-txo / -xka

Little Ones: -txo, -xka

Level 4

-txo makes things small or dear: etxe → etxetxo (little house), ama → amatxo (mummy). -xka makes small places and "-ish" colors: herrixka (hamlet), gorrixka (reddish).

How It Works

-txo: small and dear. It goes on almost any noun:

  • etxetxo (little house), txakurtxo (puppy), gizontxo (little man), umetxo (little child)
  • Family words sound warm: amatxo (mummy), aitatxo (daddy)

On adjectives and adverbs, -txo means "a bit, rather": handitxo (rather big), zahartxo (a bit old), berandutxo (a bit late), goiztxo (a bit early).

Northern forms. In the Northern Basque Country you will hear -tto and -ño instead: etxetto, haurtto, txoriño (little bird). See the Basque dialects.

-xka: small things and "-ish".

  • On nouns, a smaller kind: herrixka (hamlet), mendixka (hill), bidexka (path), liburuxka (booklet)
  • On colors, "-ish": gorrixka (reddish), urdinxka (bluish), horixka (yellowish)
  • On size words, "rather": handixka (fairly big), lodixka (rather thick), luzexka (rather long)

Some of these are now ordinary words with their own meaning: sardexka means fork.

Where it goes. The ending sits right before the article and case endings, and after any other suffix: bertsolaritxo (a little bertso singer). For "rather" with a separate word, see samar: handi samarra.

Examples (6)

  1. Etxetxo bat dute mendian.

    They have a little house in the mountains.

  2. Amatxo, zatoz hona!

    Mummy, come here!

    -txo makes family words warm.

  3. Txakurtxo bat ekarri digute.

    They have brought us a puppy.

  4. Berandutxo da.

    It is a bit late.

    On an adverb, -txo means a bit.

  5. Herrixka batean bizi dira.

    They live in a hamlet.

    herri + -xka: a small village.

  6. Soineko gorrixka bat erosi dut.

    I have bought a reddish dress.

    On a color, -xka means -ish.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding the suffix after the article.

    Etxeatxo polita da.
    Etxetxoa polita da.

    The article -a is not part of the word. Add -txo to etxe first, then the article: etxetxoa.

  • Putting -txo before another suffix.

    Bertsotxolari bat entzun dugu.
    Bertsolaritxo bat entzun dugu.

    The diminutive comes after the other suffixes of the word: bertso + -lari + -txo.

How It Connects

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

-txo / -xkaLevel 4Little Ones: -txo, -xka

Learn This First

Diminutives build on the x sound and degree words.