Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ChairmanPoo]

any basque speakers here?

I know a bit from school (more on this later if anyone is curious), but I was never very fluent and I´ve forgotten a lot. I do have the basics, though, so I could possibly recover fairly fast with refresher classes. Not really an option at this precise moment with me living abroad. I refreshened myself a bit with an on-and-off sort of gf from back home last year, but I think I need something a bit more steady (both language and gf wise :p)

My great-grandfather was fluent, but he never taught the language to his children (because of obvious political reasons). Most of my Biscay-based cousins are quite fluent though.


PD: a tidbit that you might find interesting: there are actually several dialects of basque. The one taught at school is "Batua" (lit. "united") which sort of merges of  the main Biscaian and Gipuzkoan languages, which were the two mostly spoken ones. IIRC it mostly follows the grammar rules of the Gipuzkoan dialect. Biscaian, Gipuzkoan, and Batua are supposed to be more or less mutually intelligible... but with other dialects, I know for a fact that it doesn´t happen so much. We had a nurse who spoke Batua, and she couldn´t understand or make herself understood at all to a patient who spoke a Navarrese dialect (there is actually a funny tale behind that event).
Back when I was working in the Goierri I met many people who were more fluent in Basque than in Spanish, or weren´t fluent in Spanish at all. Depending on who was with me in the clinic that day I either got aid in translating what I wanted to say, or I had to hack it by myself with my broken Batua. I think I acquainted myself fairly well, all things considered.

[Eric Blank]

Just a fun question, do you guys have states in your country that people make fun of? Like, here in Brazil, we have a state called "Acre" which is waaaaaaaaaaay to the west, it's so far that we say evolution haven't reached them yet, and so, they still have dinosaurs.

California. Its the epicenter of celebrities, fashion, and everything hip and cool. Which means its renowned for having the lowest average IQ on the entire continent, just because everybody knows their trendy bullshit is retarded. Everybody makes fun of them, for more reasons than just that, but they seem oblivious and continue to believe their super foods, gangsta wannabes and yoga pants are hot shit.

Also, the entire midwest and south for being inbred redneck bible-thumping hicks. Because, well, the redneck hick population is extraordinarily loud there. Theyre kinda the polar opposite of californian liberal arts degree communist hipster dumbasses, and those two groups are like the loudest, most publicized demographics in the nation. And both equally despised.

[Teneb]

With Spanish/Portuguese/Italian/Catalonian you can even hack it between any two speakers provided all involved parties speak slowly and have goodwill regarding this hypothetical conversation.

You forgot Galician there.

Just a fun question, do you guys have states in your country that people make fun of? Like, here in Brazil, we have a state called "Acre" which is waaaaaaaaaaay to the west, it's so far that we say evolution haven't reached them yet, and so, they still have dinosaurs.

You fool, Acre is merely a myth designed to confound the Bolivians. It is known.

[scriver]

Unfortunately, the Castillians got them.

What really needs to go on there is Occitan! Occitan is supposed to be closer to Catalan than Catalan is to Castillian.

[JoshuaFH]

Just a fun question, do you guys have states in your country that people make fun of? Like, here in Brazil, we have a state called "Acre" which is waaaaaaaaaaay to the west, it's so far that we say evolution haven't reached them yet, and so, they still have dinosaurs.

California. Its the epicenter of celebrities, fashion, and everything hip and cool. Which means its renowned for having the lowest average IQ on the entire continent, just because everybody knows their trendy bullshit is retarded. Everybody makes fun of them, for more reasons than just that, but they seem oblivious and continue to believe their super foods, gangsta wannabes and yoga pants are hot shit.

Also, the entire midwest and south for being inbred redneck bible-thumping hicks. Because, well, the redneck hick population is extraordinarily loud there. Theyre kinda the polar opposite of californian liberal arts degree communist hipster dumbasses, and those two groups are like the loudest, most publicized demographics in the nation. And both equally despised.

Don't forget Florida. Here in America we have a running gag of "Florida Man does X" where X is any number of stupid things: "Florida Man vapes semen" "Florida Man on drugs kills imaginary friend and turns himself in." "Florida Man tries to use Tacos as ID after car catches on fire at Taco Bell." and those are just the first couple hits when searching for Florida Man.

It's explained that Florida simply has different laws when it comes to what is public information in Police Databases, but we all know that Florida Man is real, and he's very prolific and dangerous, we must always be vigilante for the never relenting insanity of Florida Man.

[Kagus]

As an addendum to Danish, apparently the reason 50 is referred to as "halvtreds", is because it's short for "halvtredsindtyve", which makes perfect sense if you just think about it. Like, think about it really hard.

See, there's the term "halvannen" in both Norwegian and Danish, meaning one and a half times something. Directly translated it means "half another" or "half the second", and comprable to the English phrase "half again". Again, short for "once, and half again", I.E. 1.5 times.

So, since halvannen is half the second, halftreds means half the third, which logically can only mean 2.5 times. And tyve means twenty, just like in Norwegian.

Therefore, half-the-threes-in-twenty, or 2.5 times twenty, is fifty! Quick mafs.


As such, 156 is one-hundred-and-six-and-half-the-threes-in-twenty.

[ChairmanPoo]

With Spanish/Portuguese/Italian/Catalonian you can even hack it between any two speakers provided all involved parties speak slowly and have goodwill regarding this hypothetical conversation.

You forgot Galician there.

I forgot Galician there.

For the record, Portuguese and Galician are SPECIALLY mutually intelligible.  IIRC a few centuries ago they were basically the same language.

[Teneb]

As an addendum to Danish, apparently the reason 50 is referred to as "halvtreds", is because it's short for "halvtredsindtyve", which makes perfect sense if you just think about it. Like, think about it really hard.

See, there's the term "halvannen" in both Norwegian and Danish, meaning one and a half times something. Directly translated it means "half another" or "half the second", and comprable to the English phrase "half again". Again, short for "once, and half again", I.E. 1.5 times.

So, since halvannen is half the second, halftreds means half the third, which logically can only mean 2.5 times. And tyve means twenty, just like in Norwegian.

Therefore, half-the-threes-in-twenty, or 2.5 times twenty, is fifty! Quick mafs.


As such, 156 is one-hundred-and-six-and-half-the-threes-in-twenty.

Or, you know, you could just make up a dedicated word for fifty like a lot of other languages.

[dragdeler]

-snip-

[NJW2000]

Just a fun question, do you guys have states in your country that people make fun of? Like, here in Brazil, we have a state called "Acre" which is waaaaaaaaaaay to the west, it's so far that we say evolution haven't reached them yet, and so, they still have dinosaurs.

degree communist hipster

These three aren't generally associated in England. Different places, same terrible beards, I guess.

In the UK, we (London) tend to make fun of... Wales, Ireland, and pretty much anywhere north of Cambridge. For being troglodytic swamp-dwelling livestock-miscegenating yokels. Undeservedly, of course, apart from Wales.

I don't know whether the people in those places mock us Southerners in particular, or just hate us.

Norfolk is also a target of particular mockery, for their alleged frequency of inbreeding. Which is very unfair, and anyway the royal family did it,  before political correctness ruined the monarchy.

[Kagus]

Or, you know, you could just make up a dedicated word for fifty like a lot of other languages.

L? I used to know L... Haven't talked about him since the vandalism.

[scriver]

Or, you know, you could just make up a dedicated word for fifty like a lot of other languages.

No, no, that's not the Danish way. It's just not complicated enough.

Have I mentioned yet that it's been scientifically proven that Danish babies develop their language abilities later than other babies? Presumably because of the language.

[ChairmanPoo]

Unfortunately, the Castillians got them.
 

The biggest problem with Castilian nationalists is that they are blissfully unaware of being Castilian nationalists, and indeed will deny to be such a thing if they are confronted about it. According to them the ones in the periphery are the problem because they are different. 

[dragdeler]

-snip-

[scriver]

Unfortunately, the Castillians got them.
 

The biggest problem with Castilian nationalists is that they are blissfully unaware of being Castilian nationalists, and indeed will deny to be such a thing if they are confronted about it. According to them the ones in the periphery are the problem because they are different. 

Unfortunately that is how the situation is seen abroad as well, or at least here in Sweden, and how it is reported in the media during the most recent Catalan referendum event. Most people here are completely unaware that Spain was in a nationalistic/fascistic dictatorship until what 30-40 years ago and that said dictator tried to destroy the other nations. They think of "Spanish" Spain as the Whole Of Spain and thus see the issue as "multicultural spain vs nationalists" and don't realise is a question of Castilian nationalism vs Catalan nationalism.