Basque ethnography at a glance

Lezama in the 1930s.

In the first section of the article entitled Euskarakadak we talked about phonetic issues, while in this second, we will focus on the area of syntax.

To get an idea of what we are going to talk about, it would be enough to remember how the character Koldo Zugasti (the actor Karra Elejalde) spoke in the film Ocho apellidos vascos (Eight Basque surnames): «Siempre me acordaba del cumpleaños tuyo; pero tampoco llamarte no iba a hacer, porque lo mismo igual te ponía incómoda o así…» (I always remembered your birthday; but I wasn’t going to call you either, because the same thing made you uncomfortable or like that…).

But let’s go from fiction to the reality of the Basque-speaking Spanish of the 20th century. As in the previous section, we will give examples of these special uses in different sections:

Determined article

Gender confusion was common in Basque-based Castilian at that time due to the influence of the Basque language, since the Basque definite article did not distinguish any gender:

La alfiler could be heard instead of ‘el alfiler’ (pin); la asúcar instead of ‘el azúcar’ (sugar); la vinagre instead of ‘el vinagre’ (vinegar).

It also happened the other way around, that is, sometimes the masculine was used instead of the feminine: El txintxe instead of ‘la chinche’ (bug). You will have noticed that you also say ‘el chinche’ in Spanish, right?; el sartén instead of ‘la sartén’ (frying pan); el fuente instead of ‘la fuente’ (fountain).

There was also an evident tendency to use the definite article in some words that express kinship, instead of the possessive adjective: ¿Has ido donde la tía? ‘¿Has ido a casa de tu tía?’ (Have you gone to your aunt’s house?). Al padre ya le puedes decir, el domingo sin falta que haremos contrato. ‘Ya le puedes decir a tu padre que el domingo haremos el contrato sin falta’ (Now you can tell your father that on Sunday we will make the contract without fail).

Fluctuation of prepositions

In Basque, in general, prepositions (which go before) are replaced by postpositions (which come after), but since there is no complete correspondence between the prepositions of Spanish and the postpositions of Basque, the following confusions often occurred in the Castilian of the euskaldunes of the time around Bilbao and Txorierri:

Llevaba una chaqueta con cuadros grandes. ‘Llevaba una chaqueta de grandes cuadros, o a grandes cuadros’ (He was wearing a checkered jacket).

Con manzanas y peras me llenaron el bolso. ‘Me llenaron el bolso de manzanas y peras’ (They filled my bag with apples and pears).

«Guía, guía, maquinista, con toda velocidad». ‘Guía, guía, maquinista, a toda velocidad? (Guide, guide, driver, at full speed) (piece of a typical song of Bilbao).

¡Quítate por ahí, sapasto! ‘¡Quítate de ahí, melenudo!’ (Get out of there, longhair!).

«Los bilbainitos, en los domingos, / las quisquillitas van a comprar…» (piece of a typical song of Bilbao). ‘Los bilbainitos, los domingos, las quisquillitas van a comprar’ (The locals of Bilbao, on Sundays, go shopping quisquillitas).

Iterative compounds

This phenomenon is common in many languages and consists of repeating a word to increase its expressiveness. In Spanish, expressions such as café-café (coffee-coffee), casi-casi (very nearly) or muy-muy bueno (very very good) are known. But in the Castilian of the area of Bilbao and the Txorierri these iterative compounds were heard much more frequently due to the influence of the Basque language, since this repetition in Basque is a very common resource. As an example, it is worth mentioning the expression rico-rico (very tasty) of the famous chef Argiñano!

Lo que ocurre es que en el fondo-fondo todos tenemos mieditis (en el fondo del todo) (what happens is that deep down we all have fears / in the background of everything).

Pusieron la bandera en la punta-punta de la catedral (al final de la punta) (They put the flag at the tip-point of the cathedral / at the end of the point).

Tú, de pequeño, eras potolito-potolito (muy regordete) (As a child, you were very fat).

Obispo ya he conosido pues yo, uno gordo-gordo viejo-viejo en Samora (muy gordo y muy viejo) (I have already met a bishop, a fat-fat old-old man in Zamora / very fat and very old).

Ahí-ahí andará la cosa (así será, poco más o menos) (There-there the thing will go / that’s how it will be, more or less).

Paseando-paseando hemos ido casi hasta el monumento (a base de pasear) (Walking-walking we have gone almost to the monument / based on walking).

Cantar y cantar, me he quedau ronca (al cantar tanto) (Sing and sing, I’ve stayed hoarse / singing so much).

Andar y andar, al fin ha conseguido lo que quería (a fuerza de intentarlo) (Walking and walking, she has finally achieved what she wanted / by dint of trying).

Adverbial fillers

Adverbial fillers of the type o or así, were common in Spanish, to indicate the idea of ‘more or less’, ‘perhaps’, ‘such a thing’, or when the speaker could not exactly find the way to express something concrete. However, in the Castilian of the area of Bilbao and Txorierri these crutches were used more profusely throughout the 20th century, as they were copies of the adverbs edo (or) and holan (so) in Basque.

Dos o, no recuerdo ahora. ‘Two or… (I think two); I don’t remember now’

Dame dos kilos o así, Julitxu. ‘Give me two kilos or so, Julitxu.

Mala o así he creído que estabas, Grabiela. ‘Bad or so I thought you were, Gabriela’.

¿Qué tenéis: boda o…? ‘What do you have: wedding or…?’.

Order of adverbs and conjunctions

There was often a positional mix between these elements –those that go in front of behind and vice versa–, since the order of the words in Spanish and Basque is practically the opposite.

Ese tampoco no sabe nada. ‘Ese no sabe nada tampoco’. (He doesn’t know anything either).

Le haces un favor y le tienes que dar las gracias a él encima. ‘Le haces un favor y encima le tienes que dar las gracias a él’. (‘You do him a favor and on top of that you have to thank him).

Si ahora no vas a usar tú, déjale en un poquito a Pili entonces. ‘Si ahora lo vas a usar tú, entonces déjale un poquito a Pili’. (If you’re not going to use it now, leave Pili a little bit then).

Ochenta y un pesetas sólo me ha dau. ‘Solo me ha dado ochenta y un pesetas’. (Eighty-one pesetas has only given me).

Déjale a ese si no. ‘Si no, déjale a ese’. (Otherwise let him/her).

Elliptical phrases

In Basque the fillers eta (and), baina (but) and edo (or) are very common at the end of the sentence, to express emotion, surprise, or suggest something without saying it. Its influence was evident in the Spanish of Bilbao and Txorierri:

Hemos estau jugando al mus y … ‘We have been playing mus and (you know what happens, sometimes the game drags on and you get late without realizing it)’.

Listo ya es pero … ‘He’s smart, but (vague as he alone)’.

Ya le he avisado yo pero … ‘I have already warned him but… (he has not paid attention to me)’.

The item inquired

In Basque, the inquired element (what you want to highlight) usually comes before the verb. Due to this, in the area of Bilbao and the Txorierri the Basques of that time spoke Spanish in the following way:

Empate a uno van. ‘Van empate a uno’. (Tie to one they go).

Que él no venía aquí dijo. ‘Dijo que él no venía aquí’. (He said he did not come here).

Más alto que tú es Juanito. Juanito es más alto que tú. (Juanito is taller than you).

Arriba está. ‘Está arriba’. (It is above).

Una moto nueva dise que ha comprau. ‘Dice que ha comprado una moto nueva’. (She says she has bought a new motorcycle).

Loco te has vuelto tú. ‘Tú te has vuelto loco’. (You have gone crazy).

We can find more special cases at the level of syntax in 20th century Castilian in the area of Bilbao and Txorierri, but here we have only cited the most prominent ones, because we had little space and!

In the next section we will deal with the peculiar vocabulary. You will be surprised!

Joseba Santxo Uriarte – Philologist and researcher