen baitira euskal herrian (For in the Basque land people speak in many different ways). Axular, 1643.

How It Works

1. The book. Pedro Agerre, known as Axular, published Gero in 1643. Its long, balanced sentences made it the best-known classic of Basque prose.

2. Linking words.

  • bait- (because, for; also in relatives): minzatzen baitira
  • zeren (because), often with bait- in the same clause: Zeren anhitz izan baita...
  • ezen (that): badirudi ezen ...
  • baldin + ba- (if): Baldin egin baliz euskaraz hanbat liburu ...
  • -(e)z gero after a verb form (if, given that): hala izanez gero (if that is so)

3. Verbs. Classical prose uses many synthetic verbs: dio (says), dirudi (seems), and the command bego (let it stay). See literary synthetic verbs: dihardu, dirau, datza and third person commands: bedi, beza.

4. Northern forms.

  • erran, erraiten (say, saying) for esan, esaten
  • bertze (other) for beste; anhitz (many), today written anitz
  • the future in -en: izanen, eginen. See Northern verb forms: eginen, ukan.

5. Spelling. Texts show h after consonants (ikhusi, athera) and join ez to the verb (ezpada for ez bada). See older spelling.

Tip: In a long classical sentence, find each bait- verb first. Each one closes a clause and tells you how the ideas connect.

Examples (5)

  1. Gero dioenak, bego dio.

    Whoever says "later" is saying "let it be".

    dioenak = dio + -(e)n + -a + -k, "the one who says". bego is a third person command of egon.

  2. Zeren anhitz moldez eta diferentki minzatzen baitira euskal herrian.

    For in the Basque land people speak in many different ways.

    zeren and baitira both mark the reason. anhitz is today written anitz.

  3. Batak erraiten du behatzea, eta bertzeak so egitea.

    One says behatzea, and another says so egitea.

    erraiten = esaten, bertze = beste. Both verbs mean "to look".

  4. Baldin egin baliz euskaraz hanbat liburu, nola egin baita latinez, franzeses, edo bertze erdaraz eta hitzkuntzaz, hek bezain aberats eta konplitu izanen zen euskara ere.

    If as many books had been written in Basque as in Latin, French or other languages, Basque would have been as rich and complete as they are.

    baldin ... baliz (if it had been), nola ... baita (as it has been), izanen zen (it would have been).

  5. Baldin hala ezpada, euskaldunek berèk dute falta eta ez euskarak.

    If that is not so, the fault lies with the Basques themselves, not with the Basque language.

    ezpada = ez bada; berèk = berek (themselves).

Common Mistakes

  • Copying old spelling into modern writing.

    Hala ezpada, ez dut egingo.
    Hala ez bada, ez dut egingo.

    Classical texts join ez to the verb (ezpada). Standard spelling writes ez as a separate word: ez bada. The one-word ezpada is standard only as a conjunction meaning "but rather": ez gizon baten, ezpada askoren egitekoa.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Classical Lapurdian ProseLevel 6

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Classical prose follows these.

Words in This Pattern

zerenbaldinerran